What is the one question I get asked more than any other? How do you set up centers for kindergarten? (or any grade!) Center management can be frustrating and overwhelming. It took me years to figure out a system that worked. And while it’s not perfect, it works well and is always being tweaked!
Center Management For Kindergarten
Some things you will see throughout this post and our center management system is: CHOICE! FREEDOM! CONTROL!
The key to center management and for my students to stay engaged is giving up control! Yes, in order to keep control, I give up control! You’ll see what I mean and why it works…
The key to our center management system is THE CENTER WHEEL!
Literacy Centers
Math Centers
The wheel is a simple visual way for my students to know what centers/workstations/hippopotamuses they go to. It’s kid-friendly. It’s teacher friendly. It is center management made easy!
The wheel is divided into 4 sections because I have 4 groups. I use four groups but you can have as many groups/colors as needed for your class.
The wheel is color coded.
My groups are color coded.
The color coding makes it super easy for the kids to know exactly what group they’re in and what centers they can go to! Again…kid friendly. Teacher-friendly. The students have control!
The groups are NOT the same as my small groups.
My center groups are skill based. So I’m looking at data and grouping my students based on what skills they need to work on (letters, sounds, numbers, adding, cvc, etc). The groups are fluid and change every couple of weeks or as needed.
As my students are working in centers, I call small groups by skills that the group needs to work on. For this, I just call the names of the students I want. They leave their center and come to my table. When finished with me, they go back to their center and I call my next group.
So, it’s time for centers. How do centers for kindergarten work?
1. Check the basket.
2. If you have work to finish, you must finish the work first.
3. If you don’t have work, check the wheel.
4. Get to work!
Check the basket!
The basket holds any unfinished centers/workstations from the day before. So if you’re working on a center and it’s time to clean up but you’re not finished, you put your work in the basket (pink for reading/literacy and purple for math). The next day, you must check the basket FIRST! If you have work, you have to finish it. THEN you check the wheel. If you don’t have any work in the basket, you can check the wheel. If someone has your tub/activity, you join them and finish the work.
Check the wheel!
The center wheel tells you what center to go to. Mr. Greg does not. I am not a wheel. And because I am not a wheel, I cannot tell you what center to go to. CHECK THE WHEEL! When my students ask me what center to go to my response is: “Do I look like a wheel? Go ask the wheel!”
Tionna is in the pink group. Tionna checks the wheel, she sees that the pink group has two choices:
Write The Room and Read To Self/Library.
Tionna is free to choose either one of those two centers. She has the control, and the freedom and she makes the choice. Tionna gets to do what she wants to do so she’s empowered and engaged. When our students are empowered they have buy-in. When they have buy-in, their behavior is better!
So Tionna goes off to write the room. Let’s say she finishes her write the room. She can choose to do another write the room OR she can choose to go read. If she reads for a while and chooses to go to write the room, that’s perfectly ok. It’s that choice and the freedom that keeps them engaged and keeps them from getting bored at 1 center.
Choices In Centers
The students are free to move freely between their TWO CENTER CHOICES. They cannot go to any other choices. The expectation is that if they choose an activity, they must do that activity before they can move to their other choice or choose another activity.
We do not transition. This wastes precious learning time. That is why they have 2 centers to choose from. CHOICE! And within those 2 centers are more choices! CHOICE! That keeps them going and engaged. Engaged=less behavior issues. This system also eliminates the early finisher problem. Because technically you never finish centers. You finish activities but you never finish the center.
So our center choices are: Read To Self, Write The Room, Technology, Sensory Bin/Light Box and Tubs.
The tubs are where all of our science of reading-aligned phonics, sight words, letters, sounds, writing, and sentence practice happens. The tubs are my favorite center and they are the heart of our centers.
