While some of you are enjoying your “snow days” I am trying to bring “snow” into my class! Most of my kiddos have NEVER seen snow… (WELL I NEVER HAVE EITHER) HAHA! My plan was to make a fun, hands-on, and differentiated Winter themed center for January!
HOW DID I MAKE IT?
Listed below are the materials needed. I honestly purchased very little… only because I had most of these items in my house. I might have taken my hubby’s foam for his tractor too. (Good thing he will never read this 😉
You don’t have to get fancy like mine… unless you want to! I enjoy my crafty time! If you want an easier way to make this you can get a simple box and wrap it with white paper!
Here are the steps to make it:
Step 1: I took the plastic container (I bought mine at Wal-Mart in the storage container area and painted it white. Make sure your white can be used for plastics! Then I used glitter paint over it. (Have to have sparkles!) HAHA. After the container was dry, I clear coated it. My recommendation is to clear coat it a couple times.
Then I painted the inside of the container blue. This makes it look like a dark hole when they fish. The blue paint makes it give a snowy look on the other side too.
*** I threw out the plastic top that went to the container. You will see why later***
Step 2: Cut out the foam. I drew on the foam with a marker and made a jagged hole in the middle. I left some sides to have room to put the fish. I made the foam hang over the box. The foam was pretty large. It can be purchased from Jo-Ann’s Fabric. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect! This is ice…. so I purposely tried to make it uneven when I cut it!
Step 3: Print, laminate, and cut out the fish you want to use. There are 6 different option to choose from! You can use all 6 if you want a spiral review or you could put the fish in baggies by skills. (Differentiate your literacy centers!)
Step 4: Hole punch the eye of the fish with single hole puncher. Then put a small brad on the eye of the fish. This makes it easy for fishing and it doesn’t take away from the academic focus of fishing!
Step 5: Place the foam on top. Why are you asking did I throw out the top? Well… When it’s time for our centers to be cleaned up, I have students place the foam, fish, and fishing poles in the container for easy clean up!
Step 6: Add fishing poles and you are ready! (Of course I bought mine off of Amazon! I love Amazon Prime! I have to note these are the hardiest fishing poles I have used. They are made from wood. They don’t really reel. I have the students put their line in the hole and then fish attach right away because of the magnetic end of the fishing pole is REALLY strong! It is on sale right now! Click on the picture!
HOW TO PLAY?
**I only allow 2 students to play at a time. You can have up to 4 play depending on your center and how big you make it.
1. Student A will place their fishing pole into the hole.
2. Then they will grab the fish.
3. They must read or spell (depending on the skill).
4. If student A gets it correct, they keep the fish. If they get it wrong them put the fish back. (They get a chance to get it again and now will get the answer correct!) I also put answers on the back to make it self-correcting. If they do cheat by looking at the answer at least they are getting the correct answers! 😉
FUN & ENGAGING CENTERS
Need a fun, hands-on, center to review ELA skills? Students will go fishing for fish using fishing poles. The fish have different skills on them. You can put all the fish in the container and use it for an ultimate review or you could differentiate for all of your learners. The fish are color coded so you could baggy them up and have them used based on their learning need. I put a sticker on the back with the correct answer so this center is self-correcting!
Skills included:
– Capital Letters
– Lowercase Letters
– Letter Sounds (You could do beginning, middle, or ending sounds)
– CVC words (students have to spell the words)
– Sight Words (100 Fry Sight Words)
– Digraphs (th and ch)
BECOMING LEADERS
I’m always striving to create the most engaging and hands-on centers for my students! However, I think it’s also important to incorporate team building and positive behavior. I love how this game allows students to practice taking turns and patience. In addition to self regulation skills, I incorporate Kagan and PBS strategies as well. I have students praise their partner for right answers and encourage their partner for wrong answers. We are building leaders on center at a time!
Happy Fishing! Hope you enjoyed this blog!
Be the first to reply
You must log in to post a comment.