Basic Kindergarten Centers!

Let’s tackle those kindergarten centers! It’s time to swap out your centers and you either respond in one of two ways:

“YAY! I just love swapping out centers. I mean it takes a few hours, a cramped hand, 2 reams of cardstock and 1 ink cartridge but hey it’s okay!”

Or, you respond with,

“AHH! Has it really already been two weeks? I wonder if the kids will mind using the pumpkin centers in December?”

I mean either response is completely OK. I guess you could say I fall somewhere between the two. Swapping centers out is a lot of fun but equally stressful! We have so many levels to cover. Then, there’s the question, “To theme or not to them?” My sister and I asked ourselves this EXACT question before the school year started! She is homeschooling this year and decided to not have a “themed” year therefore her centers really didn’t need to be themed. I wanted to offer her centers that were outright SIMPLE. Then, it popped in my head, “Hey I bet there are other busy teachers that would love a set of SIMPLE centers, too!”

That is when my BASIC centers were born. Oftentimes, when we think about the word basic we think of something lacking substance or that it’s missing something. However, in the teaching world basic to me equals to SANITY!  As teachers it’s really hard to balance between what our kids NEED and what they NEED. I mean do they need themed centers I swap out every two weeks? Well, maybe not but themed centers are FUN and engaging! Then we go back to the essential needs. I need to provide them with centers that will be rigorous aka not boring. I also need to provide them with centers that will still be FUN and not fun as in throwing confetti, but fun as they WANT to do them and ENJOY them.

The BASIC centers are all of that wrapped up: rigorous, academic, fun and engaging!

The basic center bundle offers 5 systematic centers: write the room, sort by skill, spin and record, match-ups and game boards! Within each of these 5 systematic centers comes 30 included activities. These activities cover the same set of skills throughout. For example, if your students are working on CVC words you can choose activities from the write the room, sort by skill, spin and record, match-ups and game boards packets and have a full set of centers for your students. Let’s say your kids are then ready for digraphs! You will simply pull the digraph version of each and your students will not need to be taught how to play the center because they just learned the concept during the CVC centers.

This reduces that time of teaching and reteaching completely! You are now able to swap the skill and keep on trucking along! You will be able to use these centers as a supplement to your whole-group lesson and/or as an independent center option. The centers all come in two versions: color and ink saving black/white. Each center also comes with a recording sheet! If you choose to utilize these center recording mats for more than one use, then you’ll want to laminate them or place them into a dry-erase sleeve. Students can use a dry-erase marker or plastic manipulative to indicate their answers.

* NO THEMES so you can use them throughout the year.
* Color AND Black/White versions included.
* Center stays the same– skills change/build in rigor through the year.

The basic literacy centers cover 15 skills over all 5 center packets! Below you can see the skills covered!

#1: Alphabet
#2: Rhyming
#3: Beginning sounds
#4: CVC Words
#5: Syllables
#6: Onset and Rime
#7: Initial Sounds
#8 Medial Sounds
#9: Ending Sounds
#10: Long Vowels
#11: Digraphs
#12: Initial Blends
#13: Vowel Pairs
#14: R Controlled
Write the room #15: CVCC Words

Up first is the Write the Room packet! This packet offers 30 write the room activities! Each activity has the paired recording sheets! The kiddos LOVE write the room because they have the opportunity be up and exploring!

All of the cards have the matching write the room number on them! This helps if the cards are misplaced and you can pair them to the recording sheet!

The Write the Room activities store easily in a binder with sheet protectors! Simply place the recording sheets into the sheet protectors and slide the cards in! You can also choose to print the black and white versions onto colored paper!

Who doesn’t LOVE game boards? This packet covers the same 15 skills and contains 45 game boards!  This packet is designed to offer a fun and engaging way to practice literacy skills. You will be able to use these game board centers as a supplement to your whole-group lesson and/or as an independent center option.

Below you can see the alphabet game board and a rhyming game board! All of the necessary game board cards come with the packet!

How fun right? The kiddos turn over a card and move to a picture that is the same beginning sound.

This game board includes an area for the kiddos to practice writing the word as well. For this game board, the students roll, move to a CVC word picture and then write that word!

Syllable practice! For this game board the students spin and move to the next picture with matching syllables!

The game board is for letter name practice! The top board, students roll a cube and cover that many of the letter. For example, if they roll a 6 then they cover 6 C’s. The bottom board they will roll, move that many spaces and state the letter.

Now let’s talk MATCH-UPS! Match-ups to me a way for the kiddos to apply the skill in a self-checking way!  The same 15 skills are covered in this packet as well and there are 30 match-ups included. Each match-up has a recording sheet as well!

Just like the other centers, these too are easy to prep! The match-ups all include the number as well so you don’t have to worry about mixed up cards!

You can see that the students are able to record their answers as they complete the match-ups!

Let’s talk about the sorts! Now when we think of the sorts we want to know that these are TRUE and FALSE tasks! I LOVE these because they require the kiddos to really think critically! These also cover the same 15 skills woot and there are 59 sorts!

Each packet contains a table of contents page for quick reference!

The sorts include the “sorting mat,” sorting cards and follow-up practice sheet!

Students will sort the cards by true (thumbs up) or false (thumbs down).

