Math Centers in Kindergarten

Every year I said the same thing to myself, 'I am going to start math centers this year', and then I never did.  Every year I continued to use our county's curriculum, which has been 'Go Math' for awhile now.  I would still use math centers in my room but it would normally be A math center during my literacy block.  The more I researched math centers, the more I realized that I wasn't doing what was best for my students.  I needed to give them more hands on experiences and less time in the actual math book. 

Last year I finally made that change. It was the best math decision I had ever made!

Students here are playing 'One More' together.  They roll one die, add one, and cover that number.  They each use their own color manipulative so at the end of the game, whoever has the most colors on the board, wins! (If you roll the die, add one, and there are no more of that number on the board, you skip a turn!)

Do I still use my math curriculum from the county?

Yes, I still use Go Math; however, I am lucky enough to work for a school that allows me to use the math book as a resource instead of a must! I use the math book as a guide for the standards that I need to teach.  I also still use my math book for some of our whole group instruction.

What does my math block look like?

Your math block really depends on how much time you have allotted and what your school/county requires; however, I include math videos, a whole group mini lesson, guided math groups, and small group (or independent) rotations. 

1. Math Videos:

I LOVE youtube for math videos! I can pretty much find any skill that I need online and my students seem to learn best with songs! I'll have a math video post coming soon so you can see some of my favorites!

2. Whole Group Mini Lesson:

This is when I'll use my math book to drive my instruction.  I like to use the vocabulary and terms found in the book to ensure that my students are familiar with the terms that they will hear repeated throughout the school years with Go Math. We sit on the carpet in a huge circle with our math books in front of us.  We do a ton of 'math talk' and even practice some examples in the book. 

3. Guided Math Groups (15-20 minutes per group):

As my students are working in their math centers, I pull small groups up to my table to work on different skills.  Think of this as the same as your guided reading--different groups will be working on different skills based on their needs.  This allows me to differentiate the learning to meet the needs of that particular group. I may have a group working on number formation while another group is working on addition.

4. Small Group Rotations (15-20 minutes a rotation):

I have 8 math centers ready to go each Monday.  My students will only go to 2 centers a week, Monday-Thursday.  On Friday they have 'choice' and are not assigned centers.  I do not pull math groups on Fridays either (unless I have a student really struggling). 

Below you can see a ton of pictures to see what my centers look like.  Click HERE for another post to see more, easy prep, math centers.  A math center may also be on the computer, iPad, or even a center for students to just explore manipulatives. 

Above you can see a child 'counting the room' which is the same as 'write the room'.  Below you can see a 'spinner center' where students are spinning two spinners and comparing to practice greater than and less than.

In the two images below you can see children working on using manipulatives to count objects and graph them. When they are finished with their graph, they have to analyze their data.

In the two images below you can see students working on subtraction.

Below is an activity you can use as an 'add the room' activity or you can just leave it at a center.  Students have to add both sides of their cards to create an addition sentence.

These centers repeat month after month, just adding on to the skill or becoming a little bit more challenging.  This way not only do my students already know how to complete the center, but they are constantly working on all of their standards.  We don't just learn a standard in September and then never hit on that standard again.

Above, you can see a child working on 'what number comes next' to help them to count forward from any given number.  Below, you can see that we have started our 3D shape unit. This child is sorting shapes.

In this center students will spin the spinner and write the number.  Then they will create a number bond.  LOVE this!

Again, we are working on number bonds just in a different way.  This time, students will roll 2 dice and record the numbers. Then they will solve. 

At this pocket chart math center students are sorting their equations.

Here we are working on greater than/less than again (as seen earlier on in this post); however, we are working on the same skill in a different way, this time using dice.

What if I don't have time to meet with all of my groups/complete 4 rotations?

I don't either, so don't worry!! I only meet with 2 groups a day and my students only go to 2 rotations a day (even though there are 8 rotations introduced and going on in my classroom). This means that I meet with my students twice a week Monday-Thursday. (Fridays we do math tubs, but I let my students choose where they want to go).  So if I have 4 math groups, I meet with group A and B on Monday, group C and D on Tuesday, and then back to A and B on Wednesday. 

Try one of my math centers by clicking on the image below.

You can also see the entire BUNDLE below.

