Easter Literacy & Math Centers in Room 103

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.)

Work Smarter, Not Harder

I completely understand that my, almost, two years of teaching experience is only a drop in the bucket to what others have under their belt, and far from how many I'll have under my own belt by the time I am finished; however, I would like to think that I have had some of the best, or worst depending on how you look at it, experiences to learn so much from already.

If you have followed me on my blogging journey at all, you will have learned that my first year of teaching was far from a walk in the park, even from being offered the position on. If you haven't been following me for long, here is a rundown of my first year of teaching.

I was offered my Kindergarten teaching position on a Wednesday evening. Why is it important for you to know that I got hired on a Wednesday evening? Well, because my first teacher day of school was the following Monday and students were set to walk through my classroom door on Tuesday! I received the key to my classroom and the go ahead to begin getting my room set up on Thursday. So, I had FOUR days to get my classroom in working order. I'm not even sure that I was able to fully process the fact that I had been offered my dream job until at least Fall Break because I had to seriously hit the ground the running, and I didn't even have time to stop to even collect my thoughts until October. My classroom had been the room that everyone dumped their unwanted teaching items into because they were unsure if the school board was going to approve a third kindergarten position or not, so I had to seriously spend an entire day just clearing junk, for a lack of better term, out of my room. Then, I had to also paint my walls because the paint chipping off the walls was seriously something awful. I look back and I still just can't believe how I even got everything ready for my group of Kinders to walk through my door on that Tuesday morning, but it happened. My room was far from how I wanted it to be, and there were still boxes at the end of the year full of things that I never ended up having time to sort through and organize, but I made do with what I was able to get accomplished, and I just had to learn to let the rest of it go until summer.

So, not only was my entire getting-my-classroom-ready thing a complete chaotic mess, but I also had some very challenging students my first year of teaching. I'm now grateful for those kiddos because I immediately had to learn how to overcome challenges and how to work with students and through situations that college just hadn't prepared me for.

On top of all of the above, we also had 17 snow days in the winter months. SEVENTEEN! To make up all of these days, and at an attempt to save summer break, we opted to add on an extra hour at the end of every school day for several weeks. As if the days in the winter and early spring with indoor recess weren't exhausting enough, try tacking on an extra hour of instruction with your sweet five and six year olds every day for over a month. It was seriously a nightmare for my first year teaching self. I was exhausted both physically and mentally.

Come summer break, I really had to reflect on my first year of teaching and figure out what I could do differently in the years to come because at the rate I was going, I was going to be burnt out really quick. This was disheartening to think, and I knew something had to be done. One of my biggest reflections I ended up having was on how I did my literacy and math centers. I felt like I was constantly having to manage classroom behavior so much during my centers times that first year, that I really didn't get to dive deep into doing centers with my kiddos until, honestly, right before Christmas break. Then after all of the snow days and everything, it didn't get too much better after break either. My math centers really never got up and running quite like they should and how I had always envisioned. One of the main things I started thinking about was the types of centers I had picked out for my class last year. I always had centers that went with our theme for that particular week, but I began to notice a trend. Many of my centers changed from week to week, and I'm not just saying that the clipart on them changed. I mean, the entire type of activity changed. Every week I had some sort of activity for nonsense word fluency because I know the importance of it for our DIBELS testing; however, each week I got them from different sources on TPT and they were always different. Same skill, but different way of going about practicing it. Since the activity changed, every week I was having to teach how to do the center every single week. It got worse when students were absent or "forgot" how I said to do the center on the day that I introduced it, so then here I was again, reteaching how to do the center. Talk about exhausting and frustrating on both students and myself. I decided I needed to simplify this process quite a bit in order to get it to run more smoothly. I decided it was time to work smarter, not harder.

This year I decided that for the most part, I was going to create all of the centers that I possibly could for my classroom. This may seem like much more work on my part, and as far as work at home, maybe so; however, I enjoy and find it relaxing to sit with my computer in front of the tv at the end of the day, so it wasn't going to be so bad. What makes it even better, is my teaching partner, Brittany from Mrs. Banister's Kindergarten Kids, creates similar types of centers as well, so on her planning weeks, I could almost guarantee the centers she was going to provide me with were going to be somewhat the same for each skill that needed to be practiced in centers as mine.

