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Uncategorized   |   May 1, 2012

Fun Free Stuff to Print

By Angela Watson

Founder and Writer

Fun Free Stuff to Print

By Angela Watson

fun_free_stuff_to_print

Part of maintaining a well-run classroom is having lots of kid-friendly learning tools, such as centers, manipulatives, flashcards, pocket chart activities, and so on to make lessons interesting and interactive. Unfortunately, filling your classroom with these types of things can be expensive and searching for free stuff on the internet is time-consuming.

So, I’ve collected a bunch of incredible sites with FREE printables of all sorts–NOT just worksheets! Most of the printables are in Word form, meaning you can change them as you see fit, but all that’s really  needed is to print and use! Please leave a comment at the bottom of the page if any links no longer work, or to add your own ideas.

 

Resource

Description

Source and Website Link

AROUND THE ROOM
Book Bin Labels Type in any genre you have in your classroom library, print, and affix.  Or, modify with graphics or your own choice. Download here or visit Teaching Heart site
Educational posters Free and printable! Print-a-poster.com
Color words posters Words enhanced by beautiful Jan Brett art (author of The Mitten and many other children’s classics) Jan Brett
Manuscript and cursive alphabet displays Use as a model or for a word wall- beautiful art Jan Brett
Number displays Numeral and corresponding objects in pretty Jan Brett art Jan Brett
Phonics posters For word families and blends. Adrian Bruce
Reading strategy posters Text connections, main idea, visualizing, and much more. Site is difficult to navigate, but great resources ARE there.
Northshore School District, WA
Customizable center signs These labels are fully customizable and feature photographs of young children: you must register (for free) to create them EI Child
Center signs These full-color signs can’t be customized, but there are a wide variety of them and they’re adorable AbcTeach
GAMES
Game boards Pre-made and template gameboards, token pieces, die, and much more for centers and math tub games- all FREE Jefferson County Schools
Blank gameboards Adapt these for any skill you want students to practice. The School Bell
Open-ended game boards These can be used for any skill.  You only have to make the materials once and then can ‘transform’ them into different skills practice activities. Carl’s Corner
Blank game cards and boards (for sight words, math facts, vocab, etc.) The possibilities here are endless.  There are a variety of adorable cards for you to type in the info you want your kids to memorize, print, and cut apart.  They can play Memory, Go Fish, use as flashcards, etc. Kelly’s Kindergarten
Task and number cards, bingo boards For centers and whole-class games The File Cabinet of Laura Candler
Oversized playing cards Just print and laminate- see my Math Tub pages for educational card game directions Teach.net
FLASHCARDS
Flashcard pattern with fun polka dot border Insert spelling words, cards for a game, vocab, etc. Download here or visit The Virtual Vine site
Phonograms -ack, -ump, etc. with gorgeous Jan Brett art Jan Brett
Numbers More Jan Brett art!! Jan Brett
Addition, subtraction, multiplication, division So pretty and versatile Jan Brett
FOR THE KIDS
Awards There are lots of these on the net, but these are some of the best. Billy Bear 4 Kids
Student binder organizers Whether you use MOOSE, BEE, or FROG, choose from a wide variety of themes- these binder covers and organizer tabs will keep your kids’ papers in order! Teaching Heart
Mini-Offices A simple way to keep frequently-used words and math concepts at hand for students as they work.  Instructions for use plus printable displays for mini-offices. Mrs. Meachem
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
Classroom Grading Aid (also known as E-Z Grader) Print out this tool to help you calculate grades. Download here or visit Mrs. Perkins’ site
Forms for EVERYTHING classroom management Birthday cards, thank-yous, attendance, graph paper, daily logs, referral letters, behavior documentation, good note home, book check out, star of the week…this list is never ending!! Teacher Tools
INSTRUCTIONAL TOOLS
Family Literacy Backpacks Have you always wanted to send home those cut little clear backpacks with books and activities for families to enjoy, but thought it would be too much work?  Just print the pre-made activities sorted by book topic and title and save hours of prep time. Buddy Project
Printable leveled children’s books Reading A-Z has free books you can download and use in your small group reading instruction.  Leave them in black and white, color them, or have students color them.  Add to your classroom library or use with multiple copies in small group lessons.  You have to pay to subscribe, but without doing so, you should be able to get at least one book for every reading group you have, as well as worksheets, lesson plans, and Spanish and French versions. Reading A-Z
Printable seasonal activities book Print this out and keep in a binder with your other professional resources, or file each individual page in your seasonal files.  There is an activity for every season and holiday! Download here or visit the Teacher Vision site
The Reading-Writing Poster Back This downloadable set of posters helps children determine what good writing looks like using kid-friendly and relevant terms, and is an excellent teaching tool to display. (Submitted by JAR in NY). Download here or visit the Teaching That Makes Sense site
Word Family resources Poems, worksheets, games, puzzles, and much more for nearly 70 word families, created by a now retired (and very talented) teacher. Carl’s Corner: Word Way
Blank worksheet templates 8 different templates.  Print these out to create your own customized worksheets. Billy Bear 4 Kids
Handwriting practice pages Zaner-Bloser: manuscript and cursive. Mrs. Bauer
Journal pages Free illistrated story starters. Simple, colorful journal prompts with lines for response; print and bind to create journals or distribute as individual assignments Chateau Meddybemps
Graphic organizers Attractive KWLs, webs, planning charts, time lines, venns, and more. Education Place
Story props These are COOL! picture cards to use with a huge assortment of stories.  You can use them to act out stories, magnetize them, have kids sequence, them, wear them as masks, make puppets, etc. Little Giraffes
4 Blocks goodies Word wall lists and activities, nifty-thrifty-fifty words, brand name lessons, SSR resources, reading logs, making words, making words, bookmarks…. Teachers.Net
+ and – fact tests and activities These are fabulous and very creative!  I have adapted many of the games for multiplication and division practice, as well. The School Bell
Printable math manipulatives Base-ten blocks, pattern blocks, rods, color tiles, graph paper, etc. Dr. Margo Lynn Mankus

