Kindergarten Stations (Pictures and Links Included)

I get asked a lot of questions about station time in my classroom. 

What does station time look like? 

What stations do you have? 

What do the children do at each station? 

How do your students know which station to go to?

This blog post should answer these questions and more. It's long, it's got lots of pictures, and lots of links to the activities I use. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy the LONG read!

Station time is my favorite time of the day! I change how I run stations pretty much every year because I am always evolving. I get bored of the old way, figure out a new way, and so on, and so on. When you've been teaching for 20 years, you gotta change it up and keep it fresh. At least I do!

I think I love my station procedures the best this year. 

But, then again, I'm pretty sure I say that every year! LOL!

I teach kindergarten and first grade reading/writing, but this post will just be about kindergarten. I have 18 students and I have 5 stations, so each group has 3 or 4 students. I have 2 top groups and the other 3 groups are a mix of on-level and below level students. I did this so that my below level students will benefit from the wisdom of my on-level students.

These are my 5 stations...

My teacher station is where I meet with small groups. We practice our sight words, phonological/phonemic awareness skills, read leveled readers, and work on writing. I meet with 2 groups Monday/Wednesday and 3 groups Tuesday/Thursday. On Friday, I pull students who need me the most. I use these reading comprehension stories a lot!

At the phonics station, the children use open-ended, hands-on activities, activity sheets, and interactive notebook activities.

Here, you see my students enjoying CVC Clip It Cards. There are 100 of them and it comes with an answer key, so this activity is very independent. 

In addition to these cards, my students also work on activities from my 
Ultimate CVC Pack.

These activity cards are also a big part of my phonics station!

I also use these activities, as well: phonics spinners, word sorts, building words, CVC word booklets, literacy skills printables, pocket chart activities, little books, flip books, and learning mats. Variety is the spice of life!

My students really enjoy these sight word mats. They build the words, write the words, and write sentences, as well. Sometimes, they write a sentence and forget to use one of the words on the mat, but that's okay with me!

There are so many different ways to use these mats. My students choose the materials they want to use. Dry erase markers, letter tiles, letter beads, or alphabet magnets. They also practice writing their words on white boards or paper. I have lots of sight words books that I put out at the station also. You can find some of them here, here, and here. Using play-doh to help practice sight words is always a big hit. I also use these fluency sentences, sentence puzzles, sight word searches, dice activities, bingo games, reproducibles and sight word games. Having all of these activities on hand, means I never have to scramble to set up stations.

My budding writers have lots of opportunities to practice writing letters, words, and sentences. In this photo, my students are writing color words.

This fun activity comes from my top seller, Writing Station Activities for Young Learners. This pack is loaded with writing activities that kindergarten and first grade students can work on independently. Writing the Room is always tons of fun too. I didn't snap any pictures, but my students did this color words write the room FREEBIE when they finished I Can Write Color Words. At my writing station, I also use these sentence writing booklets, write the room activities, labeling sheets, and writing station activities.

My students thoroughly enjoy visiting the library. Relaxing with a good book is always tons of fun!

My students use these cards during station time. After a few days of using them, they were able to switch to their next station without help from me. I have cards for Monday/Wednesday and cards for Tuesday/Thursday.

Station time is my favorite time of the day because the children are always eager to head off to their station and work collaboratively with the children in their group. 

And I get to be the GUIDE ON THE SIDE!

Hands-on, Independent Station Activities

In addition to using printables at my stations, I also love to use engaging, meaningful, hands-on activities. The children love to manipulate letter tiles, clothespins, spinners, dice, paper clips, dry erase markers, and anything else they can get their hands on! While working, they are thinking critically, communicating and collaborating with their peers, all while being thoroughly on task and motivated.

Here are some of my newly created hands-on activities...

Build and Write Word Families Learning Mats

These 21 word family mats are so much fun and help my children learn and practice the most popular word family words. Students build the words with letter tiles, letter beads, or write them with dry erase markers. Then, they practice writing the words or use them in sentences. I keep them in a bin at my phonics station.

CVC Words Clip It Cards

These 146, colorful cards, are also a lot of fun for my students. I keep them in a bin, with plenty of clothespins (which are so inexpensive) and my students read the words and clip the words that match the (very cute!) pictures. These cards help my students learn and practice beginning, middle, and ending sounds, as they segment and blend the words. Since there are 146 cards in all, this is a great activity for the entire year. Recording sheets are included.

Build and Write Sight Words

I cannot live without these sight word mats! They are aligned to the Journeys reading program, and help my students learn and practice their weekly sight words. They build each word with letter tiles, letter beads, or write them with dry erase markers. Then, they practice writing the words or use them in sentences. I keep them in a bin at my sight word station. I included a set in black and white for those of you who don't like to print in color. I always print in color because I love the bright and cheery look.