You see the same color coding as the groups and the wheel. So if the center wheel tells you to go your tub and you’re in the pink group, you can choose ANY PINK TUB! CHOICE! Each tub contains 1 activity/center/game. There is no expectation that you complete all the tubs in your color. There is no order to do the tubs. Students choose which tubs they want to work on. Because the tubs are differentiated, no matter which of their tubs they choose, they are working on skills they need to practice!
When they finish the activity in the tub they can do it again or put it up and pick another tub! CHOICE!
I also do not care if they pick the same tub each day. It’s their choice and they have control. (If I see this happening, I might suggest a different tub but I won’t tell them to get another one!)
The key to this system being kid-friendly is color coding!
When the wheel says write the room, the kids grab a write-the-room paper from the basket for their group!
The baskets used to be on the wall using Command hooks! BAM!
Now we use color-coded buckets to write the room!
So you can see that choice and freedom are the keys. In the read-to-self/library center they can choose any books to read. CHOICE!
In technology, they can choose QR codes to use on the iPad or they can use their laptop to access iReady or Lexia.
In the sensory bin/lightbox center, they have a light box and a sensory bin to choose from. The light table gives them multiple choices to work with!
Give them control and the choice.
So what about math?
It’s the same! I run both math and literacy centers the same way with a few variations! The consistency is great for students and teacher friendly!
The wheel. Four groups.
Our math centers are math baskets, math the room, technology, a lightbox/sensory bin, and ten frames/graphing.
Math baskets! These work exactly the same as the reading tubs!
Math The Room is count the room. Later in the year, it’s add and subtract the room as well!
These are differentiated. Count the room will have less pictures to find and count (to 10 or to 20) depending on where we need to practice. These are also copied on colored paper to match the groups. So you know if you’re in the blue group, you get blue paper!
Ten Frames and Graphing! This center contains thematic/seasonal ten-frame cards so we’re always practicing our 1 to 1 correspondence. This center also always contains See Count Graph and other graphing games so we’re always practicing graphing and data.
There are always several different sets of ten frame cards and several See Count Graph activities so they have CHOICE!
A few other tidbits of information for center management:
I only change out centers every few weeks. This works because of the choices. They don’t get to all of the different activities quickly so the whole change your centers weekly process is gone. That saves so much time and stress. This system literally makes our job easier.
I can change literacy and math tubs in 45 minutes to an hour.
I will remove seasonal/holiday centers when that season or holiday is over.
Students are free to work with a friend or by themselves. This is their choice! Free to choose!
Introducing And Teaching Center Activities And Games
I teach center activities during whole group and small groups. A lot of our center activities are things we’ve done in whole group or small group. BUT a lot of them aren’t. Because I create all of our center activities, they are very kid friendly and don’t require reteaching. I AM VERY DELIBERATE WHEN I create all of my center resources so that once you’ve learned the different types of activities, you can do them all year with very little or no instruction at all!
It really is a matter of our brains loving novelty and that’s as simple as changing the clipart (or theme) from a pumpkin to a ghost! For a five-year-old, that’s a whole new activity! Same skill…same activity. No instructions are needed! Also, all of our activities are the same so they know how to do matching games with letters, sounds, cvc words, equations, etc. The process stays the same all year.
These are the activity types we use: matching, puzzles, spinners, word building, sorting, clip games, and DIY activities such as cup stacking, counting plates, etc.
THE PROCESS STAYS THE SAME. THE SKILLS AND CLIPART CHANGE BUT “THE HOW” IS THE SAME. THIS MEANS AFTER OCTOBER THE STUDENTS CAN GRAB A CENTER AND DO IT TOTALLY INDEPENDENTLY BECAUSE WE’VE LEARNED HOW TO DO ALL OF THE DIFFERENT CENTER ACTIVITIES! AGAIN, THIS KEEPS CENTERS TEACHER AND STUDENT FRIENDLY AND WE DON’T LOSE TIME EACH MONDAY EXPLAINING NEW CENTERS!
