The night before my first year of teaching, I was still sitting on my living room floor at 11:30 p.m., surrounded by construction paper, laminating pouches, and a pile of back to school activities I was convinced I had to have ready before my students walked through the door.
I remember looking around and thinking,
“How am I supposed to keep this up all year?”
The truth?
I wasn’t.
And I learned that lesson the hard way.
After teaching everything from kindergarten through eighth grade, I discovered something that completely changed the way I planned.
The best classrooms aren’t created by the teacher who spends the most hours decorating, cutting, and laminating.
They’re created by teachers who can prioritize.
Somewhere along the way, I stopped asking myself,
“How can I make this lesson cuter?”
and started asking,
“How can I make this lesson easier to teach without sacrificing learning?”
That simple question has guided every resource I’ve created since.
I wasn’t looking for more activities.
I was looking for lessons I could print tonight and confidently teach tomorrow.
Here are a few of the resources I still find myself reaching for every August.
🍎 August Back-to-School Would You Rather Ice Breakers
The first week of school is all about relationships.
A simple Would You Rather? question gets students laughing, talking, and sharing without putting anyone on the spot. I love using these during morning meetings, as writing prompts, or anytime we need a quick community builder.
Sometimes classroom community starts with one silly question.
👉 Perfect for: Morning Meeting • Bell Ringers • Partner Talk • Writing Warm-Ups • First Week of School
✏️ Nouns, Verbs & Prepositions
Grammar doesn’t have to feel complicated.
These activities help students practice parts of speech in meaningful ways and are easy to use for whole-group lessons, literacy centers, independent practice, or even with a substitute.
It’s one of those resources that quietly becomes a classroom staple because it works all year long.
👉 Perfect for: Grammar Lessons • Literacy Centers • Independent Practice • Review • Sub Plans
🌟 Figurative Language Posters & Worksheets
Figurative language is one of those skills that suddenly clicks when students see it in context.
Instead of memorizing definitions, students identify, discuss, sort, and practice figurative language in meaningful ways. It’s one of those resources I find myself reaching for over and over again.
I always smile when students start pointing out similes or idioms in the books they’re reading.
👉 Perfect for: Reading Workshop • Mini Lessons • Literacy Centers • Review
🎭 Charades Game
Sometimes everyone—including the teacher—just needs to move.
These charades cards help students laugh, communicate, and get comfortable with one another while thinking they’re simply playing a game.
Those are always my favorite kinds of lessons.
👉 Perfect for: Brain Breaks • Team Building • Indoor Recess • Morning Meeting
📚 ELA Scoot Games
Scoot games have always been one of my favorite ways to review reading skills.
Students stay engaged because they’re moving around the room instead of sitting in one place, and the lesson feels more like a game than a review.
Honestly…sometimes movement is exactly what learning needs.
👉 Perfect for: Reading Review • Test Prep • Small Groups • Whole-Class Review
🗺️ States & Capitals Resources
I love activities that naturally connect subjects together.
These resources combine geography, map skills, and reading practice while making social studies meaningful and manageable.
When one activity teaches multiple skills, that’s always a win.
👉 Perfect for: Geography • Social Studies • Map Skills • Independent Practice
🎨 Fractions Color by Number
This one is math.
I’ve focused on literacy resources, but every elementary teacher wears a lot of hats.
These activities make fraction practice more engaging while giving students meaningful independent work that doesn’t require lots of teacher preparation.
Sometimes colorful learning is exactly what the afternoon needs.
👉 Perfect for: Math Centers • Review • Early Finishers • Independent Practice
Why These Made My Favorites List
They simply help students learn while giving teachers something we rarely have enough of:
Time.
These are a few of my back to school low prep literacy and math activities. Because I’ve been the teacher finishing dinner, looking at tomorrow’s lesson plans, and wondering how I was going to pull everything together.
I never wanted to create resources that added to a teacher’s workload.
I create resources that made teaching feel just a little easier.
From One Teacher to Another…
Those first days matter.
Not because your bulletin board is perfect.
Not because every basket has a matching label.
Not because your classroom looks Pinterest-worthy.
They matter because your students walk through the door and immediately feel,
“My teacher is happy to be here.”
I’ve learned that students won’t remember whether every border was straight.
But they will remember how they felt in your classroom.
Welcomed.
Encouraged.
Safe.
Seen.
If these resources give you a little more time to create that kind of classroom, then they’ve done exactly what I hoped they would.
Teaching is just sweeter when we aren’t spending every evening wondering if we’ve done enough.
I’m wishing you a peaceful start to the school year, plenty of moments that make you smile, and a classroom filled with students who remind you why you became a teacher in the first place.
Happy teaching,
Melissa
Peas in a Pod Lessons
www.peasinapodlessons.com
