How to start centers in kindergarten?: Do it simply!
How to start centers in kindergarten?: Build them over time!
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.
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| Snap Cubes can be found HERE. |
When you start centers, building Independence is KEY!
When you start centers, Set high expectations
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.
Read more out about lesson plans HERE.
You can read more about my classroom set up by visiting HERE.
That is how I start centers in kindergarten!
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)
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.
You are welcome!!!
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?
Stations Management I bet this post will answer a lot of your questions! If not, let me know!
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?
Hi Mrs. Willis,
Do you offer your writing lists anywhere? They look amazing!
Yes! They are in the Writing Stations units. Simply click on the links in the blog post.
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!
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!”
Hi DeeDee,
Do you have the updated literacy station cards somewhere? I love the cute graphics
Hi Jess!
I updated them a few years ago. You can find some of them in this unit:
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?
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
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
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?
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
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.
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