Spring in the classroom is one of my favorites! There are so many themes and holidays that we can bring to life in our classrooms through spring centers. In spring, we study insects, life cycles, taking care of the Earth, and plants. There are so many fun ways to bring spring to your classroom through your spring centers. Letโs look at some spring centers for math and literacy!
Centers provide time for students to practice skills independently. This is a time for you to work with your reading small groups. Centers also provide opportunities to practice social skills. Students might have to take turns, ask for help, working with another partner, or wait for a turn. These are all skills we want them to practice and spring centers provide a great opportunity for that!
If you are worried about how to manage centers, I shared tips and ideas here. Another concern you may have is accountability for students to complete the work. Some seem to self-manage (though we know they are only successful because you have worked hard to pre-teach). For some centers, you may want to try recording sheets or pages they glued in notebooks so you can check to see if they understood the skill they were working on.
Match spring centers are a great way to practice math skills that kids need extra practice with. You can revisit old skills to make sure they are staying strong in their foundation you are building, or you can use them for practice of current math skills that are being taught. Either way, Math spring centers that are easy and targeted are a must.
Peeps are a favorite candy in the spring for many people! I created math workstations and small group activities with this popular treat in mind. There are 5 activities in this resource that focus on math concepts that are typical for this time of year in a first grade classroom.
Skills for math spring centers are:
This set of math centers are already for you to press print! They include recording sheets that can be used in a workstation or are perfect for your small group instruction as you support kids where they are.
You can snag them HERE!
Now let’s get literacy spring centers set up for your little learners! One of my favorite tips for setting up literacy centers in the classroom is to keep the routines as consistent as possible. This means that you are changing the skills, but not how to execute what is being done in the center.
For example, maybe you have a book making center. The students know how to do this center, but the type of book changes each time. They go to the center quietly with walking feet. Grab a new book. Read it. Complete it as needed. Color it.Read it three friends and have them sign the back. Add it to their book box for independent reading time.
For spring centers, don’t change the how. Change the what. Easily tie in spring themes such as farm life, Earth Day, habitats, and more!
For March and April literacy centers, I have included a center for:
Setting up these stations will take time if you haven’t established routines yet, but it is well worth it! You simply replace the activity each month!
You can get March Literacy Centers HERE.
You can get April Literacy Centers HERE.
No matter what you have planned for spring in your classroom, finding time for spring centers supports the whole child, not just the academic aspects. We are able to support executive function skills, problem solving strategies, peer relationships, all while working on academic skills needed to be successful.
I’m a K-1 teacher who is passionate about making lessons your studentsย loveย and that areย easy to implementย for teachers.ย ย Helping teachers like you navigate their way through their literacy block brings me great joy. I am a lifelong learner who loves staying on top of current literacy learning and practices. Here, youโll find the tools you need to move your K-2 students forward!