Also, I do not collect or grade the recording sheets. I am monitoring their work between groups, etc. The groups are differentiated to the point where the students can be 95% successful as they work! When they finish a recording sheet, it goes in their cubby and goes home!
For more details on centers, check out these posts:
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82 comments
Where did you find your reading tubs organizer?
Are the games in the pink tubs the same green, blue, and purple?
Are the games in the pink tubs the same green, blue, and purple?
I just started doing centers the “Mr. Greg way” this year and I love it. Less work for me and the kids love that they are in control of what the choose. Great job Greg!
I just started doing centers the “Mr. Greg way” this year and I love it. Less work for me and the kids love that they are in control of what the choose. Great job Greg!
How long does your centers time last? I'd like to move into something like this as opposed to the switching when the timer goes off chaos, but it might need some tweaking to fit our schedule.
I was going to ask .. what is the skill for each of the colored based tubs.. I am really thinking about going in this direction with stations.. My only problem is what are all the tubs and what skills are in each..I need to revise mine in that way.
Where did you get the reading tubs and storage for it?
It was in my classroom. But we made the math basket one from PVC pipe.
They're all different. Sight words…letters…sounds…sight words…cvc word…etc!
How much of your day is allotted for reading/literacy hippopotamuses? 🙂 I’m curious how much time students are working on the designated options for the day.
Here is a link to my daily schedule: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9hPCQ6XOyYKSmpwWnV4c0F3TDg
Thanks for your quick response! About how much of the almost 2 hours allotted to Literacy is spent in centers? I’m sure part of that time is whole group activity/mini-lessons.
Hi Greg, I just wanted to say that I absolutely love your ideas and passion (I won’t tell my husband if you don’t tell yours)! I am excited to follow you and see what amazing activities and lessons you implement in your classroom. We are FINALLY getting a new building in 2 or so years. I would love to see pictures of how you set your room up so I can get some fresh new ideas. Thanks and I will be happily shopping in your TPT store.
This is pretty awesome! Part of my problem is that I don’t have as much creativity that I would like to have, and I have trouble thinking of ways to give my kiddos choices but still have them do the “required” things they need to do. Sometimes I get wrapped up in what they have to do and don’t think of ways that make it fun and more of something they want to do. What kind of things do you create for your literacy centers and is there just a giant bundle of everything for literacy centers that you sell? I really love all your ideas and it’s a big help as a first year teacher to understand what direction to go in. Thanks!
I have tons of math and literacy centers on TPT. They are broken down by holiday and time of year so it makes it easy for you to know where to start. The skills that are included in those centers should be appropriate for that time of year. I hope that helps. If you have some specific questions, feel free to email me at kindersmorgie@gmail.com.
How do you store all of your centers? Do you store them by month? skill? and what do you use to store them in? Where do the ones go in your classroom that you are not using?
Hi Shelly! You can get all this info right here on the blog! Here is a link to a couple blog posts that should help you out: http://thekindergartensmorgasboard.com/?s=center+storage In addition you can see a video of me changing out my centers and showing how I store them on my YouTube Channel. Just go to the Resource Center here on our website, then click SmorgieVision. This will take you to our YouTube channel, then in the search type “centers.”
Awesome i will take a look! Thanks so much!
II was curious how often you turn the wheel? is it daily? weekly?
Daily
You just turn the wheel once a day? They stay in the center choice the whole time? Also, how long do they stay with you when you call them to your table?
Correct. There is more than one activity within the center. Once they finish one activity, they can move on to the next one. I work with each group about 10-12 minutes.
Hi Greg and the Mister!
When you’re ready to launch centers, what do you do when you have kiddos who still don’t know how to read his/her name and know what center they’re going to? I was thinking about putting their picture, but I don’t want to single those children out. I’ve had kids who were still struggling with name recognition up until the last day of school! 🙁 THEN I thought I could just put everyone’s picture up, BUT THEN I thought it was better that they’re exposed to their names as much as possible (and their last names later in the year). Soooooo… do you have a suggestion?
