How to Get More Out of Your Classroom Printables

Common Core Posters for first grade printed 2 pages per sheet.

Hello teachers!

Here's a quick geek tip that will help you get more versatility out of your classroom printables! This trick will work with any printable you have in digital format, whether it is a PDF, a Word Document, PowerPoint or OpenOffice.

Almost all printers have the ability to print up to 12 pages per sheet of paper. Doing so is an easy way to get smaller versions of any worksheet, posters, labels, etc.

Here's how to do it.

1. Go to File > Print
2. Click on Properties (Your print dialog might not look exactly like this one, but there will be a "Properties" or "Print Setup" button somewhere.)
3. You should then see something like this.
4. Experiment with multiple pages and orientation until you get what you want. Click OK to return to the previous screen. The preview won’t show multiple pages per sheet, but it will still print out that way.

Many of my teacher-colleagues use this feature to create handy pocket charts, binders, and checklists out of their Common Core Standards posters. The possibilities are endless!

Here's a link to the PDF version of the instructions.

Thanks for reading!

Steve

Summer Update

I love summer! This June, between trips with my wife and our four year old daughter to Gilroy Gardens, Children's Fairy Land in Oakland, and the playgrounds around the city, I've finished posters for three more grades, and a couple of free, teacher-requested themes.

Grade 1 Illustrated Common Core Standards Posters 
Grade 2 Illustrated Common Core Standards Posters
Grade 6 Illustrated Common Core Standards Posters 

Common Core Standards Posters - Rock Star Theme
Common Core Standards Posters - Pirate Theme

Baby number two is due in mid-July, so I'm racing against the clock to finish Kindergarten and Grades 7 and 8 before she arrives.

Below are a few posters from the first, second, and sixth grades. There are about a eighty illustrations in each poster kit. Some of it I created myself. Most of it I made by combining clip art from different sources. All of the art is used according to the terms of its creators. No art is used without permission.

I've made an effort to include plenty of ethnic and gender diversity. Some of the standards have more than one option to choose from.

Hangman Escapes!

News Alert! Hangman has escaped from the gallows in a daring helium balloon stunt! A small red bird is believed to be his accomplice! Any persons with information about these fugitives is asked to contact authorities. They are believed to be unarmed and not very dangerous at all! (In fact, this reporter believes hangman was unjustly accused of his crime, whatever it was. But that's a story for another day.)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Hangman is a lot of fun but it's too morbid. If you are looking for something that plays just like hangman but without the creepy gallows, you might like this version of the game. The PDF printable version is free!

There is also an interactive PowerPoint version of Happy Hangman. It works on SmartBoards, too. It requires PowerPoint version 2002 or newer on a PC or PowerPoint version 2011 or newer on an Apple computer.

The Happy Hangman PowerPoint game is a lot of fun. It has sound effects and animations. You can use any word up to twelve letters. If you want more than twelve let me know (or if you have a little PowerPoint acumen you can probably figure out how to add more pretty easily.) Either way let me know if you would like more letters, or if you have any feedback at all. I had a lot of fun making it. I hope you enjoy it, too.

Its good for Grades 1 - 6. To be honest, I use it with my high school students.(I call it "Airman" instead of "Hangman.") They complain and say its corny but they still have fun when we play it.

Here's what some actual teachers had to say about using Happy Hangman in their classroom.

"This is great for the end of lesson, or when there is a few minutes left over before transitioning to the next subject/special/etc"

"This is so much more fun than the old hangman. Just what I need for a student reluctant to learn spelling."

During game-play, the airplane flies across the sky. The clouds drift down so the man appears to be ascending. The balloons make a “popping” sound when clicked. The letters make a typewriter sound when revealed. The bird squawks and flies away when the red balloon is popped. (It returns in a later part of the game). “Letters Used” turn black when clicked.

There's more details about the game in the free preview that you can download at this link.

Teacher Appreciation Week Sale!

TeachersPayTeachers is having a site-wide sale! Use coupon code TAD12 to get 10 percent off of everything you purchase from Sunday, May 6 through Tuesday, May 8. I will be marking everything in my store 5% off which means a total savings of about 15% off for you. (It doesn't come out to exactly 15% because the %5 is discounted from the already-10%-discounted price. Confused? Me too.)

Sunny Day Fun Literacy Activities

Sunny days bring curly slides and soccer games, volleyball and picnics. Tap into students' love of the outdoors with this themed unit of informational and creative writing activities scaffolded with fun worksheets and centers that reinforce the fundamentals of good writing.

Perfect for summer school, or something for the kids to do over the summer to stop the "summer slide."

Inside, you will find activities, centers and worksheets for...

Creative Writing Assignments And Templates
Informational Writing Assignments And Templates
Verb Conjugation
Differentiating Homonyms
Spelling
Understanding and Interpreting Graphs
Understanding and Interpreting Tables
Brainstorming
Identifying and Writing Sensory Language
Identifying and Writing Figurative Language

The packet includes

I used this unit with my 7th grade EL students and they were a hit. At first, they thought the graphics were a little immature for them, but they quickly got over that and had a good time. I like to think my worksheets helped them forget about their adolescent problems and pressures for awhile and just revisit the happy carefree days of their youth.

Common Core Standards Posters - Roundup

Back in October, I started making Common Core Standards posters at the request of colleague of mine. Since then, I've made posters for grades K - 8. Since fifth was the grade I started on, the posters went through a lot of "prototyping" at that stage. So I have a total of four different options for that grade. I have two different options for fourth. But the time I started working on third grade posters, I had the format nailed down.

All the different choices get a little confusing sometimes, even to me. So I've organized them all here into one list.

Fifth Grade Posters - Five different backgrounds
Fifth Grade Posters - Illustrated - English Language Arts
Fifth Grade Posters - Illustrated - Math
Fifth Grade Posters - Illustrated - Math and English Language Arts Combined
Fourth Grade Posters - (not illustrated)
Fourth Grade Posters - Illustrated
Third Grade Posters - Illustrated

In summer 2012, I finished these grades! Yipee!

Second Grade Posters - Illustrated
First Grade Posters - Illustrated 
Kindergarten Posters - Illustrated

And not to forget the big kids!
Sixth Grade Posters - Illustrated 
Seventh Grade Posters - Illustrated  
Eighth Grade Posters - Illustrated

The difference between "illustrated" and everything else is: in the illustrated posters, the concept or learning goal of each standard is "visualized" with a graphic, like in the examples below.