Dollar Store Scores

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a super-fan of the dollar store.  It's the place where dreams come true.  I promise.

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I've had the occasional lottery fantasy here and there.  In my fantasy, I've just won and I'm in my favorite department store.  I run past the racks, grabbing anything and everything I want with no regard for price!  So far in my life, my excursions to the dollar store are the closest thing to this fantasy coming to life.  

I love going in there knowing everything is going to be the same dirt cheap price.  As teachers, we are crafty and creative by nature.  We can turn everyday items that others perceive as "trash" into practical classroom tools and projects.  When I go to the dollar store I find myself taking a second and third look at everything they have to offer.  You never know, you may just find the most amazing and useful thing for your classroom in the home cleaning section.

On one of my recent treks to the dollar store I came across this gem.  This beauty was just laying there in the office/school supplies section waiting for me to scoop him up and take him to my classroom.  I bought several of them to put in my students' toolboxes and a few extras to have on hand.

Students with reading disabilities often benefit from enlarged print.  The problem that I have is that it is not always easy or convenient to get every single printed piece in large print for every single student.  Additionally, when I'm not with them in their general education classroom, their teachers may give them things to read with small print but they might be too shy or unaware to tell them that they are having a hard time reading.  

In my opinion, this magnifying reader is a winner across the board.  My students are able to use this when reading in my classroom AND I can give them one to take to their classroom for reading items in there.  

Us special education teachers tend to accumulate a variety of different tools and we want to give them out to our students.  The problem is...we don't always get them back.  Students, being the young children that they are, tend to lose things.  At the grand price of $1 I can afford to let them take one back to class and not have to do a count every day to make sure that I'm maintaining my supply.  

Here is a look at the reader that I found, I'm sure that there are many different options in each dollar store throughout the country.  Happy hunting!