We start with the tubs and don’t introduce the wheel until a little later so by then most of the kids recognize their names. For the ones who don’t I would just point out their name so they know. But using pictures for all of the kids is a great idea! More visual support! Love that idea!
Got it! Thank you! Maybe I’ll write their name WITH the picture, too! Visual and name exposure! 🙂
II’ve read through this several times and am leaning toward revamping my centers now. Do you do more than one center/wheel section a day? I read on your schedule that your Literacy runs from 8:20-10:15. My old school centers involved rotating groups of students through four centers every morning. My goal is to still meet with several students every day in a guided reading type of setting. Love the idea of calling students over from their centers rather than having my own set group. Is the entire 8:20-10:15 dedicated to center time? Thanks!
Hi Greg and Jason!
Do you have a ten frame bundle for the year like your see, count, graph bundle?
Thank you:)!
Unfortunately not
Hi There! Where is the sensory/light bin in your wheel selection? Just curious how you weave that center in?
It is it’s own choice on the wheel!
Now I see it! Thanks, I start this week!
Do you allow teachers to come in and observe you?
Yes! Just email us at kindersmorgie@gmail.com with a date you have in mind and we will get back to you. We start allowing visits in September.
This just gave my overwhelmed teacher brain a sigh of relief! I can’t wait to get started! Thank you!
This will be my 4th year teaching Kindergarten and I have to say Centers are my Kryptonite! I’ve tried lots of different things, and I always seem to feel overwhelmed and frustrated with the whole process. This is the first time I’m looking forward to giving a new system a try. I love the choice for the kiddos, and the better visualization. It makes me hopeful for this years’ “small groups”.
What kind of accountability are you using? Recording sheets for the activities in the tubs? (my admin likes to see the kids recording).
Thanks!
Yes all the centers have recording sheets
You might be repeating something you’ve already said somewhere, but how do you keep kids from fighting over computers during literacy stations? Maybe I would only have this trouble because I only have four computers! And do you find they stay on computers the whole time instead of switching to their other literacy station choice?
There are only a certain # of students allowed in the technology center at a time, so there would never be more than a few in that center. Take a read of how I divide my students into color groups and how the Center Wheel works!
Has anyone found a similar furniture piece to the reading tubs you already had in your room?
We’ve looked and looked but haven’t found anything.
Do you think this system would be suitable for pre-k?
YES!
Do you think the center wheel system would be suitable for pre-k?
YES!
Hello!
I’ve seen a few people ask this question but I haven’t seen a response yet. How much of your literacy block is devoted to center rotations? I love, love, love this wheel idea, but I can’t see my kids only having two center choice options for an entire hour. We just got back to school after being out for 31 days due to Hurricane Florence, and I want to start this with my babies soon!
My literacy centers are 1 hour. They have 2 center choices but within those 2 centers, they have multiple activities they can choose from!!
Hi Greg! Just wondering, how many sensory bin activities do you have out at a time? I’m switching my whole way of doing centers and I didn’t have a sensory bin but you’ve indirectly talked me into it. I don’t have a light table (maybe next year) but was wondering how you tackle the sensory bin area. I have 5 kids in each group but I can’t have 5 sensory bins (in case they all wanted to go to that center).
Check out my blog post on sensory bins: https://thekindergartensmorgasboard.com/2017/01/sensory-bins-the-how-and-why.html
Hello,
I am wondering what your role is during center time?
I am pulling small groups and doing guided reading!
Thank you! I have a similar set up but I do not give choice and students are rotating. I am finding it hard to do centers as I am having behavior issues. I like the choice idea and not rotating, but spending time at one center for the hour. It’s such a work in progress!!
Where did the reading tubs come from? Are they from Lakeshore?
It was left by a teacher who retired. I was lucky enough to inherit it!
Where did you prchase your center wheel?
