At the end of each day in grade one, we get a chance to have "explore time," which gives the kiddos an opportunity to explore around our classroom while engaging in play-based learning. This is a child-lead period where they have choice to play where they want to while refining curricular skills and engage in conversation with their peers. Every month I create new centers that align with our curricular goals for that month. Take a sneak peak into our classroom to see what and how your kiddos are learning through play! Mixed up alphabet center: This center allows children to challenge their alphabet recognition and knowledge. The challenge is to find the letters in the sensory box, identify them and then put them in the correct order before the time is up! At this center there are 1, 2 and 3 minute timers depending on how challenging the kiddos want to make it for themselves. Number identification and representation center: The goal at this center is to pick a number and represent it in different ways with a hint of fine motor work by choosing a design to lay the counters out on! As we work on our math "shopping" centers (stay tuned for a blog post on "shopping"), students are encouraged to extend their knowledge by putting the counters into a ten frame. Number towers: The challenge at this center is to build towers in accordance to the number on the tree cookie! Balancing pegs: This center works on the students fine motor skills. Using the alligator tweezers, the goal is to carefully pick up an object and place it on the balancing pegs. Some kiddos have taken it upon themselves to create a pattern on the pegs! Portrait creation center: Sometimes entering a new grade can be a little daunting to our little people. This center invites the children to create faces using loose parts and is also an introduction to our feelings. In grade one, we frequently talk about how it is okay to feel emotions and as we grow and learn, we understand how to handle strong emotions. I have seen some fabulously crazy faces created at this center so far!! The Dot: In our Creation Station, we have an art project set up inspired by the book "The Dot" by Peter Reynolds. The first step at this center is to cover a coffee filter with colors using markers. Once that is done, the kiddos take the filter just outside of our classroom to spray it with a water bottle. Once it is completely soaked, we allow it to dry over night. In the morning, the magic happens. The filter looks like a tye dyed beauty!! We have began to cover our creation station wall with our project and it is looking fab!!
Among these centers, we also have a playdough center where students are given the opportunity to engage in sensory play. We also have a building center with various loose parts, legos and tree cookies to create with. Stay tuned on Seesaw to see your child's view of Explore Time!!
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July 2020
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