I am a HUGE advocate for keeping things simple in every part of your life. While sometimes I like to be extra, there are some things that I have loved having in my third-grade classroom that have been life-savers. Here is the best BASIC amazon teacher wish list for anyone teaching third grade:
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1. Velcro Dots
You will go through 10 pairs of scissors before the year is over if you buy velcro on a strip. These velcro dots are going to save your sanity and your scissors. I use these dots for schedules, calendars, job charts, centres, binders, and so much more in my third-grade classroom. Put your tape away and take out your velcro dots!
2. Pocket Chart
Pocket charts are the one thing that I thought every teacher used so since I’ve been teaching I have always had a myriad of sizes at my disposal. Each year, I am able to find a new use for each pocket chart. The one pictured below has received the most love and attention and has been used for our daily class schedule, a job chart and a word bank. What will you use your pocket chart for this year?
3. Binder Rings
It took me a while to realize what a gem these binder rings truly are in my third-grade classroom. On my word wall, students use lists of words attached by binder rings by grabbing the ring and the words attached to it, bringing it to their desk or writing area, finding their word and then returning it. Some letters get more attention than others, that’s for sure.
I have found that when I add any laminated item or group of items (ex. flashcards, task cards, word lists, to-do lists, pictures, activities, etc.) to a binder ring, I lose fewer pieces and all the cards in a set get returned to me. I call that a win-win.
4. Command Hooks
To go along with the binder rings, Command hooks are absolutely necessary! I use these hooks on the walls, bulletin boards and the students desks in my classroom to hold the binder rings securely and clearly in the desired spot. On my word wall, each letter had a command hook, a binder ring and a list of third-grade classroom words starting with that letter. My makerspace has a row of command hooks that hold thematic and seasonal images of items students may create in the classroom.
5. A class set of clipboards
This has been one of my best and most used investments in my third-grade classroom. The clipboards I use in my classroom are still the same colour as the ones pictured below, however, I hope to one day coordinate them and make them colourful for the students. The great thing about these clipboards is that you can leave them as is, or you can customize them, label them or make them as colourful as you like! Students and teachers alike, use these clipboards when using flexible seating in my third-grade classroom but also the box is brought outside when we are doing outdoor classroom days and that makes this item an important Amazon basic for the third-grade classroom.
6. Jenga Game
Whether you use this as a game for use during indoor recess, math game or as a behaviour incentive – it will be a classroom basic for years to come. This game was in my supply teacher bag and every job that I picked up, I would bring my Jenga Game, set it up at the front of the class and tell the students this: “For every kind word, polite move, respectful gesture you show me today in class, I will let you take a turn at the game. For every misbehaviour I will remove a block from the game.” Needless to say, the majority of students were excited about it and it helped with my classroom management game!
7. Alphabet Stamps
This set is a flexible tool because it can be used in most elementary classrooms from kindergarten to third-grade. This Amazon basic I find useful in my third-grade classroom because I use it at a word work station. Word work is one of five language rotations that my third-grade students go through daily as we follow the Daily 5 Literacy framework. Students stamp their word lists into their notebooks – this really helps with kinaesthetic learners!
8. Playing Cards
Not just for magic tricks, playing cards can used for so many things! You will surely get your money’s worth with this Amazon basic. Attach a photo of each student in your class to a different card and voila – you have an instant student selector tool. Add two decks of playing cards to a math centre and you have an addition, subtraction or multiplication game and students will get plenty of practice on their computational skills. It’s too cold to go out for recess, grab a deck of cards and keep your students entertained. In my third-grade classroom, I teach a unit on Strong and Stable structures. We always use playing cards to build structures and have contests to see who can build the tallest one!
Here is a little trick to help keep your cards in order:
- Place each deck in a crayon container from the dollar store.
- Choose a symbol for each deck and mark it on the back of each card to make it identifiable. I use easy to prep marks like: X and O
- Teach students how many cards to check for in a deck, prior and post play.
9. Your Favourite Book
This is as basic as it gets – Bring your favourite book to your third-grade classroom and inspire your students to find their love for reading and explore new books. I have a handful of books I love to read in my third-grade classroom every year, however, The One and Only Ivan is one of my absolute favourites. Encourage good reading habits by reading to your students each and every day – whether they are in third-grade or sixth. I guess the question now becomes, which book will you read to your students first? If you just cannot decide, I highly recommend this book:
And that’s a wrap! These are the 9 Amazon BASICS that I think every teacher would benefit from having in their classrooms but especially those amazing and wonderful people who teach third-grade. What do you think is missing from this list? Share your Amazon BASICS recommendations in the comments below!
