Differentiated ELA Center Rotation

As I mentioned in Center Rotations Ideas for Every Classroom, I like to do a portion of my center rotations that are very differentiated and focus on what the students need to learn. This year, however, I am trying something a tad new, and I think I have fallen in love with how it is going to work.

The center rotation that I do a lot of differentiation in is called "Boxes". This center is geared towards skills that the students need to work on. When the students come to the center, they pick a box that they would like to work on that is the color that they were given. Since it is the beginning of the year, I have not made the centers very differentiated. I have kept the centers focused on what I believe the students need to work on, like ABC order, sequencing, rhyming, etc. Each box is labeled with a number. Because the centers are simple, it also helps the students learn the procedures.

After they are finished with their "Box" they are checked by myself or my assistant (who is amazing!). They then self evaluate themselves on the center that they were doing on their form that is seen below.  This form that they use is also a great way for the students to keep up with what number they have completed. One of the areas on the form is Computers, where they can play educational reading games. Over the course of two weeks, their goal is to finish all ten boxes that they are assigned and computer time. 

The form is a new part of my center routine, so I am excited to see how they self reflect on their learning.

How do you do differentiate learning in your classroom? Comment below to share your ideas.

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Math & Literacy Fidget Spinner Game

Every teacher knows that fidget spinners are the "in" thing. Instead of saying they are not allowed in the classroom, why not allow them into your learning? I have created a math and literacy game that uses fidget spinners.

You will need a fidget spinner, paper plate, perminate marker, card stock paper, and a worksheet that is provided. This will be a choice centering my classroom, and there will only be two fidget spinner centers out.

First, label your plates. I did one plate with upper case letters, one plate with lower case letters, and one plate with numbers.

Next, cut out a triangle from a piece of paper, and put it on the fidget spinner. 

Students will then put the fidget spinner in the middle of the plate. When the fidget spinner stops, they will look to see where the arrow is pointing. They will say the letter or number, and color in one of the squares on the worksheet. They will repeat the process.

I also plan on making fidget spinner games with the sight words that we are learning.

Math & Literacy Fidget Spinner Game Download

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Also, thank you to Teach Me Mommy for the great idea! 

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Center Rotation Ideas for Every Classroom

As we know, center rotations are a VERY big part of learning.  Not only does it allow the students to work on multiple skills in a short amount of time, it also helps teach independence.

My first year teaching, I was almost in tears trying to decide how centers would run in my classroom, and what would the centers focus on. I am lucky enough to work in a school that allows you to decide how you want centers to run. However, talking with my teammates made it difficult to decide how I wanted them to be run, due to everyone doing something different.

After several days, I knew that I needed the center rotations to be structured and timed. I decided that each center rotation would be approximately 15 minutes, and the students would work on skills suggested by Daily 5. My centers would focus on read to self, read with a partner, listen to a story, word work, and skills. (I do not go exactly by Daily 5, but use some of their concepts.)

Before I go into the centers that I use in my classroom, I want to discuss how I pull small groups. My mentor teacher suggested that I leave out "Meet with the teacher" for a center rotation. She said, that by doing this, I would be able to pull different groups daily, based off what they need to work on. One day, I would pull a groups for concept of print, and another day, I would pull groups for reading skills. I love being able to create new small groups each week to focus on what the students need to learn.

Below are the different centers that I use in rotations and a few ideas you can use for each.

Centers in Mrs. Peay's Class

Poster from Sister Teachers East Coast on TPT

• Word Work
• Words Their Way: Focuses on individual student skills; for example, one student may be working on recognizing sounds, where another student is working on the word family -at. 
• Read to Self/Listen
• Find a leveled book to read
• Retell a story
• Read the pictures
• RazKids (great app for listening and reading stories)
• Writing 



Reading Bungalow on TPT

• Sight word work
• string a sight word (can be done with pipe cleaners and letter beads)
• write sight word on white board
• roll a sight word
• student calls out sight word, and group writes the word
• Play-Doh sight word
• Writing a sentence with the sight word for the day
• Skills
• The skills center will be discussed in detail in an upcoming blog. Be on the lookout!

