In this post I’m sharing 4 tips for planning and choosing engaging and manageable literacy centers for kindergarten, first and second grade students and classrooms.
Planning literacy centers can be overwhelming. There are so many different activities to choose from and it can be hard to know which ones will be best for your students. And I know it is beyond frustrating to pick one and prep all the materials, only to discover it was too hard/too easy/too confusing/or just no fun for your students!
But don’t let the fear of planning your centers keep you from implementing them! With the right choice of activities, literacy centers can become the best part of your day!
Today I’m happy to share with you 4 tips for planning literacy centers to ensure they are successful and manageable for both you and your students!
Tips for Planning Successful Literacy Centers
1. Choose literacy center activities that have a consistent structure.
When planning my literacy centers I search for activities that have consistent routines. I want activities that allow the content to change, but the structure remains the same. This saves so much valuable time because I don’t constantly have to teach routines for new activities. Students know exactly what to do and are able to get directly to work.
My Fun Phonics Finds are a great example of a consistent phonics center. This activity helps students sharpen their phonemic awareness skills as they demonstrate their understanding of sounds and practice writing words with the target sound-spelling pattern. The procedures stay the same, while the spelling pattern changes as you progress throughout the year.
Another highly engaging, consistent center resource is Phonics Word Sorts. For this activity, students look for common spelling patterns, sort, and then communicate what they notice and have learned about the words they’ve sorted. The resource includes two levels of word sorts: whole words and words with the missing target spelling pattern to assign to your students.
Download a FREE set of Word Sorts to try out with your class!
Of course, to make these centers successful I DO spend a LOT of time clearly modeling the procedures and expectations. But once all of my students show me that they can successfully complete the task on their own, I’ve got a center activity I can use for the remainder of the year! This saves me from constantly having to teach new procedures. Students are clear on what to do and more time is spent engaged in learning! Win-Win!
2. Choose center activities that are low prep.
Yes, I do think the thematic, seasonal activities are cute, but the reality is that I simply don’t have time to constantly prepare that kind of stuff. So when I’m planning my literacy centers, I search for activities that are LOW PREP. I want activities I can use over and over again. This saves me time (and my sanity!) but it also helps my students. With fewer materials to manage, they can focus on getting straight to work!
One of my favorite low-prep center activities is the 5 in a Row Phonemic Awareness Games. These games offer students practice that is explicit, engaging, and multi-sensory. Each game focuses on one specific phonics skill. The skills include beginning sounds, short vowels, blends, digraphs, long vowels, CVCe, R-controlled, and diphthongs.
Students spin and cover the picture of the image with the target sound. These games require minimal prep from you and students love them!
Reading Response Activities make a great NO PREP literacy center! My Kindergarten, first and second grade Reading Response Resources help students build their reading comprehension and they require NO-PREP from you! You can use them with both fiction and non-fiction texts.
Each response printable comes in two different versions. The first version can be used with any book you choose, while the second is designed to be used with specific popular titles you likely have in your book collection or texts linked on EPIC! All you have to do is prit can be difficult to get students to work independently on writing in centers if you are not using resources that offer students the proper support. That’s why I love these Writing Picture Prompts. They are a single, LOW PREP, writing activity that provides the proper support to ALL levels of students. int out the response sheet!
3. Choose literacy center activities that allow for differentiation.
We know that in any classroom you’re going to have a wide range of abilities among students. In order for my centers to be successful I know I need to find activities that adequately support and challenge ALL of my students. This means I need literacy center activities that are naturally differentiated.
I like center activities that have things like checklists, vocabulary banks, and/or pictures that support students and help build their independence. Having different versions of an activity is also helpful to ensure all students are appropriately challenged.
Writing Picture Prompts are one of my favorite naturally differentiated writing centers. They are a single, LOW PREP, writing activity that provides the proper support to ALL levels of students.
Each picture prompt comes with a story-specific vocabulary word bank to support writers who have difficulty getting started. The words help them brainstorm topics and also assist in spelling. More proficient writers will use the picture as a springboard for their pieces. You can challenge them to find ways to incorporate the vocabulary words into their work.
Each printable also includes a personal editing checklist at the bottom of the page to serve as a reminder for students to check over their work!
Students can use the printables for different types of writing. The pictures lend themselves to narrative, informative, and opinion writing! With 25 different pictures for EACH SEASON, it’s a single resource that can keep your students writing all year long!
4. Choose center activities that provide practice and review with skills you have already taught.
I never introduce something new in a center, because I KNOW that would lead to confusion and chaos! Instead, I use centers as an opportunity for students to independently practice skills I have already taught.
Additionally, we know that students need a substantial amount of purposeful and systematic review to master the skills we teach them. In his book, A Fresh Look at Phonics, Wiley Blevins states that after a new skill is introduced, it should be reviewed for the next four to six weeks. We cannot give up until ALL students can apply the skill to authentic reading and writing experiences.
The Year-Long Activities Bundle gives students the practice they need to master the phonics skills you teach. After you have explicitly taught the phonics skill, these printables make the perfect low-prep, consistent center activity!
This bundle comes with enough activities to last you the entire year! Every unit focuses on a different phonetic word pattern. Within each unit, you’ll find a variety of systematically designed activities that give students the practice they need for mastery.
Download a FREE sample of the printable and digital phonics skills activities here!
I hope these tips help take the overwhelm out of planning and help you make literacy centers more manageable for you and your students!
Feeling overwhelmed in trying to plan effective literacy centers or exhausted from all the center chaos many teachers experience?
Imagine there was an easy, foolproof process for running literacy centers without the circus, noise, or interruptions…
AND if you could get new, low-prep Science of Reading-aligned centers every month…plus detailed, specific trainings…would you finally feel confident about doing centers in your classroom?
All of this awaits you inside my K-2 membership, Leaders of Literacy!
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