20 Small Group Center Ideas

SMALL GROUP... 

My two most hated words my first 3 years of teaching... the sound of these words together made my stomach turn!  Everyone from coworkers to specialists had the ideas, but the countless hours I spent trying to make these "ideas" and this time engaging for the ENTIRE class was disgusting. I gave up many nights and weekends trying to find something that worked and kept the littles attention for longer than 2 minutes! I spent hours laminating and cutting - trying to make hands on activities that not only kept them engaged but was also growing those little brains!  Everything I tried just didn't seem to keep them at their desks working independently, so I could work with the kiddos at my small group table.  I was defeated. I felt like I was failing my students. I knew my low babies needed this time more than any part of the day, but I just couldn't find a way to make it successful.

Fast forward out of my self pity to a Christmas craft fair in my hometown.  I sew things as a side gig and my sister and I had a booth together.  The best thing to come from this (yes, I was also a failure at craft shows, lol) was a booth that sold sock puppets. I know who would have thought? So I'm standing here looking at these ridiculous sock puppets thinking I could make these, but what could I use it for. I bought one and brought it home to show my 1st grader, he immediately fell in love with it and named it Gerald, yes Gerald, I don't know why?? The more I watched my own kids laugh and play with Gerald the more I wanted to incorporate puppets into my classroom, but how?

Word Work puppet shows! I fell in love with the idea! Students could work on phonics word work through puppet shows!  Thus, Shelia and Joe were born!! My class was absolutely in awe the first puppet show I had them complete!  It was a game changer! No more what am I supposed to do at this center, no more pretending to read, no more talking to their neighbor, and most importantly no more, "I'm done! Now what?" (after 3.5 seconds of independent work).  They were all engaged and most importantly ALL students were learning NOT just my small group students!  Now came the hard part how to make this something they can do every day.  Now I'm a mom of 4 and time is hard to come by, but I really believe in this idea.  I tried several different ways and activities to do with the puppets and word work, but in the end I felt like a "routine" was the best way to go. I will have a second post explaining the "puppet shows" for now let's talk about the centers.  

CENTERS

I didn't want my kiddos just staring at an ipad all day and not actually get to use their imaginations and hands, so I came up with low prep word work bins.  I have 20 in total, and I don't change them all year!  Students get a Word Work Ticket every 20 days. I do this so each student uses each Word Work bin within the 20 days.  This keeps students from "hogging" the sand bin, lol. Plus, it keeps them from getting bored.  

Another thing I added to my bins is a QR code. So, last year, I struggled with teaching the word work bins.  It was easy to pull the class to the rug and show them how to use it, but each student needed time to practice the bin after I explained it, and who has time to make 20 of the same activity so they can practice with you?  So, I decided to make videos to explain how to use the word work bins.  We have 15 days of school before we start our first unit in Benchmark Advance.  I use these 15 days to teach students how to use the word work bins. Students will get a new word bin every day and watch Word Work Wanda. Wanda and friends teach the students how to properly use each Word Work bin. I am super excited about this! No more I don't know what to do! If they forget they no longer have to interrupt small group, they simply scan the QR on the bin and Wanda teaches the center again!  These are the centers I will use as centers all year. 

I have linked each bin to the correct bin on TPT.  I also have the bundle linked at the end of this post!  Bin #1 is free on TPT!  Give it a try!  

I know nothing you haven't seen before!  Stamps!  So easy.  I put a notebook and stamps in this bin and students simply stamp their word on the first blank page.  Sounds simple enough, but even this simple center can be exhausting to explain over and over.  The QR code will take them straight to Wanda.  She will teach students how to properly use this bin. 

Rice and beads!  This one is a favorite in my classroom. I use food coloring to dye the rice and I also put beans in this bin as well.  Students will simply find the beads with the letters to spell their word.

 

Magnets.  I don't know why, but I still love playing with magnets!  You could even put this one at the big board and let students work on the big board instead of at their desks.  

I love these pretty letter beads.  Students will work with Wanda and first write the word on their board with expo marker.  Then they will find their letter and string the bead onto the string. Super fun!

So this one is everyone's favorite and one of the reasons I use the punch card!  Students always want to play with the sand bin!  I have mine write their word on their expo board and then stamp it into the sand bin. 

 

Blocks.  This one seems so simple to me, but my students really enjoy this one.  They like to lay out all the yellow trays and try to spell all the words instead of one at a time.  I guess every kid likes legos!

Make the code.  This one I created.  I love the break the code, but that requires a new list weekly or daily.  So instead we make the code!  Students will write their word and then use the "key" to find the objects needed to "spell" their word. 

Squishy letters.  These are fun for little hands.  They have water and tiny orbeez balls inside, so they are fun to squish!  I put them in a box of colored beans for extra sensory.  They are a little pricy so they can only build one word at a time usually.  If you had multiple sets they would be able to build more. 

I love this one! I love, love, love smelly markers!  This center students will write their words in the "wheel" and then spin a paper clip and write the word it lands on in one of the boxes. 

Feed the Yeti. Students will write their word on their board and then find the ice chips with those letters and feed the Yeti!  

Clothesline Words. This is another one I created.  Students will follow directions from Wanda to make a clothesline in the bin they will then find the clothes with letters needed to make words and hang them on the line!

T-Shirt Designer - Oh my, this one is pretty fun too!  I have a sublimation machine at home, so I put a fun puppet image on a blank shirt and students will write their word with a sharpie on the shirt!  I plan to wear it to school when it is all full!

Wiki Sticks!  These are the coolest little things!  I had never seen these until a coworker introduced them to me!  They are pretty cheap and you can bend them into any shape and then straighten them back out. 

Write it - Link it - students will write their word on the "mat" and then find the cards to spell it out linking it with the chains. 

Pirate Treasure - For this center I mix a little bit of sand, jewels, and letter beads.  Students write their word on board and then use tweezers to find the needed beads to spell it out. 

Who doesn't love playdoh?!  Students will write their word on board and them use playdoh to spell it out!  Super easy and cheap!

More playdoh!  This time students will use stamps to stamp their word out!

Clothesline Words - I made this fun center to be used with any word list.  I used large popsicle sticks, jute, brads, and magnets to create this bin.  I put the brads on the fish with letters on them and then made a fishing pole.  Students will "fish" for the letters needed to spell their word. 

This one is fun!  Word stack.  Students will "build" the first two words flat on table like in picture, but after that they will stack the words on top. Wanda explains all of this in the video!

Eraser Words - this center is fun because it can be seasonal without much effort!  Simply change the erasers to the holiday and done!  Students write their word and then build it with the erasers. 

Grab the bundle HERE!

As you can see these are not super expensive centers and you probably already have some of the things you need to make them and best of all I do NOT change them all year!  I know that sounds like students will get bored, but remember they get a different bin every day for 20 days, so they do not come back to their first bin for 20 days!  My students of course have their favorite bins, but they enjoy all of the bins.  Click the links to find this product at my TPT store.  I have included bulletin board pictures and labels for your bins.  These are my favorite bins to use and the ones you see in the pictures.

Storex Yellow Paper Trays with Lids

I also include any of the centers that I created that are pictured above in the file!  

Thanks for stopping by!