Last year, the students were only able to do 3 center rotations a day. They were required to read to self for one center rotation each day. For the remainder of the centers, they would do them twice a week, and Friday would be make-up day for the students who had not completed their work. Below is a picture of how I had my center displayed for the students. 

If you need any help with setting up your centers, I would love to help and share ideas! Good luck with setting up your centers! 

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First Day of School Plans

The first day of school is going to be here before we know it! It's so exciting, but also very busy. One of the things that I searched for on Pinterest was plans for the first day of school. I know that everyone's schedules look different from others,  but I loved how the first day of school went last year. I couldn't believe how fast it flew by. I want to share the plans that I plan on using for the first day of school!

First Day of School Plans for Kindergarten

When the student's arrive to the classroom, there is a lot of time before the school day begins. I like to have books out on the rug for them to look through. This also gives the parents a great opportunity to read to their child before they leave. 

Throughout my entire school, everyone participates in Morning Meeting. Below is what my Kindergarten team decided to do for the first day.

• Greeting: Students roll a ball to each other. When the student gets the ball, they say their name by saying, "I am...".
• Sharing: The students who would like to share share what their favorite color is. 
• Activity: "When the Wind Blows" is a lot of fun, and the students love it. The teacher calls out a characteristic, and the students with that characters come to the middle of the circle, and then go back to their spot. For example, "When the wind blows, if you have on a purple shirt."
• Message: Students share how they got to school. You can make an interactive chart for students to graph how they got to school.

After Morning Meeting, we read "Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes" by Eric Litwin. As we are reading through, we recalled the different places that Pete the Cat visits in his school.

We then went on a tour around the school to visit all of the places that Pete the Cat went. This is so much fun for the students, and helps the students learn about the different places. As we were visiting the places, like the lunch room, I was able teach the procedures for that place. You can find the tour over at Inspired by Kindergarten. This is also a great time to teach hallway procedures; the students will get lots of practice! (This activity needs to be put up before school starts.)

Once we got back, we created our classroom rules. This is based off of Responsive Classroom. It's great for the students to create the rules, because it gives them accountability. In Kindergarten, their answers may be negative: "Don't hit someone". Instead of writing exactly what they say, it would be great to turn it into a positive rule: "Keep your hands and feet to yourself."

We then took time to read "The Kissing Hand" by Audrey Penn. During this time, students are able to discuss their feelings. While students are working on name mosaic below, my assistant began to get their hand print for "The Kissing Hand" poem. You can find the poem at Wise Ways in Primary by Amy Wise. 

Another activity that we did is the name mosaic activity. The students names are already written onto a black piece of paper with white crayon. They then used small pieces of paper to glue onto their name; to make the activity quicker, go ahead and cut out the pieces for the students to use. You can either let them use a glue stick, or a Q-Tip with liquid glue. Remember to teach how you want all of this to be done. Go step by step, and do it several times. I got this idea from Rock and Roll Kindergarten. 

Picture from Rock and Roll Kindergarten 

For an end of the day activity, I had my students complete a "First Day of School Crown". It's fun for the students to create their crown, and they wear it with pride when they leave school. It's also great because they can practice procedures that they have learned throughout the day. You can find the crowns over at Crystal McGinnis TPT store. 

Throughout the day, I do throw in a few videos for the students to dance to. I normally do an ABC video and a GoNoodle. You can find my YouTube playlist here. 

Throughout the day, find time to teach some of the important procedures, like bathroom, table, clean up, how to pack up, how to clean up from snack time, etc. You can use my checklist that I have created to decide what procedures are important for the first day. You can find that here.  

By the time you have gone through all of the activities, procedures, lunch, specials, and recess, your day will be over. Good luck with your first day!! 

If you have any questions, I would love to answer them. If this blog was helpful, sign up to follow by email! 

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Essentials for the First Day of School

When you think about getting ready for the first day of school, you probably focus on what activities you are going to do with the students and how to make it the best day possible for them. However, there are a few things that will help you have the best day possible.

