Differentiation Station Creations: Fill Your Year With Goodies!

The weather is hot and humid here. Perfect weather for the pool, but I am already thinking about the fall and back-to-school. Why??? It is a little ridiculous, since summer hasn't even started for my kids. My son still has 3 more days of school.

I am thinking about back-to-school, because I absolutely LOVE back-to-school time. Even as a child, I loved buying and organizing all my school supplies. I loved the smell of new markers, the sharp points of my crayons, the white expanse of an empty notebook waiting to be filled. Sounds corny, but I felt that as a child and still feel that way now. I love the anticipation of learning something new, of creating things with my mind and hands!

One of the first downloadable packs that I created was school supply themed. It has been about a year since I created it and I have learned so much!! I just recently went back and revamped the entire pack. It still has my beloved school supplies and tons of hands-on activities.

http://www.educents.com/kindergarten-curiculum-for-the-year.html#dscreations

There are tons of different activities in this set. The "Roll & Cover" games are one of my favorites. I have included a few variations on "Roll & Cover". I include many different mats and different sets of numbers on the mats, because young or struggling learners need a lot of practice with the same skill. However, you don't want that practice to be boring. By changing the clip art on the "Roll & Cover" boards, kids think they are playing a brand new game!

To play, you need a board for each student, one die to share, and counters to cover the numbers that they roll. Students will roll the die and cover the number that they rolled.

I included dice in the pack that you can put together yourself. All you need is cardstock and tape.

I have a wonderful step-dad that cut out a million wooden cubes for me! I just painted them and used a Sharpee to write the targeted numbers, dots, or number words on the die.

I included numbers and dots: 0-5, 1-5, and 5-10. You can use the specific numbers that your children are learning.

Ink friendly versions of this game include: "Roll & Write". Students will roll the die and write down the matching numeral on one of the school supplies. This helps kids work on forming the numerals.

I also have "Roll, Write, and Graph". In this format, students will roll the die, find the matching numeral and write the numeral in the graph above the same number. Students will be able to practice forming their numerals and track which number was rolled the most and least.

I include number posters with the numeral, number word, and dots on a ten frame. The odd numbers are yellow and the even numbers are green. I use these in multiple ways. I have students throw bean bags and identify the number that their bean bag landed on. I have students jump from poster to poster on the floor. We say the numbers out loud, as they jump on them. You can also give each student a number card and have them find the matching number poster. This gets kids up and moving!

Of course, they can also be used as number posters in the classroom or in your home. Here are mine, going up the stairway in our house. My kids use pointers or knock on each number as they go up and down the stairs. It is great for counting forwards and backwards.

There are also some fun clothespin counting activities. I have both traditional clothespins, but also bought some big chunky ones from the dollar store. These are easier for little hands to manipulate. I bought 9 or 10 for $1.

The amounts included on the "Clip It" cards are 0-10.

Here are some of the extension worksheets that go along with the activities.

I have a "School Supply Count Up". This is differentiated in a few ways. There are cards that have the numeral written on the card. Students will count and find the matching numeral card to place on top.

I included regular and fun numbers.

There are also cards with no numbers.

Students must count the school supplies and find the number that correctly matches the amount.

Here are some extension worksheets.

Students are able to load up their crayon boxes with the matching number of crayons.

Students can draw the matching number of crayons on the extension worksheets.

Students are also able to add the crayons on the addition task cards. They will use the manipulatives to count find the sum.

They can also use the crayons to make a pattern.

I've found that the manipulatives are easier for some children to handle, if you hot glue foam to the back of the crayon manipulative.

Here are some of the addition extension worksheets.

I am excited about the changes in the Back-To-School Math Pack. Please re-download, if you already bought this last year!!

Now for the fun! I have also teamed up with Educents with some instant downloads for you!

Educents is a great resource that I found for teaching freebies and discounted teaching supplies. If you have never heard of Educents, it is a wonderful website where you can get tons of discounted teaching materials for school or homeschool setting! Click here, if you would like to make an account! I get referral credit, too :)

This bundle includes a full years worth of activities for your kindergarten classroom! So exciting because it's stuff for now, in a few months from now, and all the way through the end of the school year! Check it out below!