How to Start Stations ~ Fitting it all in!

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How to start centers in kindergarten? It can be a little daunting… Let’s see if this post can help!

How to start centers in kindergarten. Starting kindergarten stations can be tough! So how do I start centers in kindergarten? Let me show you. Sanity savers and tips so you can love your back to school station time!

How to start centers in kindergarten?: 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.

Puzzles are easy. You don’t need to explain much… “This is a puzzle!” DONE!

We love playing with Playdoh!

Listening to books is an easy station to introduce. I like to first have a student model how to listen to the beeps and turn the page. For many students, this is a completely new thing for them. (Pretend not to notice my messy desk.)

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How do I start stations in kindergarten? Let me show you. Sanity savers and tips so you can love your back to school station time!

And we practice handwriting on the overhead station! Simple!

Start kindergarten stations! How do I start stations in kindergarten? Let me show you. Sanity savers and tips so you can love your back to school station time!

The library station is a slam dunk! Easy!

How to start 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, but the first few weeks, I am happy with my students just going, writing, and staying.

Starting kindergarten stations can be tough! How do I start stations in kindergarten? Let me show you. Sanity savers and tips so you can love your back to school station time!

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.

The same is true in our pocket chart station. We learn it in our whole group then move it into our stations a few days later.

After the first week, I might discuss this station like this, “Friends, when you go to the pocket chart today and every day, I want to you write one of the sentences you made. Let me show you.” NOW, every day, I expect an attempt at writing. I applaud their best efforts. When you brag on their approximations, they are more likely to be risk takers and excited about doing their best.

When you start centers, 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.

We played this game several times as a whole group. Then on the second week of school, it is ready to go into a station. My students were told this was a “bump” game. 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.

Snap Cubes can be found HERE.

When you start centers, building Independence is KEY!

We know they are going to have some dependency tendencies. This is kindergarten… right? BUT I want my students to be empowered to solve their own problems.

“I Can ” cards are a great resource. Remember, you can make your own. All you need is a pen and a piece of paper. Kindergartners think their teachers are magical! They will love your drawings!

My students hear me say… 100 times a day, “How do you think you could solve that problem?”

I also praise those students who were “problem solvers” during our station debrief period. This is the time after station rotation #1 where we all return to the carpet. At this time I can send out compliments and offer short clarification.

When you start centers, Set high expectations

There can be a lot of important work being during stations. Set the behavior expectations high. Yes, there will be some chatter. The amount of chatter depends on how you set your expectations.

Beware… Transitions can be the death of you! I always use music to trigger the time end of center time. I put on a quick song (under 2 minutes) and the students play, “beat the clock.” They have to clean up “neatly and completely” and be waiting on the carpet before the song ends. They love it, and I don’t have to hustle students along. Major time saver! Looking for other time savers you can read: NEVER enough time? Classroom Time Saving Tips for Kindergarten

Finally

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 station 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.

Comments

Emily Brown says
July 30 at 5:07 am
So 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.
Reply
- Deedee says
  July 30 at 8:09 am
  You are welcome!!!
  Reply
Christine says
July 30 at 12:00 pm
How 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?
Reply
- Deedee says
  July 30 at 12:32 pm
  Stations Management I bet this post will answer a lot of your questions! If not, let me know!
  Reply
Lauren says
August 24 at 8:05 am
Hey 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?
Reply
Angie says
January 18 at 2:05 am
Hi Mrs. Willis,
Do you offer your writing lists anywhere? They look amazing!
Reply
- Deedee says
  January 21 at 8:06 am
  Yes! They are in the Writing Stations units. Simply click on the links in the blog post.
  Reply
Joanna says
July 27 at 9:33 pm
Thanks 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!
Reply
- Deedee says
  July 28 at 8:30 am
  Hi 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!”
  Reply
Jess says
August 14 at 2:20 pm
Hi DeeDee,
Do you have the updated literacy station cards somewhere? I love the cute graphics
Reply
- Deedee says
  August 18 at 3:17 pm
  Hi Jess!
  I updated them a few years ago. You can find some of them in this unit:
  Reply
Samantha says
September 6 at 6:29 pm
Hi! 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?
Reply
- Deedee says
  September 9 at 7:59 am
  Here 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
  Reply
Rhonda says
January 16 at 7:08 pm
I 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
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Courtney says
July 28 at 8:06 am
I’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?
Reply
- Deedee says
  August 1 at 9:47 am
  Students 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
  Reply
Lorena Gonzalez says
September 24 at 10:07 am
Hi 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.
Reply
- Deedee says
  September 27 at 11:19 am
  Hi 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
  Reply
Sally Rantall says
January 16 at 8:01 pm
Hi 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
Reply
- Deedee says
  January 20 at 4:40 pm
  Hi 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. 🙂
  Reply
  - Sally Rantall says
    January 20 at 6:35 pm
    Wonderful! Thanks Deedee!
    Reply