Centers in Kindergarten: Make it Simple
Starting centers in kindergarten can be a little daunting. My advice to you is DO. IT. SIMPLY. My goal for that first week of school is to have students GO to their station and STAY! So when I have a fun and engaging task for them to do there, it is simple.
The library station is a slam dunk! Easy!
Centers in Kindergarten: Build Them Over Time!
The writing station starts out really simple. Students just go there and write! They may only take one paper to work on. Over time, I nudge them toward doing more. Whereas, in the first few weeks, I am happy with my students just going, writing and staying.
As the month progress, we expect more. This station will be with us ALL YEAR, so I have time to tweak it to increase the quality of work.
Centers in Kindergarten: Keep the Activities Predictable!
When students know the structure of an activity, then you can change the content they are working with. As the year progresses, the complexity will go up.
These Just Roll With It center activities can be used all year.
I pick a BUMP game and play it several times in whole group during our first week. Then on the second week of school, it is ready to go into a center. I have a billion “bump” games in my stations, so I wanted to be sure they understood how to play. From now on, I can swap this version out with another “bump” game and I don’t have to reteach the rules. It. Is. The. Same. Game… but with a different academic skill or theme.
Centers in Kindergarten: Building Independence is KEY!
Centers in Kindergarten: Set High Expectations
One more thing…
I will advise you to NOT put 10 new and different stations out at one time. You will lose your mind. If you look at my plans you will see they build over time. Students can listen to about 2 new center introductions a day… that’s it! AND… if they are not going to that station for several days, I know I will need to touch base with them so they are doing the task as designed. Generally, I introduce a few stations on Monday, then a few more on Wednesday…
This time is important. Getting routines in place are important. I know small group instruction starts around the 3-4th week of school, so how I introduce stations is important. They must be independent.
Read more out about lesson plans HERE.
You can read more about my classroom set up by visiting HERE.
You may also be interested in these blog posts:
- What does my schedule look like
- Top tips for stations management
- What does a guided reading lesson look like
- Literacy station ideas
- Math station ideas
- Early Finishers “I’m DONE!”
- Writers workshop nuts and bolts
- Reading workshop nuts and bolts
- Math workshop questions answered
- Classroom behavior and expectations
- Organizing for Instruction (click HERE to view)
Emily Brown says
July 30 at 5:07 amSo helpful! I am SO excited about this year because I have so many thing from last year that worked and that are ready to go!! Learned a ton at the SDE conference, too!! 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
Deedee says
July 30 at 8:09 amYou are welcome!!!
Christine says
July 30 at 12:00 pmHow many Stations do you have and how many do they do a day?Do you expect students to go to all Stations? How do they move?
Deedee says
July 30 at 12:32 pmStations Management I bet this post will answer a lot of your questions! If not, let me know!
Lauren says
August 24 at 8:05 amHey Deedee!
I have a quick question, how do the students know what part of the room to go to when they grab their station bin? Do they have a certain place to go with the station or do you just have them work at their desk?
Angie says
January 18 at 2:05 amHi Mrs. Willis,
Do you offer your writing lists anywhere? They look amazing!
Deedee says
January 21 at 8:06 amYes! They are in the Writing Stations units. Simply click on the links in the blog post.
Joanna says
July 27 at 9:33 pmThanks so much for this post! I’m a first year teacher and it was super helpful.
Do you do guided reading during this time? If so… how many students do you pull at a time for guided reading? As you pull students for guided reading, it leaves students to work by themselves at that station. Does this cause a problem if they were playing a game? Thanks!
Deedee says
July 28 at 8:30 amHi Joanna!
It does not for me. I have students leaving my room all the time (speech or vision tutoring). This is how I handle it. If they are left alone at a station, I tell them to play with my dog, Dexter. Who is not in the classroom, but they hear a ton of stories about him… so they use their imagination. I actually have a picture somewhere where they put “Dexter” down as their partner in a response sheet. HA! One sweetie came up to me and said, “Dexter won!” I just replied, “Well, he is a smart dog.” (which is not really true… bless his heart!”
Jess says
August 14 at 2:20 pmHi DeeDee,
Do you have the updated literacy station cards somewhere? I love the cute graphics
Deedee says
August 18 at 3:17 pmHi Jess!
I updated them a few years ago. You can find some of them in this unit:
Samantha says
September 6 at 6:29 pmHi! This was super helpful! What is your procedure for students that have questions or get done with your work or station early while you’re working with a group? How do you manage those situations?
Deedee says
September 9 at 7:59 amHere is a post on early finishers: Early Finishers
We have an anchor chart for what to do if they have questions… Basically… they are not allowed to talk to me while I am at my table unless “they are bleeding or their hair is on fire.” This makes them laugh. I don’t think I have a picture of the anchor chart, but it is a “self-help strategy” chart. You can find it: Anchor Charts
Rhonda says
January 16 at 7:08 pmI love your stations…am slowly adding your bundles to my rotations. Finally feel like I am getting a handle on my literacy stations. Now I am working on my math stations. Due you have math station cards like the literacy ones?
If so, where can I find them?
thanks
Courtney says
July 28 at 8:06 amI’m a first year teacher and reading your blog posts and TpT resources have really helped me wrap my mind around centers and how to implement them into my kindergarten classroom. In your post you mention introducing a couple centers per day. My question…which might be obvious…but until all the centers are introduced and you have 2 students at each of your stations, what do you do during center time? Do all the students practice the two that you have introduced for that day until they are all in the rotation?
Deedee says
August 1 at 9:47 amStudents do things like puzzles and dough activities. I JUST did a blog post that will show you WEEK 1 lesson plans. Let’s see if that helps
Kindergarten lesson plans- week 1
Lorena Gonzalez says
September 24 at 10:07 amHi Deedee,
I am very interested in the activities this blog shows for the Writing center. Are those available to purchase? Can you tell me the name of the product to look for it? It’s the one that has several pictures in a clothesline and the kids choose to write list, story, etc. Thanks in advance.
Deedee says
September 27 at 11:19 amHi there!
Yes, you just need to click on the images and it will take you to the place where you can make a purchase. Thank you
Sally Rantall says
January 16 at 8:01 pmHi Deedee!
I love your blog, webinars and products. I am a teacher in Australia. I have just done your Guided Reading and Engaging Readers webinars and loved them!
In the Guided Reading webinar, you mentioned another webinar about running centers. I have looked and looked but I can’t find a link to it. Is this still available?
Thanks,
Sally
Deedee says
January 20 at 4:40 pmHi Sally!
I’m waiting for an update to be done on my software, then I will reschedule it soon. I hope to have it scheduled within the next few weeks. If you are on my email list, you will be notified when it is available. 🙂
Sally Rantall says
January 20 at 6:35 pmWonderful! Thanks Deedee!
Britta says
August 2 at 6:09 pmI have a full time teachers aid in my kinder room. I always have a hard time figuring out things for her to do. What do you suggest would be a good for her to do during centers?
Thanks!
Britta
Deedee says
August 4 at 6:39 amHow lucky you are!
I would first suggest that she observes YOU for a few days so she can see the tone you would like set during center time. Depending on the skills of the para, I would ask her to pull a group and do a guided reading lesson with your higher students once you start guided reading.