22 Simple Things You Can Prep for Next School Year Now!

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When the calendar flips to May, some teachers start thinking about what they can prep and get ready for their classroom NOW. Whether you want tips to pack up or ideas for organization, ETTC has you covered! We also have some great ideas of resources that you can start today (while you have access to that work printer, laminator, and copy machine!). If you’re that teacher, we can help you get a head start next year with 22 simple things you can prep for next school year NOW!

First things first… don’t start scrolling through teacher resource websites tossing bundles in your cart for next year. I have everything you need for an amazing school year all in one spot. From your Meet the Teacher items and first weeks activities to yearlong morning meeting slides and small group decodable readers. You can find it all on Education to the Core Premium. Become a member today and start clicking, downloading, and printing for an easy breezy start to the next school year. (and all year long)

Simple Things to Prep for Your Classroom

1. Packing Up

Have you gotten the checklist yet? Mine came through email yesterday. You know the one I’m talking about… the Classroom Pack Up checklist. Need any tips for packing up your room? Check out our Packing Up Hacks blog!

2. Going Home Tags 

The dreaded first few days of school…when kids never seem to know where they go at the end of the day, and you’re scrambling to keep track of all their little bodies in the hallway at dismissal! Print these now to get ready for the first week until kids know where they’re supposed to go!

I love to get this done during Open House. Have families fill them out for the first week before leaving that night. The tags are for backpacks, but I’ve also taped them onto the student’s shirts before the end of the day. If they end up lost in the building, adults know where they need to go!

3. Open House Welcome Gifts

You know…all that stuff that families need to fill out at the beginning of the year – forms and such. Getting this done in the spring takes one more thing off your list for the fall. I also like to get my student welcome-back materials ready to go. The cute eraser with the card about making mistakes in first grade and how that’s great. The bubbles with the cute tag about how I’m bubbling with excitement to meet them.

4. Student Work Mats

The CORE Binder has been an enormous time saver – one central location for standards-aligned activities and student work mats. The kids know where to find it all!

I would highly recommend putting this on your list of easy things you can prep now for fall. I swap out pages as the year goes on. The kids use these mats for morning work, early finisher activities, or as a helpful ready-to-go activity when the principal stops by the door and ‘needs a minute.’

Simple Things for Your Classroom Prep

5. 180 Journal Prompts

Journaling is a great way to get to know your students and a non-threatening way to get them to write. I always open up the session at the end to sharing with a weekly sharing schedule since they usually all want to share (this is always optional, however, never forced).

These 180 Journal Prompts can easily be incorporated at different points in your day and are a quick prep now project. I love to get these ready before school ends in the spring. It’s a great set to send to your district print shop. Make it easier on yourself and have your students journal in a store-bought notebook while you share the prompt on a digital whiteboard, and you don’t need to do ANY prep!

6. Organizational Ideas

Here are some quick and easy ideas for teachers to help keep you, your students, and all of the supplies you have organized: Organizing Ideas for Teachers!

7. Decodable Readers

These readers are great for small-group instruction (or whole-group independent practice). I use them all with my kids over the year (because they cover all the skills I need).

Each reader is a small group lesson in itself. Warm up with phonemic awareness activities, decoding practice, fluency within the story, and differentiated comprehension questions. Not to mention the word mapping mats, story vocabulary cards, and supplemental practice activities.

Some More Simple Things to Prep

8. Reading Comprehension Passages

The reading comprehension and fluency passages are just what I need to keep my students engaged and reading. They have fluency tracking and comprehension questions (text-dependent and higher-level thinking). With themes that correspond to each month, you have plenty of topics to keep your students reading all year long.

9. No Prep Word Work

The third option for phonics center work, small group instruction, or whole group independent practice, our Word Work No Prep Print and Go activities are a one-pager with various activities. Activities include rainbow writing, letterboxes, writing practice, spin and write, and draw and label – which keeps my students engaged and gives them multiple ways to practice the skill. The set comes with two pages for each focus skill (two pages of ch, two pages of bl, etc.), so I have plenty to choose from daily.

10. Sight Word Booklets and Passages

These Sight Word Booklets (and passages!) offer my students another engaging literacy center (word work) option. Since there are two options (booklets and passages), I have the freedom to differentiate on the fly or have repeated practice in different settings (small group vs. centers). They cover the first 300 Fry sight words (1/booklet), and students trace, color, and highlight the sight word. Kids love that they can keep these booklets in their book bags.

11. Alphabet Foldable Booklets

If you’re a 4K or K teacher, these should be on your list of easy things you can prep now for fall. Knowing you’ll cover all the alphabet letters, you can be confident you won’t waste any time or paper! I’m thrilled with the three different versions of these booklets. I can spiral back to varying levels throughout the year and differentiate for my students as we are learning. They range from a book of words that start with that letter to booklets with two sentences per page.

Things To Prep Over This Summer!

