Are you looking for the best November math and literacy centers for first grade? The key to having successful learning centers is with hands on activities that will keep your students engaged and on task. Take a peek at how to include fall fun themes like turkeys, pumpkins and Thanksgiving activities into your centers this month.
Setting Up Your November Math And Literacy Centers
Do you struggle to get kids engaged and staying on task at your learning centers? There are many reasons why you should have learning centers in your classroom, but one of the most important is student engagement.
One way to get your students more interested in your November math and literacy centers is by adding some fun fall toys and manipulatives to your games and printable worksheet activities. Head over to your local dollar store or the Target dollar spot during the fall season. You'll usually find a treasure trove of items that you can use to spice up your math and literacy centers and get kids excited about learning!
You can add itemes like mini fall erasers, mini pumpkins, or fall scatter items as counters. You can even head out to your backyard for acorns and pine cones to use at your math or art center! Students love when there are hands on manipulative items to make their learning more fun and engaging.
November Math Center
One center you definitely want to add to your 1st grade classroom is a Math center. This is where students can practice the different math activities you're learning in class.
In first grade, students are usually deep into addition and subtraction by November. We like to play the game Squirrely Addition and Subtraction. Students kids practice story problems and use real acorns as the counters to help them solve the facts.
Another fun game that kids like to play is Roll A Turkey. In this activity, kids roll a dice and double it, then add one more. It's great practice when learning the addition strategy doubles plus one.
Finally, add some laminated fall addition task cards to your math station this month. Kids love using expo markers to write their answers and mini erasers can help them solve the problems. These simple items add another level of fun to keep the kids engaged!
November Spelling Center
Your November math and literacy centers wouldn’t be complete without a leaf rubbing activity. At the Spelling Center, students can write their words in a leaf picture with black permanent marker. Use real leaves or plastic rubbing plates to rub over top of the picture with crayon to create a leaf effect on their picture.
Another fun game to use at your November spelling center is Turkey Spin A Word. In this activity, the kids spin the turkey spinner to see where it lands. They follow the directions to write their words with pencil, marker, colored pencil or crayon. This simple, no prep center game is always a hit and super easy for you to add to your center! If you need other ideas on how to set up this center and others in your room, head over here for more tips!
November Art Center
One of my students favorite fall learning centers is our art center. November is a great time to add a turkey or acorn craft! It's a good idea to put very simple crafts at this center. Create an example and hang it at the center so that students can see how it is made. Keep the patterns simple enough that students can make the craft on their own with no supervision.
November Writing Center
First grade students love going to the writing center when there are a variety of activities to choose from. Keep this learning center engaging by adding fun fall pens and pencils and fall writing prompts.
During November students can use a fall word bank to help them make a list of fall colors and write stories about scarecrows, hayrides, and pumpkins. They can write their opinion of raking leaves or their favorite food at Thanksgiving. The possiblities are endless with these November writing center prompts.
Need something to get you started? Grab these free Color, Write and Build activities to add to your writing center this month.
November Big Book Center
At the big book center the students can read fall poems and retell them on the flannel board. Students love using the flannel board and these adorable pieces.
Do you get Scholastic News Magazine in your classroom? One tip is to save the enlarged version that's included in the monthly subscription. Laminate them and put them at your Big Book Center! It’s an inexpensive way to add quality literature to your center, if you don’t have a lot of big books in your library.
November Word Work Center
Your word work center will be the hub of all your classroom learning centers! This is where students can work on phonics, grammar and sight words. November is a great time to work on alphebetical order with a cute game like this ABC Order In The Pumpkin Patch.
Another fun game that kids can play alone or with a partner is Turkey Lurkey Races. In this simple, low prep game kids practice words with beginning blends. Simply choose a card and if you can read it, move your turkey lurkey racer one tick on the game board. The first person to reach the finish line wins the game!
Finally, add some vocabulary practice at your centers with a fall build a word activity. Kids can choose from a variety of fall themes to practice making new vocabulary words with stamps, letter tiles or magnetic letters. Any time you add manipulative items like this, your students are guaranteed to be more engaged and stay on task at centers!
These November math and literacy center activities are great to use at not only learning centers, but also during your small group reading, writing or math instruction. I often pull out a game to reinforce a skill we’re working on. It’s a great way to keep kids engaged and learning during small group. Many of these activities would work great for your October learning center activities too!
Another idea is to put some of these activities at a table for fast finishers or for morning work activities. Kids will be excited to practice skills when they are using games and other hands on materials in your classroom.
If you want your students to stay on task and learning, these November Math and Literacy centers are the way to make that happen. Head over here to take a closer look at everything included in this bundle.
Looking for more November activties? Check out these posts:
SAVE THESE IDEAS FOR LATER!
Take a minute to save these tips to your favorite November Pinterest board so you can remember them later!
