While observing in a school not too long ago, I watched how one teacher made sure all of her young children visited (and stayed in) their assigned centers at the correct time. Upon arrival, each child was given a large, brightly colored “necklace” to wear. These were blue, red, green, yellow, and brown circles. At ten-minute intervals, the teacher would ask children to rotate centers, based on their necklace color and at a glance; she was instantly able to determine if they were in the right place. Brilliant.
I am a strong advocate of centers and because of the social nature of this form of learning; the holidays are the perfect time of year to stage activity stations. Have your children view one of our animations via computer (and of course headphones) as one center. Your math center could consist of this activity using the two pages we have provided or you could print just one copy of the activity, laminate it, and cut the four main problems into cards. Children could use scrap paper for writing answers. I always liked to have a box with a slit in the top so students could slip their answer sheets into the box. You could cover the box with appropriate seasonal wrap or with plain paper. Let children decorate the plain paper with their own illustrations of Maggie, Yoshi, or even a flamingo! Extend the activity by providing books about flamingos at your library center. Writing about imaginary experiences with flamingos is a natural for a writing center.