Blends Activity Cards

Long Vowels Activity Cards

Sounds in Words Activity Cards

These activity cards are a HUGE hit and a HUGE lifesaver in my classroom! I keep them all in labeled bins at my phonics station. Students grab a bin and use letter tiles or dry erase markers to build the words. Answer keys are included, so they are self checking. There are recording sheets included, but I don't always use them. There are tons and tons and tons of cards, so this is another great activity for the whole year.

And, the last thing I'll show you, are some rhyming activities. I created rhyming activities for every single month, so my students can practice rhyming all year long. The images below are from my back to school edition.

I have many, many more hands-on activities for young learners. My stations are always stocked for the year and I hardly ever have to plan each week. 

All these activities make it easier for me to write out sub plans. When I'm out, my students can easily spend 20 minutes at each of their 6 stations, using the activities that are always there. There's no greater feeling than always being prepared and organized. Right?

Showing My Understanding Magnetic Display

One of my favorite educational supply companies is Teacher Created Resources. Recently, they contacted me and asked me if I wanted to try out some of their magnetic labels. I jumped at the chance, of course! 

Right away, I knew what I wanted to do with them.

I use the Marzano scales to check for understanding. I decided this year that I was going to use the scales predominately to access my students' understanding of the weekly phonics skill(s). 

Up until I had these magnets, we were doing frequent heart checks. I would tell my students the learning goal for the week and articulate the specific target goals for each score. Then, my students would hold up 1, 2, 3, or 4 fingers. This was working well, but once I saw these magnets, I knew they would make a wonderful addition to my showing my understanding anchor chart.

This picture shows part of my focus wall. On the bottom of the picture, you can see my showing my understanding anchor chart. I labeled each magnet with my students' names. 

Now, after I articulate each target goal, my students place their magnet under the score that best describes their ability at that moment in time. My target goals are very specific to the skill being taught, so my students know exactly where they score.

Here are some close-ups!

I love how this display is very accessible to the children, as it allows them to move their magnet when they feel they are ready to move to the next score. The children enjoy being in charge of their learning and monitoring themselves as the week goes on. This display makes it very easy for me to help track my students' progress, give extra help, if needed, and celebrate success.

If you are interested in purchasing these magnets for your classroom, you can find them here. They come 30 to a pack. You can use the rest for other things, like I do! They are easy to write on and wipe off, and the magnet is powerful.

If you are interested in my showing my understanding anchor chart, just leave a comment, with your email (or email me!) and I'll send it to you.

The Best Phonics Giveaway Ever!

Hi Everyone!

Are you ready for the BEST Phonics Giveaway Ever!!!!

I am teaming up with some fabulous teacher bloggers and friends to bring some lucky teachers our favorite phonics products.  

My Phonics Teaching Tip

I am giving away my Let's Build Words pack. It contains 13 different building words activities, including short and long vowels, digraphs, and words with -ar. Each activity sheet comes with its own letters, as well as an answer key.

Building words helps children learn to decode and blend individual sounds in words. My students LOVE building words and it really keeps them interested and engaged. They enjoy manipulating the letters and seeing how moving just one letter can change the sound and meaning of words. 

Managing the letters in these types of activities can be very challenging because you have to make sure each child has the correct set of letters. When children build words at a station or in small groups, the letters can easily get mixed up and there is nothing worse than hearing, "I have no g! I need a g!" 

I am proud to say that I have come up with a fool-proof way to manage all the letters in my building words activities. And, read below to see what keeps my students from losing their place when they are building words. 

A Phonics Freebie

Click the image below to get a FREE Long a word building activity sheet!

 You can enter every day. There will be 3 grand prize winners.  Remember the giveaway will end Sunday at midnight!!! Good Luck! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Gingerbread Goodies

Here's a post I wrote last year around this time, containing some cute gingerbread activities. 

I thought it would be fun to post it again!

Here's a simple kindergarten gingerbread writing activity for you! After reading a gingerbread man book, have the children decide what they want their own gingerbread man to run from.

I didn't help the children write their words. They had to get their mouth ready to say it and keep writing the letters for the sounds they heard. They did a great job and were very proud of themselves.

Click here to get this for free!

Check out more of my gingerbread activities below...

Here is some of what's included...

Gingerbread Fun For Little Learners

Gingerbread Scrambled Sentences

How I Eat a Gingerbread Cookie

Here's a picture of the gingerbread dolls my first graders made using fabric paint. This is always a huge hit!

And some close-ups...