Thanksgiving is easily one of my favorite holidays for a number of reasons, mainly the food. Before I developed my dairy allergy, my Nana’s chicken and dressing and macaroni salad always adorned my plate, as well as Gaga’s chocolate pudding pie. Now, I am all about my vegan green bean casserole and homemade stuffing. Another Thanksgiving favorite of mine is decorating for Christmas and shopping!! You will never catch me in the madness that is Black Friday shopping in person because my large crowd and driving anxiety could NEVER! However, give me a little glass of prosecco and my MacBook and I will happily shop until I drop…or our internet does.
The Cyber TPT sale is coming up quickly and I want to share my Top 5 TPT Stores that you should shop from this year. I am really selective with the resources that I purchase on TPT because I want to make sure that they are high quality and engaging. Over the last few years, I have become a repeat shopper at the 5 stores listed below. I have gotten to know some of these authors on a more personal level through social media and I can really see the hard work that goes into each and every resource. I have used many resources from the stores listed below and I cannot recommend them enough. So, without anymore hesitation, let’s get into it!
This blog post is not sponsored and I do not receive monetary compensation for these recommendations. These recommendations are my own. If you are interested in a featured sponsored blog post, please email hayleeziegler@gmail.com for a media kit.
My Top 5 TPT Stores
Profe. Zulita
If you are looking for proficiency-based resources that are not only comprehensible but truly engaging for students, then Profe. ‘Zulita needs to be on your list of stores to explore. Courtney and I got to know each other in 2020 as we were both contracted to work on digitizing the curriculum for another author. I quickly saw how creative and talented she was when it came to creating resources and writing CI stories. I love supporting Courtney because her content is creative, engaging, and accurate. Over the last year, her store has really taken off and she has worked really hard to become a leader in the field.
Some of my favorite resources are her word walls, flippable date calendar, and her guided notes. Recently, my students used her Adjective Guided Notes to explore the four different types of adjective categories. My students in my previous school enjoyed using her Smashdoodle template to summarize and review class stories we created. I highly recommend giving her store a visit.
My wishlist:
The Comprehensible Classroom:
No surprise here that the SOMOS curriculum is my saving grace each and every single day. I am sure you have heard about her popular items, like Somos, Somos Flex, and El Mundo en Tus Manos…but have you ever explored her Independent Textivities??? I recently implemented a reader’s workshop in my classroom where my students met in small groups to read a CI novel and they also had time to complete activities to help them review the text. The activities I used were a mixture of my own, but also came from the Textivities Bundle from TCC. There are activities for annotation, summarization, cause and effect, etc. With over 30 activities to choose from, the options are really endless and the best part about these textivities is that they can be used over and over and over again for any text. They have saved me hours of planning and are a great help in a Reader’s Workshop. I can’t wait to see what new resources Martina and friends create in 2022!
My wishlist:
Manzana para la Maestra
I stumbled upon this store last Spring when I was looking for something to help my kids with clothing vocabulary and to use while I was out doing a tour of my new school. To my surprise, I walked into my coworker’s room to see her using the EXACT SAME RESOURCE that my kids were doing.
I purchased her Clothing Escape Room and my kids really enjoyed it. It took them roughly three days to complete which was perfect for my timeline. The parts of the escape room could easily be taken and done individually and spread out throughout a unit. My idea for this year is to use the escape room as an alternative assessment and have each learner complete each part of the escape room individually but over the course of an entire unit as their formative assessments. Once they complete all of them, they can unlock the Google Form and “escape”! It requires a lot of mastery over the topic at hand, which is why I am okay with counting it as a summative assessment for theme-based units.
I highly recommend checking out Manzana para la Maestra if you are a hybrid or remote teacher looking for engaging materials that are high-quality and easy to implement. I love that she has a range of materials that work for Spanish, French, and ELA classrooms.
My wishlist:
Spanish with Sra. Shaw
Sra. Shaw is the QUEEN of creating IPA activities and culture-focused content. I am closing in on using over 10 of her resources in my classroom and I cannot recommend this store enough if you are looking for true proficiency-based activities and units. Most recently, I used her Gustar/Pasatiempos IPA and it was very well put together and engaging. My absolute most used activity is her Interpretive Reading tasks in the IPA’s I have. Creating interpretive reading tasks was always something that I struggled with and I was really inspired to see how she sets them up and it gave me the confidence to create some of my own to use with other authentic resources. I would highly recommend giving her store a visit.
My wishlist:
- Personal descriptions IPA
- Class Schedule Interpersonal Speaking Activity
- Spanish Forecast Weather Stations
Srta. Spanish
I think over 1/4th of my TPT purchases within the last 4 years have come from this store. I have never purchased something from this store that I didn’t love and continuously use. From her Corre en Circulos to her topic bundles, I cannot express how much I truly appreciate Ashley’s materials. I learned about Google My Maps Virtual Field Trips from her that are really great as sub plans! I also appreciate her blog srtaspanish.com because she gives really great advice and has a free resources section for subscribers! A`
My Wishlist:
Well, there you have it, my top 5 TPT stores! The TPT sale runs from November 29th and 30th so be sure to set an alarm or calendar event so you don’t miss out on supporting teacher-authors and their small businesses.
3 Responses
Thank you for the detailed suggestions!! I will definitely explore them 🙂
Do you know the Miraflores resources? I specialize in culture and write ready made units for four levels of Spanish and French 1.
Happy Channukah.
Eva
I have not but I will definitely check out your store! Thank you for the recommendation.