I made it! There is a link within this blog post that will take you to the directions but here is the link for ease of reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFyppKxvgAA&feature=youtu.be
II’ve been trying to figure out what your students do after they complete their center. I saw where you said they can get another t tub or read, but my question is how long are they at their one center for the day and what do they do with their recording sheet when they are done?
After completing a center, they bring the recording sheet to me immediately and I give it a quick check. Then they place it in their cubby. They can then move on to another center within their color. They are at a center until they finish it. They cannot move on to another center until they complete the one they have finished. If they do not finish the center prior to the end of our time period, they place it in the unfinished work basket and must pick back up where they left off during the next center time period. Our math centers are done during math block and literacy centers are during our literacy block.
How often do you change your write the room cards? Also, how do the kids know which one to go to if you have different ones for each group? Are they colored coded as well?
Good Morning! I was wondering three things:
1. How often do you change the centers for each group?
2. Are all the tubs always occupied, meaning that each group always has 9 different choices?
3. What do you do if more than one group is working on the same skills? Do they have the same activities get deferred to the other colored tubs?
Thank you!
Christine
P.S.- I love all the pictures of Adelynn on IG 🙂
1) About once a month
2) The tubs are pretty much always occupied
3) They have to choose a free center but always within their color.
Hello, I really like your ideas! Just a question, when do you start introducing centers? First week of school, second or when?
Thank you!
I start introducing them on week 2
Where did you order your storage unit and tubs for your literacy stations?
It was left over from a teacher that retired. I was lucky enough to inherit it!
Hi Greg! Love your reading tubs and how they’re skill based. Im wondering how you incorporate word work into your Literacy block (hands on activities: play-doh, stamps, magnetic letters, pom poms for fine motor strengthening). Are these within your reading tubs as well? I have “Word Work (build/write letters, cvc, sight words) as a separate station where they use their individualized ‘Letter/Word’ Ring and Im wondering how to incorporate it. For computers/ipad, is it “whoever races for them first, gets them? What if kids want to stay there tge whole time and’the other kids dont gwt a’chance (since you have 2 groups assigned at once). Thanks!!
Hi! Word work is in the tubs as well as happens during whole group and small group instruction. Ipads are first come first serve. And if someone stays on it the whole time, that’s their choice. BUT, that generally doesn’t happen. They tend to move on after a while.
Do the children have to work at a certain part of the room if they have the tub center, or can they work anywhere?
They can work anywhere!
Are all your activities independent or do you also use partner games? I have tried a lot of different ways to set up center time and this problem is the one I can never seem to solve. I always have a student who has to leave the game to come with me or someone who is absent that day.
Some of the activities allow for partners but aren’t “required” for the center to be done. I always make sure they make smart choices when choosing a partner to work with.
Do you allow the kids to grab a tub and work anywhere or do they have a designated spot?
Oops sorry you answered this for me! Thank you
One more question 😊 our GR time is required to be almost 2hrs. Would you still recommend this for that amount of time?
How do your centers work now that we have to socially distance and cannot share supplies?
We can share supplies this year. Just extra sanitation. That said, if you cannot, we have a blog post from last year explaining how I did them last year when we couldn’t share supplies. Click Here: https://thekindergartensmorgasboard.com/2020/05/classroom-design-student-materials.html
Here is a blog post that will help: https://thekindergartensmorgasboard.com/2020/10/classroom-setup-in-person-learning.html
Hello Mr. Greg! I love the math tubs and stand! I would like to see how you made it but the link is broken. Could you please fix it so I can access it?
Here you go! I’ll get that link fixed right now! https://thekindergartensmorgasboard.com/2014/08/math-baskets-center-pvc-pipe.html
Center question… do you ever have all 5 kids in the group doing the same thing (for example, the sensory bin)?
No, there are multiple center choices within a color group.
So excited to be coming back to kindergarten next year! Thanks for sharing all your amazing ideas Greg!