Christmas Math and Literacy

It was so hard deciding my 8 centers for math and literacy for the next 2 weeks.  I have so many favorites, plus so many new ones from Deanna and Kim! I decided to go with a few old favorites and a few new favorites! 
Math Centers:
Spin and Graph the candy – simple as it says!  I got this center from Julie Lee! Thanks Julie! (It wasn’t until after the kids started working on this that I realized I completely forgot to add one of the candies that were on the graph! Oops!)

This is another graphing center.  I try to organize the centers so that each child does a graphing one each week (or addition, or counting, etc.)  The children roll the dice, put that many buttons on the gingerbread and then graph the result.

I’ve also been trying to do some sort of sequencing activity for each round.  It’s a no-brainer – the kids know what they are supposed to do without any help.  I added the written response sheet as well.  This time they are sequencing teen numbers.  I always have them color them in a pattern when they are done too!

The kids LOVE this center! They roll the double dice count the dots and dob the number.  One little guy who didn’t quite finish the center wanted to finish it during play centers! Way to go!!

Measuring with non-standard units – this time pattern blocks.

Candy cane patterning – the children create a pattern on the candy cane and then color it in on the response sheet.

Adding with santa playing cards – the children are getting really good at this! I got these cards at the Target dollar section last year.  Whenever I see theme playing cards, I pick them up.  There are always uses for them!!

There is one more center I forgot to take a picture of! It is from Kim’s Christmas Tree pack, I think – I’ll have to double check that and post it tomorrow.  The kids make patterns out of Christmas lights!
Literacy Centers:
This is another one of Julie’s great centers! I modified it to focus on the letters we are reviewing over the next few weeks.  Inside the santa hat are items from the Lakeshore Alphabet Tubs – the children reach inside (no peeking!) and pull out an item, they say the word, and write the first letter in the correct column.  The LOVE this center! (It’s SO easy one little guy said today!)

This is another one from Kim’s packs (I don’t remember which one).  The children glue the picture to each page and stretch out the word to write one letter in each lightbulb.

This is from Kim’s Ho! Ho! Ho! Santa pack – very similar to the Thanksgiving syllable count activity we did last month.  This time it’s how many “santa stomps” (a-dor-able!)

This is one that I painstakingly made last year! I cut out lines and curves from tagboard and colored them like candy canes.  The children make letters out of the pieces.  There is also another sheet that they can do if they finish early – the children sort the letters based on lines or curves.

I received this flannel board set from a friend last year.  The children match the ornaments to the trees.  They also practice writing their upper and lower case letters.  I like to do this center each round (just vary it a bit) so that I can get some good documentation of growth on how they write their letters.  These sheets will go in their portfolios.

I think I dreamed of this center one night.  I put scrambled sight words on the tree and made a second set of ornaments with the words unscrambled.  The kids match the words (attached with velcro) and then write the word on their sheet.

This center is from Deanna’s Christmas pack. The children sort the words onto rhyming and not-rhyming work mats.  They write the rhyming words on the response sheet.

I forgot another center again!!  It’s funny because the children work on this center (for both math and literacy) at the same spot.  I’ll snap a photo tomorrow and post it!