What are people saying about this math center bundle?
"This goes along exactly with the skills I teach month by month. It saves me so much work by not having to create it myself."
"This product was a HUGE time savor for math intervention groups and math centers. My K students loved them!"
"Every Kindergarten teacher needs this bundle! Thank you"
"This has made math centers in my room so much easier! Each month the centers are very similar and the students know what is expected. Love the I can cards. Thank you!!"
"One of my favorite purchases! This bundle is wonderful- thanks!!"
"This is such a wonderful product at a reasonable price! I love that it matches perfectly with the scope and sequence of my math series. I also like how I can pull centers from previous months for those who struggle or pull one from months we haven't gotten to yet for those who are more advanced. It's nice to have everything I need in one place!"
"In the past I have made many of my own math stations (what I call centers for math) to correspond with what I am teaching. This year I have no aide for the first time in twenty years of kindergarten. When I saw your packet, I dubbed you my "aide" (hahaha!!) and knew that I had to have this math bundle to help keep me sane this year. Thank you so much!! PS - I LOVE your products!! :)"

SaveSave

Gingerbread Hunt in Kindergarten [Free Gingerbread Hunt Cards Included]

Last week we spent the week reading TONS of gingerbread books. We read the Gingerbread Man, Gingerbread Boy, Gingerbread Girl, The Gingerbread Baby, Gingerbread Cowboy, the Gingerbread Bear, the Gingerbread Pirates....you name it, I have it!! I probably have and read WAY too many gingerbread books this week.  Is there such thing of too many gingerbread books?

Well, on Friday we had a guest reader (a student's grandmother) in for our 'book and cook'.  We read, The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School. 

When she was done reading we talked about what we would do if a gingerbread man got loose in our school.  The kids said, ' no way that could ever actually happen!' I agreed ;)

Then, each table was given a gingerbread cookie kit.  They had to work together to create a gingerbread man, girl, baby, boy, pirate, anything their little hearts desired!

I found the kits at our local Publix; however, you can also find them HERE.

When they were done, we had 4 delicious looking cookies! But, it was our playground time so we went out to the park and I promised the students we would be able to eat our cookies as soon as we got back!

On our way to the park we realized we forgot to tell our gingerbread cookies to stay put! So we turned around to tell them, just in case they were going to run!  

(I had our guest reader hide them for me in the classroom next door).

But, when we got back to our room to tell them, they were already gone! We found a clue on our front board and followed the clues around the school.  The kids LOVED it!

You can download these gingerbread hunt cards for free by clicking on the image below.

 

While we were on our 'hunt' the grandmother put our cookies back into our room.  The last clue led us back to our classroom and there they were!  We ate them as fast as would could so they wouldn't run away again!

Delicious!

Asking for an Elf on the Shelf

Have you been debating on whether or not to have an Elf in your classroom?  Well, I absolutely LOVE having an Elf in the class during this time of the year.  It adds so much excitement to our school day! The kids can't wait to get to school in the morning to see what the Elf has done or where the Elf is next.  They talk about our Elf throughout the day and all night at home too!

We watch the Elf movie as a class (with parent permission) then we talk about whether or not we want an Elf for our classroom.  Of course the kids all say, 'YES!'.

For our writing lesson that day, we all write a letter to Santa asking for an Elf.  Now I do have a mix of students in my class- some celebrate Hanukkah and some Christmas.  I get parent permission beforehand and I explain to parents that we will cover ALL holidays throughout the month and we will respect others traditions and beliefs.

After everyone has written a letter, we add them into envelopes so I can mail them off! 

Then I wait a couple of days before introducing our Elf to the class!

I want to incorporate the Elf more into writing this year so I made these Elf writing pages/journal. 

Click below to download yours for FREE.

Writing Collaboration on the Mayflower [Freebie Included]

I LOVE collaboration projects in the classroom.  I start them very early on in the year and by now, they are awesome at working together, sharing, talking, making sure everyone in their group 'agrees', presenting, and so much more!

During the month of November we spend a lot of time on the Mayflower and learning about Pilgrims and Native Americans.  One of my favorite books to read (I read it throughout the week because it is lengthy) is ...If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620

Throughout the week we add all of our 'learned' Mayflower facts onto our KWL.  On Friday during our writing block we do a collaboration writing project.  

Each table group has to work together to think of at least 3 Mayflower facts and record their facts, working together to sound out their words.  

They can use our vocabulary word cards from the unit to help them spell as well (vocab cards provided HERE).

