Head Back to School with some Freebies!

Hey y’all! It’s Kristen from Chalk & Apples, here with my very first post on Fifth Grade Freebies. I’m so excited to be joining this group of 5th grade teachers to share some great free resources with you!

Today, I wanted to share a couple of freebies that get me through the Back to School season.


You’d think on my 8th year of teaching, with 7 in 5th grade, it would be easy to get ready for the beginning of another school year. You’d think I would have the routine down, and would just be able to hop right into Back to School mode the week before school starts. But I can’t. Every year, when it’s time to get back to it, I’m so far in summer mode that I need some reminders of what it is that I’m supposed to be doing in preparation for a new year.

That’s why I created this set of free Back to School Checklists! It took way longer than I’d like to admit to figure out what I actually needed to include in my checklists, but now that they’re done, I can just reprint them every year, and be sure I’m doing everything I need to get ready. You can click the image to download it free from my TPT store!


On the first day of school, or at open house the day before school starts, there are always lots of forms to be filled out. Personally, I want parents to take these forms home and do a thorough job of completing them… but there is some information I really need on that VERY FIRST day. I really just want to have one good contact number in case of emergency, to know if there are any major allergies or medical concerns, and I want to know how each child is getting home that day.

I created this free First Day Form, which I print 2 to a page on bright colored paper. This is the one and only thing I ask parents to complete at “Meet the Teacher” night or on the morning of the first day of school. I find that this is quick and easy for parents to fill out, and it gives me just enough info to get through until they return the entire back to school packet. Click the image to grab it as a freebie in my TPT store!

Free Expository Transition Bookmarks

This week I'm on Fall Break, which is going way too fast! Next week we'll be back to school and working on Expository text. I have to admit that I'm a little obsessed with making bookmarks for my students. For some reason, they are way more likely use a bookmark as a resource than a sheet of paper.

You can download these bookmarks for free in my store. The different transition words and phrases are organized by structure and are easy to read! The bookmarks come 3 to a page, to conserve your valuable card stock. I have 97 writing students, so I do everything I can to avoid making 97 copies of anything!

Enjoy!

First Day Student Questionnaire

On the first day of school, the students walk in, quiet and ready to work.  I take advantage of this and have them complete this questionnaire for me.  Not only does it give the students something to do immediately, SILENTLY, when they walk into class, but it answers some burning questions that *I* have about the students as well.

Click here to access the questionnaire

Once I read over the questionnaire, I have a better idea of who they are, what life is like for them at home, how long they have been at my school, who their friends are, etc...I also get to see their work habits right off the bat.  This simple little questionnaire (which takes them about 20 minutes to complete) gives me a wealth of knowledge about the students.

What is something that you do on the first day of school to get to know the kids a bit better?

Back to School Freebie: The Great Writer's Race

Welcome to The Great Writer's Race! Your students will be challenging themselves to complete creative writing activities as the school year progresses. There are over 40 creative writing ideas included!

Your students will have a blast "racing" to complete the activities. This is a great addition to Daily 5, writing stations, and for a creative writing unit. You can download it by clicking here. Enjoy!