This week's topic is PUZZLES!  Do you use puzzles in your classroom?  My kids LOVE puzzles (and, honestly, so do I!) so why not make them educational!?  

There are lots of different ways to make puzzles.  They can all look the same or the pieces can be very different.  They can have only 2 pieces or have lots of pieces.  

But, how do you keep them all organized?  I have found that printing them in different colors can help!  You can color code them by skill (telling time, money, synonyms, etc.), by level (separate them into groups so kids know which color puzzles they should always look for), or by number of pieces in the puzzle.  

There are a lot of great ideas out there on ways to organize your puzzles so the pieces don't get lost or mixed up.  You can use envelopes (laminate the first for extra durability!), baggies, various containers from around the house, school supply boxes or pencil bags, or binders.  

Check out some of the CREATIVE storage solutions I have compiled on my Pinterest page {HERE}.  Two of my favorite are these.  

The first is to put the puzzles inside of pencil pouches that fit inside 3 ring binders.  This would be great to use to store puzzles by subject, time of year, or size!  (This picture was found on Pinterest, but did not have a link to the original location).  The second picture is from Counting Coconuts.  These containers were used for large wooden puzzles, but I think they could work with any type of puzzles and even for classroom games!  Since they are easy to stack, they would be easy to store.  Just attach a label with the name of the puzzle or game (or write directly on the container with a Sharpie!).  

And, how about a way to use the puzzles you already have in an educational way?  Use the back of the puzzles!  

For this example, I used a puzzle I found at the Dollar Tree. 

 I put the puzzle together on an opened pizza box turned upside down.  After the puzzle was complete, I put the other half of the pizza box on the top of the puzzle and flipped it over so I could write on the back of the puzzle with the pieces in order.  If you have some fast finishers in your class, they could even write on the back for you.  (Suggestion:  If you are going to do this with more than 1 puzzle at a time, use different colored markers so you can easily identify which puzzle they go with!)

For this one, I created a hundreds chart.  This makes differentiation easy!  Students can put the whole puzzle together or you can have part of it already put together and have them fill in the missing pieces.  You could also use the puzzle for matching math facts, words in alphabetical order, or even skip counting.

Students can put the puzzle pieces together upside down (by putting the numbers in order) and when they are finished, they can flip it over to see what they have designed!

Want some puzzles for your classroom?  I have 2 Puzzle Packs on sale at Educents this week only!  My Math Puzzle Pack includes puzzles for shapes, telling time, coins, and numbers.  There are 2, 3, and 4 piece puzzles and lots of options in this big pack!  

For my CVC pack, I have puzzles for each of the short vowel sounds.  Recording sheets are included in all of my puzzle packs!  

What are YOUR best tips for working with puzzles?  

An InLinkz Link-up

Cool Supplies at the Big Box Stores

I promised my teenager a trip to the store yesterday, and I entertained myself looking for school supplies while trying to ignore what she was picking out to try on.  I mean, why raise my blood pressure until I absolutely have to do so?

We hit Target, which honestly is about the only store we ever get to……and I think I spent 10-15 minutes at the Dollar Spot inside the door.  Then I moved on the toys and games for the 4^th grader, and managed to find a game for school, and then finally we hit the summer clearance.  I had half a cart for me!  But look at what I found:

To be fair, I found the small crates (and big ones) at WalMart. 

Let me tell you how I plan to use all of these items.

US Maps – $1 – Target Dollar Spot – If you are like me and have zero classroom maps, these are just fabulous – and cheap.  I bought 12 and plan to laminate them in order to make them “dry erase” maps.  The maps do have the state names and capitals on them, but in 5^th grade we do landforms, waterways, etc., so this will be a terrific hands on tool.

Megaphone - $1.40 on clearance in the summer aisle – Target – Well, some of us are not blessed with loud whistles, and honestly, it was just cool (and loud.)

Packs of Erasers - $1 – Target Dollar Spot – My kids told me to get the packs of ice cream and crayon erasers.  There were also apples.  I plan to use these as cheap rewards. 

Dictionaries - $1 Target Dollar Spot – Okay, I know you are thinking, dictionaries?  However, they also had thesaurus and rhyming dictionaries.  (For Spanish teachers, they have Spanish-English dictionaries.)  I bought a rhyming dictionary and thesaurus for each table group.

Campbell’s Soup Alphabet Game - $7 – Target Game Clearance – I totally do not intend to play this as the game.  It comes with 36 alphabet dice.  I am thinking of using this to play Boggle on the doc cam.

Picnic Utensil Holder - $8 – Target Summer Clearance – Depending on where you live, these may be hard to find.  My Target only had 2 left, but I bought some last summer – they have them every year in different colors.  These are metal, so they are a bit pricey – that is why I try to catch them on clearance.  These are just the best organizers in the world.  Seriously.  I reorganized my entire craft closet at home with them.  I have one on my desk at school.  This year I plan to try table groups, and I am going to put a number on each one and keep the table supplies in it: pencils, highlighters, scissors, glue, thesaurus, rhyming dictionary, etc. 

Crates – small $1, large $3.50 – WalMart – They had at least 5 colors of the mini-crates and many more of the large ones.  I used the small ones to organize my classroom library last year, and I actually ran out of space.  Apparently, this size is hard to find after the college supplies are gone.  For $1, grab as many as you think you will need, and then add a few more.  I use the large ones for everything.  I use one for a library book return, one for portfolios, one for “to be copied,” etc.

Have you found any great deals for back to school?  What is your best classroom organization tip?

Amy Mezni

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Crazy about LEGO Bricks but not sure how to store them?

I don’t know about you, but I love to play with LEGO bricks probably more than most of my students do.  I wanted to use them in my class for math and science, but couldn’t figure out how to easily store them.  At the craft store, I saw organizers for the ever popular Rainbow Loom bracelet stuff and inspiration hit!  I bought 6 of them to use for Lego brick storage (one box per table group).

I bought a few Lego kits on clearance and sorted them by size of brick.  Then I grouped them by color.  Well, I tried to group them by color, but I did end up having to use multiple colors in many cases unless I wanted to buy a lot more Lego kits…..which I didn’t.  I plan to use my kits for fraction work, so I decided that I wanted to set up the kits with multiples of bricks.  For example, for 1 2 x 12 brick, I would need 3 2 x 4 bricks.  Therefore, plan to use many more of the smaller bricks than the bigger bricks. 

Once I sorted out the bricks, I had a variety of wheels, windows, doors, etc.  I decided to divide those pieces up and include them for possible STEM activities.  Lego has also been sending me emails about using the bricks to plan writing activities, so I included a few people.   The uses for Lego bricks are endless!  I just love them. 

Before I take the kits into the classroom, I plan to vinyl my name and “Table X” in the lids.  You can find vinyl letters in the craft aisle at a well-known big box store and in craft stores.

When I use these with the kids, I will make sure to give them time to play first – and enforce the rules of separating the bricks back in the correct locations when finished. 

How do you use Lego bricks in the classroom?  Do you have a terrific storage idea?  If you do, please share!

Amy Mezni

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