This week we have been celebrating Easter in our Kinder classrooms. To accompany all of our learning, we have been using literacy and math centers from my
Easter Literacy Pack and my
Easter Math Pack.
The following are the literacy centers we are doing this week:
Write the Room: First Sound Fluency. My students' favorite center is without a doubt our write the room center. This week, the fun and adorable Easter clipart has made this center a big hit. Students have been walking around with their clipboards recording the words from each card by filling in the missing first letters. I just love seeing them walk around all professional-like with their clipboards and pencils in hand.
Syllable Sort. My students have really caught on to syllables this year, HALLELUJAH! I love hearing them sing the Syllable Song from Cara Carroll while they are working together to figure out the syllables of each card. Just so sweet! My students sort the picture cards into whether they have one, two, or three syllables and then record their answers on their recording sheets.
Rhyming. We have struggled with rhyming this year, but these centers are making practicing this skill a whole lot more fun. In this rhyming center, students have to look at the pair of pictures and figure out if they rhyme. They then sort them into two categories, rhyme and do not rhyme, and then record their answers on their recording sheet.
Sight Word Search. At this point in the year, we have so many sight words that we should know, and I love using this center to review words from throughout the school year that students may not be practicing right now at home because they may be practicing the newest sets. I have added in a technology component to this center on my own. After my students write all ten sight words that they find, they take a picture of their picture card using the Chatterpix app on their iPads and they make the picture talk by reading the sight words they found. It is one thing to be able to find and write down the words, but it is another to actually know the words. I wanted to make sure that this center was just a "time filler" center and that it was really beneficial.
Nonsense Word Fluency. At this point in the year, my students are really getting the hang of stretching, or sounding, out CVC words. They sort the cards based on if the words are real or silly and then record five of each on their recording sheet.
The following are the math centers we have been doing this week:
Easter Basket Addition. We began learning addition a few weeks, and my students have really taken the skill and ran with it. In this center, they have been counting the number of Easter eggs in each basket, and then writing an addition problem to match each card.
Count the Room. Number recognition and writing past ten has seriously been like pulling teeth this year. If it wasn't for the fact that I know they are five and six year olds, I would seriously think I have a group of kiddos that are dyslexic. Shew, I just have had a rough time with helping my students out with this skill. (Writing the numbers has been a lot harder for them than recognizing and saying, but both has been a struggle.) This particular count the room center was focused on counting and writing numbers from 21-30.
Easter Subtraction. Along with addition, subtraction has been coming fairly easily for my students, but I love reinforcing skills during our centers time. Students have been writing subtraction problems to match each card.
Missing Number. Since missing number plays a huge part in our mClass Math, I always like to do a missing number activity no matter what. I start out with only one missing number at the beginning of the year and with numbers just through ten, and then I progressively make the centers more challenging. We are now doing two missing numbers with numbers through 100. I'm pretty proud of their success.
Quantity Discrimination. Along with number recognition comes quantity discrimination, also tested on for mClass Math. I loved watching these two put their fingers on each pair of numbers to help figure out which number is greater on the card.
Mixed-Up Numbers. Just like missing numbers, our mixed up numbers have progressively gotten harder throughout the year. My students are now able to look at four numbers (through 100) and write the numbers in order from least to greatest with just the assistance of a hundreds chart.
If these are centers that you are interested in using in your own classroom for an Easter themed week, you can grab each pack individually or together in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. (Simply click on the pictures of the Easter pack you are interested in, and you will be redirected to my store to get more information on the products.)
