Dollar Store Deals That Will Level Up Your Literacy Block

Dollar store deals are the BEST. Do you agree? I’m guessing that you might because in 2020 Dollar Tree had 25.5 billion dollars in sales!  Apparently, lots of people love a dollar deal!

During this DT shopping trip, I was on the hunt for items to enhance literacy centers.  I bet you occasionally enjoy flipping through the fancy catalogs that arrive in your school mailbox, but they are just NOT affordable. 

Hello…we are living on teaching salaries!  

That is why I wanted to find you dollar store deals that will bring the fun to your literacy centers and lessons. Even though the price has gone up to $1.25, I still found some great buys at Dollar Tree last week that I know you are going to want to snag. This is not an affiliate post, I am just sharing products that teachers will love!

I love these items because they are:

• multipurpose (more bang for your buck)
• fun for kids
• affordable for teachers

 Ready to check them out?  Let’s dive in!

Dollar Store Deal 1: Etch-a Sketch Doodle

The first item that I found is the mini Etch-A-Sketch Doodle.  It is a mini magnet board that you can write on and easily clear the words away by sliding the knob across the bottom.

You can use this doodle board in so many different ways:

• write sight words
• write spelling words
• answer questions from the teacher and then hold them up to share their answer
• draw a quick doodle

These are just some of the ways you can use it in your literacy block, but you could also use it during math time for problem-solving, writing equations, and more!

My favorite thing about this item is that it makes writing and erasing easy and fun.  I hate seeing a student erase on a piece of paper and accidentally tear it.  That just brings frustration that no one needs in their day.

Dollar Store Deal 2: Name Badges

You are also going to want to grab a pack of name badges. There are five badges in a package which makes it a great value. 

What can you do with these awesome badges? (Besides the obvious!)

You can:

• use them for a sight word of the day activity-wear it around your neck and call on students to read the word at various times
• create a vocabulary word of the day-challenge students to try to use that word as much as possible throughout the day
• pose a question for students to answer
• share a fun fact about an author you are studying

Other uses:

• math fact of the day
• foreign language words
• science and social studies vocab words

The possibilities are wide open!

The only thing I don’t like about the badges is the color scheme.  I would prefer if they were all black or rainbow colors!

#3: Dry-Erase Foam Block

Have you seen the foam dry-erase block?  This six-sided die has dry-erase sides, so you can write and erase!

I would definitely use this die during literacy circles.  You can write out questions regarding a story that you are reading.  Students would take turns rolling and answering the questions. Brings a lot of hype to an otherwise ordinary activity!

You could also write out story elements to identify in the text such as:

• main character
• supporting characters
• setting-where
• setting-when
• theme
• conflict
• resolution
• piont of view
• theme

(If you are interested in learning more about story elements, check out Ashley E’s post, “What are Story Elements?”)

The foam die would also be fun to use during phonics instruction.  You could add sounds to the die, and have the students name words that start with the sound that was rolled.

In math, you could write facts to solve, numbers or fractions to represent, or even shapes to draw on each side of the die.  

For science class, it would be great to write the states of matter on each side and have students name things to represent them.  You could also add the five senses to the dice and have students share something that they could see, taste, touch, hear, or feel.

What if you are working with a topic that doesn’t have 6 categories?  You could always add a free-choice spot on the die.  Students love having the freedom to choose what they share!

I love that this die is made of foam.  If you are using it in a small group, the sound of the die being rolled will not be distracting to other groups.  It is larger than other dice, so that also gives it an extra element of fun.

#4: Classroom Word Swatter

My favorite of the dollar store deals might be the Classroom Word Swatter!  The star shape swatter has a cut-out for highlighting a specific word.

The two main times I use word swatters are:

• when reading a big book
• when working on a pocket chart activity

While I am reading from a big book, I like to have students come up and interact with the book.  I may ask them to swat sight words or words with particular beginning sounds.  They could also swat different parts of speech or something out of the illustration.

If I am reading a non-fiction book, I would ask students to swat the different non-fiction text features.

These swatters are so versatile.  One math review activity I like to do is to write a bunch of numbers randomly all over my whiteboard.  I’ll call out a math fact and have the student go up and swat the correct answer.

This is an easy way to gear up and gear down the review game.  You could do simple addition facts, double-digit subtraction, or any operation based on your students’ needs.

Swatter activities are also great for filling those random blocks of time that pop up during the day, like right before lunch or dismissal.

#5: Magnifying Sheet

The last dollar store deal  I want to tell you about is the magnifying sheet.  This product can be used in an obvious way.  It can magnify text for students that have vision impairments or for a child that forgot his/her glasses at home.

There are other ways to have fun with this sheet.  My first-grade students love to play detective.  You can create a sight word search by creating a picture from clip art and hiding sight words throughout the picture.  You make the font size very small so that it can only be read with the magnifying glass.

This is a fun way for students to practice reading their sight words.  Again, this could be replicated with number words, number sentences, etc. to provide another use for this tool.

I think the magnifying sheet is a lot of fun, but I don’t find it to be quite as versatile as the other dollar store products I found.

Finding the best dollar store deals takes some careful shaping and creative thinking, but lucky for you I have done the work for you!

This means you can purchase the items and implement them right away in your classroom without wasting any time. If you don’t have a dollar tree in your area, you can shop online by clicking here.

Want more product ideas for the classroom?  Check out my post featuring my must-have items from Amazon. I also have more ideas about students engagement here!

If you are into making sensory bins check out this post from Racovic Speech and Language Chat to find some great dollar store fillers.

Looking for a FREEBIE? Don’t forget to grab my guide, “Seven Mistakes to Avoid When Teaching First Grade” here.

Have fun on your dollar store run!