Leaving Center Games at Your Tables for the Early Finishers!

Fern Smith's Classroom Ideas Tip for Leaving Center Games at Each Classroom Table for Your Early Finishers.

Leaving Center Games at Your Tables for the Early Finishers!

Hello everyone,

Fern from Fern Smith's Classroom Ideas here again to share a little tip or two to help make your job easier. Today I want to share how leaving center games at each groups' tables helped me with those students that finish their work early and might need a challenge or two before the next transition.

The picture above is one of my freebies from TPT, so you can download it too. I like making multiple copies of the center, placing them on colored file folders and then leaving them in the center of the group table.

If, like above, you have a red group, a blue group and a purple group, etc. using your groups' colors for the file folder center makes it easier for the students to know where to return the center and easier for you to file them away, and take them out again when you want to spiral that skill.

By keeping the games at the table, there is no movement, no interruption of the teacher's small group time, no "Where do I go?" What do I do?" When the student is done working, they know to pick a center, usually one of five skills, from the center of the table. I do spend a few weeks at the beginning of the year teaching the expectations of the THOSE center games.

1. All work MUST be done before you select a file folder.

2. Two people may work together if they are both done and use a low whisper.

3. Everything must be cleaned up and placed back into the file folder center before the next transition.

I love having all these hands-on center games in my classroom. During parent conferences, I love to show the parents of my higher level children what I'm doing to differentiate and motivate my earlier finishers. Right there...right on the table, sometimes having the parents ask the child if they've finished all the ones currently on the table....perfect, instant, immediate feedback for both the parent and the teacher!

If you are new to teaching, or maybe just to reading our Owl-Ways blog, and you need to acquire some center games, click here to see all my freebies at TeacherspayTeachers.