Literacy centers

Don't buy hanging storage pockets. Just use colored folders! I stapled the sides, used doubled sided tape to stick them to the wall, and printed/glued labels. Keep extra copies inside, and these make for perfect literacy centers.

Miniature white boards and erasers

These mini white boards are perfect for math time at the carpet because they're smaller, lighter, and cheaper than the ones I almost bought at the Dollar Store. I made them by cutting thick pieces of cardboard into 5x8 rectangles. Then I used sticky dry erase sheets to cover the cardboard. I spent $6.99 on the sheets and was able to make 23 boards. Then the erasers I made by knitting a small square. They work perfectly!

Cricut - a must have

The Cricut machine is an absolute must have for teachers! From thank you notes to parents, to personalized bookmarks, to decorative punch outs for bulletin boards - the cricut machine does it all. There are a bunch of different machines, the most expensive being the cricut expressions 2 which is about $200 with coupons. Check out cricut.com for more ideas on how to use the machine in the classroom.

Magnetic Money

Boslands was selling magnetic money for $25.  I did it for just 99 cents.. the price of magnetic tape.  First I used my teacher resource book for my math series which had pictures of all the coins and bills in the back.  I made several copies of each coin/bill at about 250% zoom.  then I cut each out, and lightly colored green, grey, or copper.  I laminated each and stuck a strip of magnetic tape on the back.

Practice thermometers made free

Here are practice thermometers I made for free!  I printed out a blank template of a thermometer with a degrees celsius and fahrenheit side.  I then laminated each on cardstock for extra thickness.  Then I hole punched the top and bottom and tied a string through both holes.  The string I had was white and red so it was perfect, but you can buy white string and color it red with a marker I think.  Haven't tried yet! The kids pull the string in the back to move the "red" part to match the degree. 

Cheap/Free Dice for Math

I made 30 dice for math class absolutely free.  They're perfect for sorting, learning about patterns, or playing games.  I had a long piece of scrap wood about 2" inches wide and tall, and a few feet long.  I cut it into even cubes, painted each a different color, and added dots.  For the black cubes I used white out to make the dots

Cheap Easel

Easels can be very expensive at teacher's stores.. running up to $150.  Just the pocket chart stand without anything else was $62 at Bosland's.  Here's a cheaper (and I think better) solution.  Buy a portable clotherack from target, walmart, costco, etc.  Mine came with extra hanging shoebox slots which I used as mailboxes the first year, and got rid of the second.  Next buy a whiteboard.  Again, mine was from costco.  I had to drill holes into the top for the rings to attach to, but I know some whiteboard already have holes in the top if you can mount them on the wall.  Get two large rings and there you have it... A cheap easel with dry erase board.

Expo Dry Erase Coupons

Find Expo's page on facebook and "like"  it.  They'll send you a $2 off 2 pack of any expo markers manufacturer's coupons.  You can print it out twice!