Name Tags

You have 18-25 new students in your classroom, and if you are like me, it takes a while to learn all of their names. My mentor teacher suggested to make name tags out of felt fabric and puffy paint. By doing this, she said that you can use these name tags any time throughout the year, like when there is a substitute, or on field trip. She also said by doing this, the students will not play with them and they will not get dirty. I tried it for my first year, and loved it! I was able to use them throughout the entire year. I think it is very important to have name tags for the first day, and believe this is a great way to do them.

Transportation Tags

You also need to know how each child is getting home. If you are a Kindergarten teacher, the students are going to have no idea how to get home and it is up to you make sure they get to where they need to be. In our classroom, we use transportation tags to place on their book bag. This helps you, and any other staff in the school, to help the students get to where they need to be. And parents will love you when their child gets home safely. We use transportation tags made by Samantha Kelly. You can get the tags HERE.

First Day of School Frame 

It is always fun to take pictures of your students on the first day. Kelly Hallock from my school made the cutest board, that she was able to reuse the board throughout the year. If you want to take pictures of your students, go ahead and make the frame that you would like to use. I recommend doing this, because the parents love it! 

These tips are a few essential ways to make your first day of school smoother. If I had to pick one to do, it is definitely getting transportation tags. If you have any other essentials for the first day, I would love for you to share. 

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Back to School Night: How to Be Prepared

Back to School night is a very exciting time! You finally get to meet your students and show off the room that you have been working so hard on.

At my school, Back to School nights feel like a blur. The parents and students come in and want to meet you. You greet them as quickly as possible so you can meet the next student. While trying to remember your new students names, you're also having to remember to remind parents to pick up the important paper work. And then it starts all over again with a new student. It's very exciting, but VERY busy!

Since Back to School night is so busy, it's important to make it very easy for parents to understand what they need and what they can do around the class.

1.  Set up your sign-in area so you can look back over to see how many students visited. 

Sign-In Sheet Download

2. Set up a place in the room where parents can pick up important documents. Make sure that you label each page as "Take One". If you want to be on the ball, you can go ahead and make a packet for the parents.

3.  Make sure to have a parent/student inventory for your parents to take home. This helps you learn a lot about the student in a quick amount of time. I have used the same inventory for the past couple of years, and it is very helpful. Marsha McGuire did a great job creating the inventory. 

Click here for Parent Inventory. 

4. Have a few activities around you room that the students can do if they would like. I would suggest setting out books, a sight word center, and math manipulative. This lets the students become comfortable and excited to be in your class room with their parents.

5. Lastly, I love giving my students a "Night Before Kindergarten" poem. They love being able to leave the classroom with something, and I am sure the night before school, they are excited to open the poem. Class of Kinder has made a cute poem that I know they would love. You can find her poem here. 

Good luck with your Back to School Night! It will go by so quickly! Enjoy every moment. 

If you have any questions, please comment below. Don't forget to Follow Mrs. Peay's Kindergarten Adventure blog! 

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Start Off with a Great Year with a Rules and Procedures Checklist

Oh the joys of planning out your rules and procedures in your classroom. It is SO important to begin planning how you want your classroom to run before the first day of school.

My first year, I made the mistake of not having a very good thought out plan of how I wanted the classroom to run. I definitely learned that procedures are so, so important to teach. And don't make the mistake of thinking they will learn them on one day. Keep practicing, and practicing until your students have got them down. It may seem very redundant, but it will save you come December!

When it comes to teaching the rules and procedures, you should model, have a student model, and then let everyone practice the procedure. If you need to, you can have multiple students model how the procedure should be done. And it's ok for you to do this process every day.

I love to re-evaluate at the end of each year to figure out what I could do differently to make the classroom a more positive environment for learning. I take some time in the summer to figure out what could be done. I also think about what other teachers have done to make their classroom successful.

I have created a checklist to help me remember all of the rules and procedures that we would experience throughout the day. Below is an example of the checklist, and you can download the checklist at the bottom.

You can download Checklist here!

Don't forget to continue teaching the rules and procedures even after the first week. 

If this posted helped you, sign up for future emails and free downloads! I would love to hear your feedback if this checklist has helped you become better prepared for the beginning of the year! Comment below. 

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