March 2015

Full Disclosure: I'm resurrecting the beginning of this this post from a while ago when I first introduced my EZ Prep See-it Centers, but come on. It's a good one right?

{For effect, please read the following in your best infomercial announcer voice}

Are you tired of spending hours laminating and cutting materials for centers? Have you gone through endless reams of card stock and too many ink cartridges to count? (you're doing the voice, aren't you? good. Keep going. And imagine a very exasperated teacher blowing her hair out of her eyes)

Do your children run in the opposite direction when you enter the room with arm loads of lamination that needs to be cut? Are you constantly struggling to find the right organizational system to keep track of little cards, stamps, manipulatives, baskets, buckets and envelopes you need to keep your materials together? (Now imagine a very harried looking teacher surrounded by game pieces, various baskets, bags, envelopes, etc. who looks at you and says "There's got to be a better way!")

Ok, before you change the channel. I'll get to the point ;) After spending about 2 hours printing, cutting laminating and sorting things for the upcoming week, I honestly started to think there has got to be a better way! Now at the same time, I've been mulling over the fact that we were recently told by a common core implementation team that we need to bump up the rigor of our independent centers. I honestly can't argue with them there.

So true story, later that night while in the shower, inspiration struck me like a thunderbolt! I think I figured out a way to make at least some of my centers easier to prep while providing both rigor and engaging activities for the kids. I'm calling them EZ Prep See-it Centers. EZ Prep for you, See-it for the kids. All you have to do is print out ONE page for the center and and answer sheet for the kids - and done! This is from the preview, it explains the whole idea. You can download the preview here.

Since that original post, I've created EZ Prep Centers for Beach and Camping, Fall, Winter Fun, Bowling and Day at the Park, Pirate Adventure and Undersea Fantasy and a FREE Back to School version.

Here's a peek at my newest set, which happens to be my favorite. It's a great one to use at any point in the year and it's going to captivate both boys and girls with the fantasy scenes.

All you have to do is make one color copy of the scene you decide to work with first and then copy the ELA or Math answer sheet for the kids. That's it! Each set contains 2 ELA and 2 Math centers, so really if you use one a week, it will last you all month. These also work great for an early finisher activity. I also have one in my emergency sub folder with the directions to project the scene and let the kids collaborate on the answer sheet. That, by the way, is a great method to introduce the centers to the kids for the first time.

Along with the scene and answer sheets for the kids, I've also created answer keys for you with possible answers. These are really valuable to help you train the kids for how to find what they're looking for. It may be odd at first for a kid to try to list 10 verbs they see when there are no words in the picture! They pick it up fast though and this center has a ridiculously high engagement factor compared to matching cards and writing sets of answers.

Hope you dig this idea as much as I do. I'd love to know what you think!