If you’re looking for some low-cost, candy-free valentines to give your students this year, then I’ve got them for you! Each Valentine tag is super easy to prep- just print, cut, and pair with something fun! These Valentine cards are perfect to use in the classroom year after year!

Y’all- I LOVE Valentine’s Day! I know it’s the holiday that usually gets hated on for being mushy and gushy, but I think of it as a holiday to celebrate love, kindness, and friendship. How can you hate on a holiday that celebrates such good things?! Valentine’s Day has quickly become my favorite holiday to celebrate with my first graders and I make sure to absolutely pack February full with 14 days of heart-themed learning! Read more below to find out some of the easy activities I do each year with my class.

The 100th Day of School is truly one of my favorite days of the year. There is SO much fun learning to do that revolves around the BIG number 100, and it’s only right to celebrate in a BIG way! Check out how I celebrate the 100th Day of School from beginning to end by reading more below, and grab the entire pack of 100th day or 120th day of school activities HERE!

Need some fun and meaningful activities for January and the New Year? I’ve got you covered! There are so many fun activities to do with your class during the Winter season and I’m sharing my favorites with you here!

Planning a fun gingerbread week or day in first grade? Find out about my favorite ways to bring gingerbread fun into math, literacy, and science within your classrooms!

The classroom Winter Party right before the long holiday break is super fun but it can be so daunting. I want students to have fun but I also don’t want them getting wild, or bored. I came up with 7 low-prep stations for your students to rotate through at your class Winter party that are sure to keep them engaged!

Looking for some fun ways to bring Winter or Holiday-themed learning into your classroom this year?! I have so many engaging, low-prep activities and ideas for you to add into your plans to do with your littles this season! Read about each one here!

Have your own Election Day with your students in your classroom without any controversy! Students will get to vote on their favorite class treat, and then they’ll get to enjoy it! This election day activity kit covers several areas of learning (elections, making choices, persuasive writing, graphing, tallying).

If you’re as old as I am, you’ll remember the dreaded timed math tests with rows and rows of addition, subtraction, or multiplication facts on each page. There’s nothing that made me sweat more than seeing my classmates finish their fact fluency tests before I did- so I made it a vow to never give my future students a timed fact fluency test! There are sooo many better ways to practice math facts!

Want to mix things up this November with some engaging, turkey-themed academic activities? Read to see a few of my all-time favorites!

If you’ve ever been stuck on how to structure a literacy small group lesson, I’ve put together a sample lesson structure for an “on grade level” group (with differentiated ideas for a lower and higher group as well). This simple structure can be used during all of your small groups (no matter their level) as an easy way to meet students where they are in their literacy journey.

Not enough curriculums come with engaging, hands-on activities and resources that allow students to apply and practice what they have learned from those lessons. I’ve spent tons of time creating resources that were more appropriate for busy little hands and I’m sharing a few of my favorite low-prep options below!

Find 12 Easy Halloween Activities for Kindergarten or First Grade! Use these activities during math, reading, writing, or science!

If you’ve picked up a pack of Reading Rods from Hand2Mind and thought they were neat but weren’t sure how to use them, I’ve got you covered! I’m sharing three fun, low-prep ways to put them to use so that students are using them as an effective way to practice phonics skills.

Not enough curriculums come with engaging, hands-on activities and resources that allow students to apply and practice what they have learned from those lessons. I’ve spent tons of time creating resources that are more appropriate for busy little hands and I’m sharing a few of my favorite low-prep here!

Stressing over how to plan and prep Parent/Teacher Conferences? Let me help you easily prep and plan yours from start to finish!

For a long time, I struggled with wanting my word work options to be engaging and hands-on, but also low-prep. Over the years I came up with several word work options that meet all of my qualifications: engaging and standards-based, hands-on, and low-prep. Read about some of my fave options here.

Celebrate the 50th Day of School in 1950’s sock-hop style! There is so much fun learning that can be done on this day that revolves around the number 50! Read to find out more!

Wondering what tools to keep in your literacy small group caddy? These are a few of the things that I am constantly reaching for during small group literacy instruction, so I keep them all handy in a little caddy that I can easily move around.

These resources are used daily or weekly in my classroom and are absolute non-negotiables!