Last but not least let’s talk spin and record! These are super fun and engaging for the kiddos! The all enjoy SPINNERS! For the spinner itself you can use a pencil and paperclip or spinners!
To prep the centers, simply print the skill sheets and place them into a sheet protector. The students can also use counters to cover their answers. If you are not wanting to reuse the sheets, students can use dabbers or markers to note the answers.

These centers can be written on directly or you can place them into a sheet protector so they can be used over and over again!

If you are placing them into a sheet protector then you can use counters or snap cubes to indicate the answers!

Remember that the idea behind these centers is that if you are working on a skill (let’s say initial sounds), you can grab the initial sound centers from each packet, print them, prep and GO! You then have ten centers to cover that skill! After that skill is master then you store those ten centers and move onto the next skills! Because these centers are so simple to prep you can also have varying levels/skills printed and offer kiddos the skills/centers at their level!

Below is a video of me explaining how one skill is covered over all 5 center packets!

You can view the individual packets below!

BASIC Literacy Centers: Write the Room

BASIC Literacy Centers: Sort-Its

BASIC Literacy Centers: Spin and Record

BASIC Literacy Centers: Match-Ups

BASIC Literacy Centers: Game Boards

If you are interested in the bundle you can save big! Click HERE or the image below!

Now let’s talk Basic MATH centers! The math centers follow the same process as the lit centers! The math bundle contains–> write the room, sort-its, match-ups, game boards and spin & records! The math bundle covers these 15 skills:

#1: Counting sets within 10 & 20
#2: Subitizing
#3: 2d shapes and 3d shapes
#4: Before and after counting
#5: Identify patterns
#6: Nonstandard measurement
#7: Comparing sets and numbers
#8: Missing number in sequence
#9: Combos within 10
#10: Number bonds
#11: Place value
#12: Ordering numbers
#13: Addition
#14: Subtraction
#15: Time  and Money

Up first is the Write the Room packet! This packet offers 30 write the room activities! Each activity has the paired recording sheets! The kiddos LOVE write the room because they have the opportunity be up and exploring!
All of the cards have the matching write the room number on them! This helps if the cards are misplaced and you can pair them to the recording sheet!

There are differentiated versions included within the packets as well! For example, some offer numbers to 10 and 20 so you can lower the difficulty!

Instead of having the kids record directly onto the recording sheet, you can place it into a sheet protector!

If you running the literacy write the room and math write the room, you can print on colored paper so the kiddos aren’t confused!

There are 42 game boards included for the math BASIC centers! They cover the same 15 skills mentioned above! This packet is designed to offer a fun and engaging way to practice math skills. You will be able to use these game board centers as a supplement to your whole-group lesson and/or as an independent center option.

The game boards are fun and have the instructions listed on the game mats!

The students will apply the skills in a fun way that differs from the other center packets!

Number mazes!

This game mat has students spin, write the number and count on the additional numbers in the counting sequence!

Now let’s talk MATCH-UPS! Match-ups to me a way for the kiddos to apply the skill in a self-checking way!  The same 15 skills are covered in this packet as well and there are 30 match-ups included. Each match-up has a recording sheet as well!

Find a Match: Have students work to sort the stack of cards into matches. All of the cards will be face up.

Memory Match-Up: Have students place the cards face down. Turn over two cards at a time to see if the two are a match. I recommend that you limit the number of cards you put out.

Puzzlin’ Match: Have students play the match game as a Puzzlin’ game. Leave one of the match sets as a sheet or “board”. Then, cut up the other match as individual cards. Students will place the match card down onto the “board”.

Another look of the “puzzlin” way to play the match-ups!

There are 30 math sorts included in the BASIC math bundle! Each sort has the pieces, game mat and matching recording sheet!

The sorts are based on a “true” and “false” critical thinking!

The Basic Math Centers: Spin and Record  packet is designed to offer a fun and engaging way to practice math skills. You will be able to use these spin and record centers as a supplement to your whole-group lesson and/or as an independent center option. To prep the centers, simply print the skill sheets and place them into a sheet protector. The students can also use counters to cover their answers. If you are not wanting to reuse the sheets, students can use dabbers or markers to note the answers.

The spin and record mats store nicely in a binder!

For the spinner itself you can use a pencil and paperclip or spinners!

Remember that the idea behind these centers is that if you are working on a skill (let’s say counting sounds), you can grab the counting centers from each packet, print them, prep and GO! You then have ten centers to cover that skill! After that skill is master then you store those ten centers and move onto the next skills! Because these centers are so simple to prep you can also have varying levels/skills printed and offer kiddos the skills/centers at their level!

Below is a video of me explaining how one skill is covered over all 5 center packets!

You can view the individual packets below!

BASIC Math Centers: Write the Room

BASIC Math Centers: Sort-Its

BASIC Math Centers: Spin and Record

BASIC Math Centers: Match-Ups

BASIC Math Centers: Game Boards

If you are interested in the bundle you can save big! Click HERE or the image below!

I have also recently bundled the Literacy and Math BASIC centers!  Let me break it down for you below!

Literacy Bundle is (5) $6 packets = $30

Math Bundle is (5) $6 packets = $30

Snag the BUNDLED Basic Centers of Literacy and Math Centers on sale!

You can grab the bundle HERE or clicking the image below!

I hope you have a GREAT rest of your week!