Since there can be up to 5 students in the group, we always want to make sure that everyone has a 'job'. The kids are great at coming up with jobs for one another and sharing their responsibilities.  One of their favorite jobs is tracing with a sharpie.

As the groups finished their facts, they went to the carpet while they waited for their classmates to finish up.  When all groups were ready, we presented our Mayflower facts.

They read what they wrote and when they were finished we made sure to celebrate their success!

After each group read their facts they were allowed to go over to our Mayflower and tape their facts onto the ship!

This is always one of my favorite bulletin boards! You can also add little pilgrim faces into the Mayflower from my craft HERE. You can also see a picture from my Instagram page HERE.

'There was a poop deck.' is a fact that makes it onto my Mayflower EVERY single school year! Definitely a class favorite!

Now for a little freebie!  We only have school Monday and Tuesday this week so I wanted to have a little fun with the students before we leave for Thanksgiving break.  I thought this dice activity would be perfect for a little 'bonding' activity.

We are going to sit in a circle and take turns passing the dice.  Students will have to roll the dice and answer the questions that they rolled. 

This freebie includes a make your own dice template as well as inserts for the pocket dice seen HERE. Download the freebie by clicking on the image below.

Happy Thanksgiving!

SaveSave
SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave

October Centers Are Up and Running! [All About Bats Unit and Lesson Plans]

I can't believe that it is already October...yet alone the second week of October! Time is flying by (as always)!

This month we are learning all about bats.  I always start our unit off with our Word Splash.  This is what we use to teach vocabulary during our non-fiction units.  The first day of our unit I read one vocabulary word out at a time, I let the students raise their hand to tell me what they *think* that word means, then I call a student up to 'splash' the word onto our Word Splash!  I don't tell the kids what any of the words mean.  As we read our non-fiction books throughout the unit, we will learn the meanings of each word. 

 If students hear a word as I am reading they will put their thumb up. Then, when I finish reading that page we will stop and discuss the word.  After we discuss the meaning, I move the word to the far left side of the Word Splash so that we can review it daily. 

After I finish reading a non-fiction bat book, we 'turn and talk' to our partners to discuss any new knowledge.  My kids are trained to ask each other, 'what did you learn today?' or 'do you have anything new to add to our KWL?'.  After they discuss, I gather their attention and we add all new info to our KWL.

We label a bat together. I laminate this anchor chart and use velcro to label the bat.  This way I can use this same anchor chart year after year!

We had a lot going on during centers last week! My students are moving on to CVC words now (I do have one group still on letter sounds).  These Batty CVC Words are from my October Word Work pack.  The students love them and they are always so engaged with magnetic letters.

The Batty CVC Words come with a 'helper card'.  This way if students are stuck on a letter sound, they can look at their 'helper card' for some assistance.  These cards help make this center totally independent so I can be running my reading group without any interruptions. 

In the writing center last week we had list writing.  We also worked on labeling. 

One of our pocket chart centers was building sentences.  We have been working on our sight words and color words since the second week of school.  My students love using the pointer and reading the sentences to each other when they are finished.  They love playing 'teacher'.

Instead of writing the room, we counted the room!

 They LOVE walking around the room with clipboards looking for their cards.  I must say, they are super quiet and focused too!

 Awesome work! One-to-one correspondence and writing numbers (these are two of the skills we are currently working on in our math series right now too).

I still have students that need to work on number formation.  So we played Brilliant Bat Numbers. Students rolled the die and traced the number rolled.  We worked on writing our numbers from top to bottom.

They have also been working on 'stretching out' words.  They did 'Batty Beginning Sounds' and when they were finished, flipped it over for 'Batty Ending Sounds' (using the same cards). 

Another beginning sound magnetic center...have you tried magnetic letters in your room yet?  Best center ever!

I leave these candy corn letter/letter sound cards out as an early finisher activity in October.  My students love them! 

A little bit of a harder skill still, but my students are getting it, is matching numbers with number words.  Some of my students had to use our number posters for help, which is totally fine!

 Another early finisher activity that I have out in October are these play-doh mats. My students love play-doh!

The activities in this post can be found from various packs on TpT. 

October Math Centers

October Word Work Centers

All About Bats Unit

If you would like to try a math center activity, you can try one for free by clicking on the image below.

You can also see all of my lesson plans for this unit by clicking on the image below.

SaveSaveSaveSave