Little Smiles Big Sunshine: March 2018

One of the things that I have learned as a teacher is that differentiating and making stations engaging doesn't have to be difficult! I little creativity goes a long way!

Here are a few fun spring activities that I used in my classroom!

First, with St. Patricks Day just around the corner here is a fun activity for your kiddos! I like to have a little fun with that sneaky leprechaun in my kindergarten class. We used to always come back from lunch to a messy classroom with a note that sent us on scavenger hunt to find hidden treasure! My students loved this, but I decided to take it a step farther and do a Leprechaun Break Out! I did this last year and it was a HUGE hit!

The big idea...

The Leprechaun leaves a note giving us 3 challenges. Once each challenge is complete we get a key that unlocks a magic clue. After all three challenges are complete we get a final key to unlock the final clue. This clue is a riddle that leads us to the treasure! You can check it out here.

Leprechaun Breakout

Scrambled Eggs

This is not my original idea but it is one of my favorites!

Supplies

-plastic easter eggs

-letter tiles

-recording sheet

I use 12 eggs and pick 12 popcorn (sight) words.

I write the numbers 1 - 12 on the eggs with black sharpie.

I put the tiles for each word in one egg and fill an Easter Basket with the eggs.

Students grab an egg, crack it open, and unscramble the tiles to make a popcorn word.

Then they close the egg, grab another, and do it again. They do this until they have figured out all 12 words.

Differentiation

For my higher kids they work on this independently.

For kids who need more assistance you can give them a list of words to choose from or you can give them clues.

"It is a 3 letter word that starts with t"

Sensory Bin Learning

Supplies

-All you need is a themed bucket of some type.

For Easter I used a basket.

-Easter grass

-styrofoam eggs

I love the different activities from @ThePrintablePrincess I used two of them for the next stations.

For this station I took one of the literacy activities from the Printable Princess added the cards into a themed basket with Easter grass and eggs and voila' the station became that much better! My kiddos loved it!

This specific activity works on real and nonsense words. I use the turtle and the rabbit to help my kids with blending words. When we turtle talk we say each sound slowly and then we rabbit talk. When rabbit talking we put the sounds together quickly to make the word.

This activity works on short and long vowels.

I do both of these activities with my guided reading groups.

We pass the basket around one at a time and each kiddo picks out a card and then records their answer.

Butterflies and Caterpillars

Supplies

-plastic butterfly containers

-dice

-green pipe cleaners

-recording sheet

I have small math groups with 4 students in each group. I put one die in 4 butterfly containers. I then fill the other butterfly containers with cut pipe cleaners (caterpillars).

Each student gets one butterfly container with a die. They shake the die and see what they get. They write that number in the first butterfly. They then grab a butterfly container with caterpillars. They open the container up and count the caterpillars. They write that number in the second butterfly. They then solve the addition problem. They continue shaking the dice and then grabbing a butterfly container with caterpillars, write the number sentence, and then solve the problem.

Differentiation

For differentiation I just add an extra dice for my kiddos who need an additional challenge.

I can writing...

Look how we have grown this is a simple activity where students can write about what we have learned so far this year. They then cut it out and make a flower creativity.