 

The Virtual Vine has all printables listed on one page for quick and easy reference. The resources are geared primarily toward first and second grade literacy skills.

Carl’s Corner is probably THE BEST site for free primary literacy printables on the ‘net right now.  I was absolutely blown away when I first visited.  I’ve been there a dozen times, and still haven’t seen all the center ideas, free (beautiful) open-ended worksheets, sight word/word wall activities, sound sorting sheets, vowel jeopardy, Elkonin boxes, onset/rime sorting cards, shape and flip books, penny pushes, bookmarks, and much more, along with TONS of alphabet resources for PreK/K.

The Reading Lady runs The Mosiac List-Serve, which is the most valuable source of elementary and middle school reading comprehension resource that I have ever come across.  There is a near-endless list of documents to download, from comprehension rubrics, reading conference forms, reading strategies bookmarks, SSR self-evaluation rubrics, schema studies, reader’s theater scripts, Power Point presentations, text feature search worksheets, and resources for the 6 Traits of Writing and 4 Blocks.

ILoveThatTeachingIdea.com has hall passes, bingo boards, Venn Diagrams, graph grids, and more printables, plus lots of great teacher tips.

Laura Candler’s File Cabinet includes many printables in a very professional and colorful format.  Many printables consist of explanations so you know just how to use them in the classroom.  Most are in Adobe form, so no editing!  They’re best for gr. 2-6, in my opinion. Some examples of what you’ll find: multiple intelligences surveys and resources, permission forms, hall passes, progress reports, homework chart and homework pass, timeout form, class handbook, make-up assignments list, field trip reflections, classroom money, partner and collaborative activities, and games/printable manipulatives.

 

Angela Watson

Founder and Writer

Angela created the first version of this site in 2003, when she was a classroom teacher herself. With 11 years of teaching experience and more than a decade of experience as an instructional coach, Angela oversees and contributes regularly to...
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Discussion


  1. This page alone is worth gold in my book! Thank you so much! I have just spent 3 hours looking at all the different pages and have so many more to view! Thanks for making this!

    1. You’re very welcome, Beth! The number of free printables on the web seems to be getting smaller every year, but there are still some real jewels out there. I’m happy to compile them for you. 🙂

  2. Thank you so much for putting all of these great free items together. This is so awesome. You have given me so much help with one click. 🙂

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