So, what I have done is I have created thematic literacy and math packs for many of our themed weeks we have in Kindergarten. If you have purchased any of my packs, you probably already know that I almost always have the same type of activity for the same sets of skills for both literacy and math, but I just alter them to go with the theme of the pack. By doing this, I am able to begin literacy and math centers much earlier this year because I taught how to do an activity the first few weeks of doing centers and that was it! I haven't had to go back and reteach the centers or teach new ones each week. I just tell my students, you're at syllable sort or nonsense word fluency, and off they go to go work on the skills. I have made the centers progressively more difficult throughout the year, but as far as actually completing the center, it is always done the same so my students know how to do it each week. Here are examples from two of my newest TPT products of how I use the same type of activity on the same skill, but just alter to fit the thematic week. These are taken from my Easter and Ocean packs.

Write the Room: {First Sound Fluency}

Nonsense Word Fluency: {CVC & Blends}

Quantity Discrimination:

Mixed Up Numbers:

These are just a couple examples from my literacy and math centers. I do the same thing with the other activities that are included in the packs as well. By doing the same types of activities, my students already know how to do the activities each week so I am able to get right to work with my small group, and in turn, they can get right to practicing these essential skills. 

I'm always looking for ways to improve instruction and to make my job a little bit easier, so I would love to hear how you work smarter, not harder in your own classroom. :)

Scare & Share Blog Hop

Thanks for stopping by for the Indiana Teacher Blogger's Scare & Share blog hop. My name is Lindsey Law from Miss Law's Kinders, and I have the perfect freebie and $1 items just for you primary teachers. 

Let's start out with my freebie. This time of year, Kinders are just beginning to recognize the letters of the alphabet and their sounds. I have created a fun, simple matching game for your kiddos to practice their first sound fluency, letters, and sounds all in one! Perfect for Kinders and great review for First Graders. 

Not exactly what you need or you aren't a primary teacher? No worries! I created this product using my own Split Candy Corn clipart. Grab this extra clipart freebie, and create your own activity to meet your needs!

Now, on to my $1 items! 

Do your students love craftivities as much as mine do? I love craftivities, but only the ones that are made with the teacher in mind, and not just the students. What does that mean? Ever bought a product and it was in a bunch of pieces when it could have been more simplified so that there aren't so many pieces floating around for your kiddos to keep track of? All the time, right?! I always try to create crafts that have the least amount of pieces possible, I put all pieces that need to be copied in the same color on the same page so there is no confusion, and I make the directions quick and simple. My newest product is perfect for Halloween and is most definitely teacher/student friendly! 

Check out my Haunted House Glyph. Students will answer three simple questions on a recording sheet and will construct their haunted house based on their answers. Grab this just in time for Halloween and get it up on your walls! :) 

I realize that Fire Prevention Week was this past week, but my Fire Safety Literacy, Math, & Activities Pack is loaded down with literacy center activities, math center activities, an original Fire Safety book, three color by color words coloring sheets, and two fire related crafts. This pack is typically $4.50, but for you blog hoppers, it is $1 for these three days. Grab it now, use it later. 

Who doesn't love Pete the Cat, right? We do a Pete the Cat unit towards the beginning of the school year in my kindergarten classroom, and I created this activity to supplement the Pete the Cat story, 

I Love My White Shoes. We read the story and then brainstormed ideas of things we could step in that could turn our shoes different colors. We then did our writing of what we stepped in and what color it turned our shoes, colored the shoes the color from our writing, and then put the craft together. Talk about adorable... and SIMPLE! Remember what I said about making things teacher friendly? Here ya go again. :) Also, this is great for teaching cause and effect. I didn't go in depth with a cause and effect lesson with my Kinders, but you most certainly could with first or second grade. 

We always do a unit over healthy foods every year, so I created this math and literacy pack to supplement our unit. This pack is loaded down with center activities for both math and literacy. 

Now, continue on through our blog hop with Kinder Doodles to see what other goodies we all have in store for you. 

An InLinkz Link-up

October: Currently

I honestly can't believe that it is already October, but I couldn't be more excited! October is by far my favorite month of the year, with December coming in close second for Christmas purposes. October is the time of year I get to break out my scarves, celebrate my birthday, pick pumpkins, and use all of my favorite pumpkin scented items. I am linking up with Farley over at Oh' Boy 4th Grade for her monthly Currently. Be sure to check this out because I have a goodie for all of you! So here it goes...

