I sure love summer time, but I am excited for fall to arrive and to use our fall centers! It’s such a fun season with back to school, sweater/boot combinations, and pumpkin spice lattes! Ooh, I’m getting excited just thinking about it! So naturally, I had a really good time putting together my Fall Math and Literacy Centers!
Using centers in your classroom:
I set these up just like the centers I use throughout the year to help with flow and consistency. I always introduce the centers as a whole group first, so that my students understand exactly what to do. At the beginning of the year we practice them two or three times all together before they to into independent centers. I also include a recording sheet that goes with each center, but we don’t always use it. Usually, if I need a quick assessment to see how my kiddos are doing with the concept, but I think the hands on experience is much more valuable. Here’s a look at what’s included!
Counting Crayons
Your students can work on their counting skills by counting the group of crayons and matching them to the correct crayon box.
School Supply Count
My students *love* this one because they get to use the fun clothespins to clip their answers! They count the items on each card and clip the number to show how many they counted.
Apples, Apples, in a Tree!
I found those little pom-poms at the Dollar Tree and seriously, I use them for everything! {You might remember them as meatballs!} This time, they are apples that need to be placed in the tree! The plastic tweezers are also from the dollar tree and they are perfect for building those fine motor muscles.
Apple Seeds Counting
For this centers, I placed all the apples in a basket and the kiddos picked them out one at a time. Then they add the correct amount of “seeds” to each apple. You can use beans, sunflower seeds, play-doh, or anything you have on hand for the seeds.
In My Basket
Match the apples to the right basket by counting the seeds on each apple. This center includes numbers and number words on the baskets.
Pumpkin Patch
Each vine has a missing number and the kiddos find the right pumpkin to add to the vine. Not all of the cards start with 1, so they practice counting on from different numbers. A very tough skill!!
Schoolhouse Match
This is a fun review for identifying and matching upper and lowercase letters. When we do this whole group, I give each student a letter and they have to find another student holding their match. It’s one of their favorite games! Then we put all the letters on the chart in ABC order.
Apple Picking Sight Word Practice
This center can be used in several ways. You can hang the apples around your classroom and use it as a write the room activity. This is a fun way to get your kids up and moving throughout centers. Tape the apples around the room and have your students walk around with a clipboard finding the apples. Then they write the words they find on their clipboard and color the apples when they get back to their seats. If you don’t have enough space for your students to walk around during centers, you can place all the apples in a basket and have your students pick them out and write them.
Beginning Sounds Backpacks
A fun way to work on beginning sounds. Have your students match the picture on the lunchbox with the beginning sound on the backpack. This is also a great pocket chart activity. To modify this center, don’t use all of the letters at once.
Acorn Alphabet
Similar to the pumpkin patch activity, your students will look for the missing letters on the acorns.
Rhyming Practice
Rhyming is so hard at the beginning of the year! We practice it *a lot*!! For this activity, the kids find the pumpkins that rhyme and place them on the scarecrow’s arm. We also do this as a whole group activity. You can find this freebie HERE!
Syllable Sort
We learn how to clap out syllables {and also how to feel syllables by putting our hands under our chins! Every time our hand moves it counts as a syllable} and sort the leaves in the correct baskets. We only focus on words with 1 and 2 syllables at the beginning of the year!
I hope you found some ideas that you might be able to use! If you are interested in using these centers with your students, you can find them in my shop!
These centers are also part of my Math and Literacy Centers for the Year BUNDLE! If you’re interested in all the centers you can save over 30% on Math & Literacy Centers for the Year!