12. Literacy Centers

Just due to the sheer amount of time and energy it would take to get these made during the school year, you should add them to your list of easy things you can prep now for fall. They’re easy to prep and take some time, but your whole year of centers is READY! They are super engaging and fun for students, all while accomplishing the academics you need to cover the entire school year!

How do I prep my centers?

13. Morning Work (K-2)

Morning work has been a lifesaver for me and should 100% be on your list of easy things you can prep now for fall. I will never understand how teachers can help the kids who need help at the beginning of the day, take attendance (and submit it on time!), take the lunch and milk count, and submit those items while teaching the students!

Then, teachers address any issues with families who arrive at school with their children, and they haven’t snagged our morning work! Our Kindergarten, First, and Second Grade sets have 180 days of math and ELA Common Core-focused work to get you through the entire year. Give your students a predictable morning routine and yourself a chance to get what you need to get done each morning by prepping these now.

14. Phonics Poems

I never liked poetry, but my teaching partner did. They focused on a phonics skill with each poem (or a sight word, punctuation, or other notable feature). I consented to her way of thinking and found this to be one of my favorite parts of the week.

Each day, we read the poem with a different focus, from fluency to the special feature. Getting these poem books prepped now saves me a bundle of time. It is always on the top of my list of easy things you can prep now for fall.

Don’t Forget to Grab These Simple Things

15. Editable Spelling

I’m embarrassed to say that I used to create sheets by hand within a printed template for each week’s worth of words. Now that I can make multiple activities for any word list (10, 12, or 15 words), I am more efficient! No more files dragged down to the copy room of my handwritten masters… I type, print, and go!

16. Daily Editing Mats

Printing and binding these now saves time in the fall. I love that I come back to having my editing books all ready. The Daily Edit contains 180 paragraphs for editing and revising practice, so you’ll be set for the year.

Since editing and revising is probably the most challenging part of the writing process for my students, I’m thrilled to have a year’s worth of practice at my fingertips. They start by focusing on capitalization and punctuation. Then move on to spelling errors, quotation errors, extra and/or missing words, and finally, end with errors in all editing areas.

17. Monthly Packets

Full of over 50 pages with various options for literacy, math, science, social studies, writing, grammar, and more that are truly print-and-go. Each month is at your fingertips to print and go for Kindergarten, First, and Second grades! We are talking lifesaver here!

18. Science Exploration Packets

Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a packet of low-prep science experiments that actually followed your themed instruction?! You can piece together science packets for your students using the bundling tool on Education to the Core Premium. Make a master set of all of the science activities (you have over 80 to choose from), and send them off to the print shop for your yearlong set of experiments.

Final Things to Prep NOW for Your Classroom

19. Back to School Welcome Packets

I always like to put together everything that I need for Open House and the first couple of weeks of school. Then I’m not so worried about dealing with the copy machine rush right before the students return. I put together my welcome letter, a few busy activities for students to do while parents are filling out paperwork, and getting-to-know-you activities to build classroom community from Day 1.

20. Sound Wall

Have you been thinking about how to create a sound wall to help implement the Science of Reading in the primary classroom?! We wanted to give you more than just “a wall.” We felt it needed to be something you and your students would use every day while teaching and learning phonics sounds and spelling patterns. Print this now and get it laminated on your school’s equipment, not yours! Throw it in a take-home bag and work on cutting it out this summer! 

21. No Prep Morning Meeting Slides

Picture this… your students come in, hang up their backpacks, and sit down with their notebooks to respond to the question you have projected on the Smartboard. Giving you the time to take care of all of the morning things, like emails, homework checks, lunch counts, etc.

You don’t really have to prep this before school starts, but it is something to have saved in your Google Drive, ready to roll on the first day of school.

22. Directed Drawings

Need an alternative when your students grumble and groan during writing time? Pull out their directed drawing packets and I guarantee those whines will be replaced with eager faces ready to write.

Another great option for the bundling tool on ETTC Premium, you can pick and choose different drawings that match your yearlong themes. Put them all into a journal-like packet and have a secret weapon when it comes to getting your students interested in writing.

So… no time to waste! Even if you’re exhausted now, you’ll thank yourself in the fall. Getting yourself prepped for the fall now also means you can take as much time this summer to rest and rejuvenate! We KNOW you need it this year! What is on your list of easy things you can prep now for fall? Share below!

WRITTEN BY:  SUZANNE KELLEY

At Education to the Core, we exist to help our teachers build a stronger classroom as they connect with our community to find trusted, state-of-the-art resources designed by teachers for teachers. And, we aspire to be the world’s leading & most trusted community for educational resources for teachers. Plus, we improve the lives of every teacher and learner with the most comprehensive, reliable, and inclusive educational resources.

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Welcome! I’m Emily, Founder of Education to the Core. We are all about helping K-2 teachers by providing unlimited access to affordable printables for every subject area.