So here's my tips for center time:

Student Groups

 My students are divided into five groups of 3-4 students.  Each group is a certain colored bear.  For example. I have purple bears, blue bears, green bears, etc. Each group knows where to go because I put their color bear in their center.  Each day, I just rotate the bears. 


 

Center areas are arranged in five different places within the room.  They are labeled with the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, like this:

 My center baskets are also labeled with the same numbers.  When we set up, the kids just take the basket with the number 1 on it to the area with the number 1 and set up the contents of the basket.

 Center time can be crazy!!  This little bit of organization helps me a ton.

Letter F

For letter Ff we did football literacy centers.  The boys especially loved this!

Here are a couple of the centers we did. 

Capital Magnet Mat

 Magnet mats are a favorite in my classroom.  Don't forget the button magnets and white paint pen from Walmart.   Once you make them, you can use them for all the alphabet mats.

Capital Sequence Cards

 I put magnets on the back of these little cards and have students work on a cookie sheet.  Putting the cards in order is great practice.  We start with capital letters and later add lowercase letters.  The alphabet strips are perfect for beginners.

Our math centers were fish and frogs!

We used pattern blocks to make the fish.

And matched the number magnets to the numbers on the frogs.

 Of course, we had a visit from the firemen and the big red truck!!  They were fabulous.  They brought fireman hats and coloring books for all the kids.




 We matched number magnets to the number words on the truck.

Letter Ee

Letter Ee brings Elephant Day.  We wear gray and make huge elephant ears.  So much fun!  Here are my elephant centers for the week.

Alphabet Mat

 Alphabet mats are used with button magnets and a cookie sheet. 

Capital to Lowercase Clip Cards

 It is very hard for some students to match capital to lowercase, but some students are ready.  We try to include clip cards  at different levels  for student choice. 

Sound Sort Mat

 The kids really enjoy this center.  We put pictures on sticker paper and stuck them to plastic tiles.  They are easy for the children to manipulate.  This center involves using the sounds we have already learned to sort the picture tiles.
 

Capital sequence cards

 These cards are easy for students to manipulate.  They just put the cards in order.
 

Clip Cards

 These elephants were ordered from Lakeshore Learning.  The kids just clip the correct number of clips to the elephants trunk.
 

Number Sequence Cards

Number Mat

 

Letter Cc

 We focused on cowboys for letter Cc.  We always dress up on Cowboy Day.  The kids have a ton of fun.

Pattern Block Mat

 We used pattern blocks to make our cowboy's horse.  The kids always enjoy using these blocks.

 

Counting clip Cards

 The counting clip cards are good practice for number recognition as well as counting using one-to-one correspondence.  

Pattern Mats

 We had just introduced patterning, so this was just a simple AB pattern.  Since we were on letter Cc, and focusing on cowboys, we used foam cowboy beads to make the patterns.  What made this center successful was the plastic tweezers I added.  The kids loved using them to fish the beads out of the cup. 

Number Sequence Cards

These small cards are used to sequence numbers from 1-20.  Each child gets a bag of number cards and a cookie sheet.  Everyone has their own work space.  It works out great!

Number Mat

 The number mat is used with a cookie sheet and a tub of number magnets.  I use a paint pen and write the numbers on button magnets from Walmart.  Kids love magnets, so this center is always a hit.  I just change the mat for whatever letter we are focusing on.  Simple center!

 Letter Aa

When we introduce the letter Aa, we focus on astronauts.  The kids love this unit.  We prepare five literacy centers and five math centers.  I have included our reading centers here.  There are lots of astronaut and outer space printables at my TPT store.

Alphabet Clip Cards

 These are our astronaut clip cards.  We cut the cards  apart and then ring them in the corner.  Then the kids use regular clothes pins to match capital to capital letters.  They really enjoy using the clothes pins, plus it is great fine motor practice.

Fine Motor Tracing Mats

 These tracing mats are fabulous pre-writing practice.  I don't cut these cards apart, I just ring the entire mats together.  The kids love using the dry erase markers to trace the lines.

Alphabet Sequence Cards

 These are small cards with magnets on the back.  Each child at the center gets their own bag of letters as well as a cookie sheet.  This maintains individual work spaces.  Manipulating these cards helps students practice letter recognition and alphabet sequencing.  When we begin the alphabet, I include these alphabet strips at the center so students will have a guide. 

Letter Recognition Mats

My kids loved these mats.  We put capital and lowercase letters on sticky dots and then put them on plastic tiles.  The children sorted the tiles to match capital and lowercase Aa's.  The extra letters were lost in space and just floated on the black part of the mat.  

Capital Alphabet Mat

 These alphabet mats are one of my kids favorite centers.  Each child gets a mat, a tub of magnets, and a cookie sheet.  I used a paint pen to write the letters on these button magnets.  Children match the letters capital to capital. 

Hello All,
I just added a beginning sounds clip card page.  It has beginning sound clip cards for themes.  Here is an example:

Jack and the Beanstalk Theme

Clip cards make great centers.  They are easy to make, just print, cut, and laminate.  I punch a hole in each card and then clip them together with a ring.  They can be interchanged for each theme you do.  But I especially like clip cards because the kids can do them independently and they are easy for me to assess with just a quick glance.  Also, because we use them with regular clothes pins, they are great fine motor practice!  Check them out at my TPT store!

Today I am going to try to add a new page to the blog so you can see more products.
Check out the alphabet clip cards to see more items like this:

                         Alphabet Clip Cards

lower to lower

capital to capital

capital to lower

                            






  

  Alphabet Mats

 Alphabet mats are used with cookie sheets so students have their own work space.  Use a white paint pen to write capital or lowercase letters on button magnets from Walmart. 

 Place alphabet mats like the ones below on cookie sheet and use the magnets to match the letters.  Students can match capital to capital, lower to lower, or capital to lower, depending on student ability.

Castle Capital Mat

  Castle Lowercase Mat

                      Addition Clip Cards
 Students can practice addition facts using these addition clip cards.  Just ring them together and clip the answers with regular clothes pins. 

Check out all my products at my TPT store where almost everything is just $1.00.