Guest Blogger: Primary Essentials

I am so stinkin’ excited to be guest blogging for Liz here at TheHappyTeacher!  My name is Fran, and although I’m not yet a blogger, I stalk quite a few blogs on a regular basis.  I’m the mind behind the Teachers Pay Teachers store, Primary Essentials.  I just love working in primary.  I think teachers that teach primary grades just think a little differently from everyone else.  You know what I mean?

            I stopped by today to share the whole group activity Four Corners.  I just heart Four Corners.  I think it’s great for two reasons. 1) It gets your little ones up and out of their seats (and the blood flowing back to their brains). 2) It can be used as an informal assessment to see which students still need more practice with the skill that you are currently working on.  Here’s how you play.  You decide on the skill you want to review and create cards for that skill that you will pass out to the students.  Put A, B, C, D signs in the four corners of your classroom.  If you have one or more corners that are not accessible, just place the sign where you want that group to meet. The signs below are for Hard and Soft C & G Four Corners.

Next, have the students get up and move to the corner that they think correctly fits their card. Then you can go around and check to see if everyone is in the correct corner.  This is a great time for you to make notes about which students still need more practice with the skill.  If time permits, you can quickly talk with any students that are in the wrong corner about what corner they should have gone to and why.  You could also have the students in each corner look at each other’s cards and help any friends that may be in the wrong corner.  Four Corners can be played over and over again by switching the game cards the students have each round.

If you have never played Four Corners I must warn you that you MUST set your expectations for behavior and noise level from the beginning.  If you don’t, you will absolutely hate Four Corners and will never play again.  All the normal classroom expectations are still enforced, but I like to add few more specific expectations.  Here are the expectations that I have for students when playing this game:

1)  No one moves until I say “Go.”

2)  When moving to your corner you must use walking feet at a normal pace.

3)  When you reach your corner you are not there to have a conversation, so stand quietly while I check to make sure that everyone made it to the correct corner.  If I ask you to talk with the other students at your corner, use a whisper voice.

4)  If you are not sure what corner you need to go to, make an educated guess.  No one will be punished or yelled at for going to the wrong corner. J

5) If you are unable to follow my expectations, you will get the honor of staying seated at your desk while the other students get up and move.  You will however still have to participate in the learning that is taking place.  I will come by your desk for you to tell me which corner you should be standing in.

I love Four Corners so much I've been busy creating products for my store that feature this game.  Each product comes with a few other activities that you can put in stations to reinforce the concept.  All the games are played with the same game cards.  Check out my new products below.

Picture Perfect L-blends Four Corners & More comes with six sets of game cards with eight cards in each set.  All the Picture Perfect products come with the four corner signs, and two station activities (word sort and Collect 8).

Sorting Mats:

 Picture Cards:

 Word Cards:

If you like Picture Perfect L-blends you’ll also want to check out these other Picture Perfect products.  Picture Perfect R-blends Four Corners & More, Picture Perfect Bossy R Four Corners & More, and Picture Perfect Hard and Soft C & G Four Corners and More

I also created one for Synonyms.  I would say that this activity is more for second grade and above.  Some of the words may be too hard for first graders.

 Synonyms Four Corners & More

Sorting Mats & Word Cards:

Last but not least I did create a couple of Math Four Corners game.  Check out Money Four Corners & More and Place Value Four Corners & More.

Money Four Corners & More comes with four sets of game cards and directions for four station activities (sort & sorting mats, Collect 8, Concentration, and Go Fish).

 

Place Value Four Corners & More comes with four sets of game cards and directions for four station activities (sort & sorting mats, Collect 8, Concentration, and Go Fish).

 

Thanks for letting share Four Corners and my newest products with y’all.  I would just love it if you would come on over to my TPT store and become a follower and check out some of my product while you are there.  I’m having a 15% off sale from Saturday, March 16^th through Monday, March 18^th.  You can also follow Primary Essentials on Facebook.

Leave a comment (and your e-mail below) and tell me your FAVORITE Four Corners game!  I'll pick a few random winners and send them their favorite!! :)