Listening: I have been so busy and had so much on my mind lately that I completely forgot all about doing this yesterday on the 1st of October. Thankfully my BFF, and Matron of Honor, Jena Hudson at Sew Much Music texted me and reminded me last night. So, here I am with my clothes for the work day in the dryer de-wrinkling while I sit and sip my V8 Energy drink and blog. 

Loving: As I explained above, I love October. Birthday, pumpkins, pumpkin scented everything, cooler weather, scarves, leggings, boots, etc.

Thinking: I am starting to get a little overwhelmed by all of the things that I have going on this month, but I am very blessed for all of it.  Just to name a few, this coming weekend the city I live in, Seymour, has it's annual Oktoberfest. I never miss a year of going, and this weekend will be no different. I finally get to take Alex this year since he isn't training for his next physique competition until November (thank goodness!), so I am excited to enjoy it with him. Alex and I have our engagement pictures in the morning on Sunday the 12th and meet with the pastor at the church we want to get married at that evening. We have our Fall Break the 13th through the 17th this month and plan to get a ton of wedding things checked off of my list. The end of the month doesn't slow down much either with my birthday, my in-laws celebrating all of our October birthdays (there is something like twelve of us!), some football and, of course, fall festivals and fall parties at school.

Wanting: I am EXHAUSTED! I have been getting back into the gym after work, and I don't know if that is draining the life out of me or what. All I know is that I seriously think I could sleep for a week.

Needing: I gave up soda a month ago, and my McDonald's Dr. Pepper on the way to school was seriously the best part of my day. I'm sure you can imagine how I feel now that I have cut it out of my life. I have added in a small can of V8 Energy: Orange Pineapple, but it just doesn't get me all the way through the day. Something has gotta give here for the above reason!

Trick or Treat: TREAT! I am going to discount my fire safety items in my store with Fire Prevention Week just around the corner. I have taken off a dollar on each item and will leave it off until after Fire Prevention Week. Check out my Fire Safety Literacy, Math, & Activities Pack, as well as my Firehouse Glyph (included in my activities pack and separately). Grab them while they are discounted!

Click the below pictures to view the item in my store.

Have a great October!

A Fire Safety Giveaway!

Like all TPT sellers, I strive to make products that are quality, meaningful products that can be used to supplement instruction in the classroom. If I don't feel like a product is good enough to be presented to others, it doesn't get uploaded. So with that being said, I think all of my products are great; however, sometimes I begin to make a product and it far exceeds my expectations of what I had envisioned for it. I feel this way about my Fire Safety Literacy, Math, and Activity Pack that I recently completed and uploaded into my store.

I have put a lot of time into making this, and have already gone back in and added more activities twice because I just keep coming up with ideas. I finally have it the way I love it, and with Fire Prevention Week just around the corner, I want to share it in a giveaway for one of my followers! But first, a little prelude into the giveaway...

Here is a little sneak peek into this Fire Safety pack...

-Write the Room with Writing the Word and First Sound Fluency Differentiated Option

-Can, Have, Are Anchor Chart Labels and Pictures & Student Can, Have, Are Recording Sheets

-ABC Order with Fire Safety Words

-Safe or Dangerous?: Nonsense Word Fluency with Basic CVC Words & Blends Differentiated Option

-Syllable Sort: Cards and Student Recording Sheet

-Rhyming with Fire Words

-Label It! Sheets with Cut & Paste Word Banks

-Color by Color Words Student Sheets

-Original Fire Safety Book for Read Aloud

-Missing Number with One and Two Numbers Missing for Differentiation

-Number Ordering: 2s, 5s, and 10s

-Put Out That Fire! Quantity Discrimination

-Count the Room: Up to 10 and Up to 20 for Differentiation

-Fired Up About Measurement with Non-Standard Measurement

-Fire Collage: Great for Fine Motor Skills

-Three Thank You Card Templates

-Firehouse Glyph

This pack is geared more towards Kindergarten and beginning of the year 1st Grade, but can be altered to be used for interventions in 2nd Grade. 

To enter for your chance to win this product for free just in time for Fire Prevention Week in October, go and follow my TPT store and you're in!

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway