1st Grade Adventures with October Math and Literacy Centers

The month of October is full of amazing themes to integrate into your learning activities. I turn my classroom into a pumpkin patch full of hands-on learning! Our 1st Grade October Math and Literacy Centers capture the essence of autumn. As the trees don their vibrant colors, we’ve crafted math and literacy activities that blend seamlessly into October’s charm. Students dive into these hands-on tasks and don’t realize how much they are learning. These resources make learning engaging and keep our first graders excited throughout the fall season.

I love to engage my students in exciting activities from this collection of Halloween STEM ideas. With all the excitement that comes with October, STEM activities are perfect for giving the students a chance to work together to complete festive challenges. We dive more into science with our apples and pumpkins science units.

To celebrate everyone’s favorite October holiday, we play several rounds of this Halloween bingo game. It gives my students a chance to practice their listening skills, and it is great to play when you have parent volunteers come in! To keep with the Halloween theme, we engage in some gross and spooky fun with this blood cell model science activity and read as many ghost and goblin Halloween books as we can.

Like every other month, we work on our literacy skills with this review journal. I also love to use the October math journal as a way to transition to the next subject of the day. The October worksheets that come in this journal are an excellent way to help my first graders practice the math concepts that we’ve been busy learning. 

I’m always looking for new and exciting ways to help my students review their math and literacy skills, and I’ve found that the best way to revisit the skills taught during my October first grade lessons is through centers and stations. But not just any October math and reading stations. No, I use the best bundle of centers there is! Our October Math and Literacy Centers for First Grade are a must have during this busy, pumpkin-filled month!

October Math and Literacy Centers for 1st Grade 

This center bundle comes with 40 first grade center activities. With 20 literacy centers and 20 math centers to use with your students, you won’t have to go searching for learning activities at all this month. Best of all, each center has adorable, October-themed clipart to make each activity more exciting and enticing for your young students. 

The centers are split into five categories for each subject, and each category has four different centers in it. The centers can be used as station activities, small group materials, or even as part of your whole-group instruction. There really is no wrong way to use them. And trust me, you’ll be grateful to have so many incredible, age-appropriate, monthly-themed activities to use with your students!

Included in the October Math and Literacy Centers

4 weeks of Math Centers:

• Write & Wipe Activities
• Write the Room Activities
• Dice Games
• Partner Games
• Puzzles and Match-Ups

4 Weeks of Literacy Centers:

• Write the Room Activities
• Writing Centers
• Poetry Centers
• Pocket Chart and Match-Up Activities
• Puzzles and Write & Wipe Activities

Giving you 40 first grade October printables to choose from!

Math Skills Covered in the October Math Activities

• Graphing, Number Order, Addition, One More/One Less, Place Value, Two More/Two Less, 3D Shapes, Skip Counting, Subtraction, Counting On, Subitizing, Coins, Decomposing, Comparing Numbers, Telling Time to the Hour, and more!

Literacy Skills Covered in the October Literacy Centers

• Writing, Poetry, Sequencing, Sight Words, CVCC Words, Comprehension, Plural Nouns, CVC Words, Simple Sentences, ABC Order, Character & Setting, Punctuation, and more!

Using the October Math and Literacy Centers

So once you purchase and download the October centers, then what? We’ve got all the tips and tricks you need to feel confident using the first grade math and literacy centers in October. 

First, make sure you look through the entire file after downloading. Check out everything that you now own and make a list of things you want to print at school (or just print them right away!). After that, organize the materials in piles of what needs to be copied, laminated, cut, etc. 

A great tip for utilizing the October centers is to decide how you’re going to introduce and use them with your students. With four different centers for each category, you could easily introduce one of each type each week of the month, or you can introduce them all right away.

No matter when or how you introduce the centers to your first graders, make sure to teach explicit directions for each type. Ensure your expectations are extremely clear so that after the first few times, your students will be able to work on their center activities independently. Most importantly, remember to have fun with these October-themed centers! 

Materials Needed

• Copy Paper
• Laminating Sheets
• Dice
• Dry Erase Markers
• Erasers
• Write the Room Clips

Exploring Literacy Centers with First Graders in October

The 20 innovative October literacy centers for first grade that you get inside this bundle will help your students review literacy skills that are crucial to their learning. With so many different options, you and your students will have many opportunities to learn, play, and have fun while working with these October literacy activities.

Literacy Write the Room Centers

Write the room activities are great for engaging your kinesthetic learners while also allowing all of your kiddos to get some Halloween anticipation energy out, all while learning! The four literacy write the room activities for October are focused on the digraphs “ck,” “th,” “wh,” and “ph,” as well as correcting sentences with proper conventions. 

Literacy Write & Wipe Centers and Puzzles

The October literacy centers for first grade come with two literacy write and wipe activities and two literacy puzzles. These October-themed literacy activities for first grade cover skills like CVC words, story elements, and making words plural. 

Literacy Match-Ups and Pocket Chart Activities

Match-up activities and pocket chart activities are some of my favorite centers. The kids can spread out the pieces and work together to complete the activities. The October literacy activities in this category include a sentence scramble full of fun October-themed sentences, an editable sight word hide and seek game, a sequencing activity for students to retell the steps of carving a pumpkin, and a match-up activity to practice the digraphs “ch” and “sh.”

Poetry Center Materials

The October poetry center materials can be used in a poetry center, as whole group activities, or a little mix of both. The center bundle comes with four poems: three original poems about Halloween and October, plus one familiar nursery rhyme. Each poem comes with pocket chart pieces, a poetry journal, and a poetry notebook that give your first graders plenty of reading opportunities. 

Writing Center Materials

The October writing center comes with four sets of writing cards in each of these themes: farm words, Halloween words, transportation words, and fire safety words. You’ll also receive a collection of writing paper options that will allow you to easily differentiate for your first graders. With these appropriately themed words, your October writing center will be a hit!

Learning with Engaging October Math Centers for First Graders

The bundle of centers comes with 20 October math centers for first grade. With five categories of centers, you’ll have many different options to use with your students to help them review all of the October math lessons that you will teach. 

Math Write the Room Centers

The four math write the room centers that come inside this center bundle focus on skills like adding, fractions, skip counting by 5s, and working with doubles. These fall-themed math centers can be used as a center or as a whole class activity.

Math Dice Games

Dice games are easy games to prep and to play because all they need are dice! The games cover skills like 3D shapes, adding up to 10, and graphing. The games include a roll and cover/color, a roll and graph, a color by number, and a “roll a monster” game. Your students will love these first grade October math games. 

Math Partner Games

Since we can never have too many math games, the centers also come with four partner games, made to be played by two people. These games give your first graders a perfect reason to work and play with their classmates. The October centers cover skills including comparing numbers, subitizing, tens and ones, and addition. The games include a board game, a race to the top game, a card game, and a spinner game.

Math Puzzles and Match-Ups

Puzzles and match-ups are great to put in centers, to use as morning work, or to even use as early-finisher work. The four October match-ups and puzzle activities will help your students practice number order, comparing numbers, adding, and subtracting. 

Math Write & Wipe Activities

Write and wipe centers for math are great because they give your students a chance to practice their math skills over and over again. The four October first grade math write and wipe activities cover skills including addition word problems, 3D shapes, number bonds, and shape attributes. 

Download the October Math and Literacy Centers for First Grade today!

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Unlock adventures in learning with our October Math and Literacy Centers tailored for First Grade, merging educational fun and seasonal themes to engage young minds!

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There will only be “treats” and no tricks with these engaging and hands-on October math and literacy centers for first grade!