ELA Centers

You’ve weathered the countdown to winter break, and now you really have to prepare for coming back in January. It’s time to engage your kiddos, and help them forget how fun it was to lounge around watching TV or play on the beach during winter vacation.

You need to help them survive days upon days of indoor recess (if you live in a cold/snowy area), and all the while, teach them something they’ll actually remember. I love to take this opportunity to weave some seasonal STEM into the mix! Kids love it, they engage in hands-on science, and when tied to a favorite children’s story combined with frosty conditions outside, it’s STEM put into a context that sticks with the kiddos.

Inspired by the winter wonderland outside our windows here in Chicago in January, we love engaging in STEM challenges centered on the concept of insulation and experiments with changing states of matter. See the insulation creations students worked together to design in order to keep their ice cubes frozen for the longest period of time! This STEM challenge is super simple: Check out my Scholastic Top Teaching blog post for materials list and instructions! {HINT: Gather materials, tell the kids the challenge, and…….WATCH THEM GO!}

Hands-on sensory-based science = engagement = happy students = happy teacher! I followed this simple, two-ingredient recipe from Two Sisters Crafting to create perfectly realistic snow for my son’s winter party.  It was super cool and easy to make. The kids went absolutely nuts for this stuff, and it’s a great lesson both in sensory exploration and changing states of matter.  This STEM experiment is super simple: Check out my Scholastic Top Teaching blog post for materials list and instructions! (PS: Try this AT HOME with your own children for FUN when cooped up inside the house because it’s freezing….OR if you’re fortunate enough to live in a year-round warm climate that doesn’t get snow! …because we have to try to maintain sanity at HOME, too. LOL!)

I love how beautifully snowflakes lend themselves to the study of math concepts, particularly geometry. Using the books above, examine the absolutely amazing images of snowflake crystals. Facilitate a class discussion about the geometric shapes (both 2-D and 3-D) that they see in the photos and illustrations. I’m GIVING AWAY 2 SNOWFLAKE SYMMETRY FREE DOWNLOADS on my Scholastic Top Teaching blog post! Pop over to get them NOW!

Whether you’re brave enough to get into a real class snowball fight (I wouldn’t advise it!) or you prefer to use paper or cotton balls with the fun target, having fun with a snowball fight can be a great way to learn about, graph, and track data. If you hop on over to my Scholastic Blog post, you’ll get access to FREE SNOWBALL FIGHT ACTIVITY DOWNLOADS! Want a complete set of WINTER MATH & ELA PRINT-&-GO CENTERS? Get them 20% off in my TPT store! You can use them daily as independent centers, or to drive your small group instruction in a fun way!

Residing in a northern (almost Wisconsin) suburb of Chicago, I often feel like I live inside a snow globe. Just this week, we’ve had blustery snowfall and subzero temperatures. While I don’t actually live inside a snow globe, it’s fun to imagine if I did. Read my Scholastic Top Teaching blog post to find out blizzards of fun applications, including a wonderful writing project, for one of my favorite frosty books, The Snow Globe Family. On that blog post, you’ll also have access to FREE DOWNLOAD TEMPLATES for snow globe images and WRITING PLANNING PAGES! Print-and-GO!

**12 INSTANT, NO PREP, PRINT-AND-USE MATH Work Stations
**5 INSTANT, NO PREP, PRINT-AND-USE GRAMMAR/ELA Work Stations
**3 center menus/checklists for teacher management & student accountability
**This is a BUNDLE set of my Winter Wonder Math Centers & Winter Games Grammar Centers at a discounted price. ($2 off)
{SEE SLIDESHOW PREVIEW BELOW!}