Write the Room: A Science of Reading-Aligned Literacy Center

In this post, I share details about my newly updated, Science of Reading-aligned Write the Room Decodable Sentences and Alphabet Write the Room literacy center resources. They are highly engaging, low-prep literacy centers that give students systematic practice with the phonics skills you teach. Be sure to grab the free sample of Write the Room below!

For many years, Write the Room has been a favorite literacy center for teachers and students alike.  It is a low-prep and highly engaging activity where students move around the room with a recording sheet to read & write sentences. While there is a lot to love about this center, it was one of the very first literacy centers I ever created.  As I have learned about the Science of Reading I realized it needed an update.

As educators, it is our responsibility to continue to learn and grow.  We must be willing to adapt and change our practices when we learn there is a better way.  When we know better, we can do better! That’s why today I am excited to share the updates I have made to Write the Room and Alphabet Write the Room.  I will explain what skills Write the Room supports, share the reasoning behind the updates, and get you excited about using this engaging, SoR-aligned literacy center in your classroom.

(NOTE: If you already own the Write the Room Literacy Center this update will come free to you! Just re-download the resource to get the updated, SoR-aligned version!)

What Skills Does Write the Room Support? 

Write The Room is a highly engaging (what kid doesn’t love getting up and moving around the room?!) literacy center that supports a variety of critical early literacy skills.

For one, it offers transcription practice.  This includes spelling and handwriting.  These are basic skills students need to get their thoughts onto the paper.   When students become automatic with spelling and handwriting, they can focus their attention on higher-level composing.

Transcription practice also gives students a correct model for spacing and punctuation.

Write the Room sentences follow an SoR-aligned phonics scope and sequence so students practice decoding and applying taught phonics skills in writing.  After transcribing the sentence, they read it to themselves and then quietly to a friend to build fluency.

Write the Room Decodable Sentences Literacy Center

I am excited to share details about the updates we have made to Write the Room to ensure it is aligned with current best practices and the Science of Reading.  

These differentiated Write the Room decodable sentence activities now give kindergarten, first and second grade students practice reading and writing words that contain targeted phonics skills. 

Research tells us that effective instruction is systematic. Systematic instruction is teaching that has a carefully planned sequence.  Our Write the Room resource now follows a research-based, SoR-aligned scope and sequence that builds from the simplest to most complex.  The sentences students read and write build on previous learning and teach high-frequency sounds before less useful sounds. The scope and sequence minimize learning interference and allows for differentiation. 

The Write the Room center has always included 2 levels of sentences to make it easy for you to differentiate, but now we have organized it more systematically.   The Level 1 sentences follow the 1st grade scope and sequence and the Level 2 sentences follow the 2nd grade scope and sequence. Students are taught to record the version of the sentence they can decode. They must also match each sentence to the correct picture on their recording sheet as a self-check for decoding skills.

At the bottom of each recording sheet, there is a checklist that students fill in as they read the sentences aloud to build fluency. This ensures students get to practice writing AND reading words with the target phonics skill.

Ready to give these Write the Room Decodable Sentences a try in your classroom? Download a FREE sample of the resource HERE!

Alphabet Write the Room

If you have kindergarteners or students who are not quite ready for the 1st-grade scope and sequence, the Alphabet Write the Room resource is the perfect resource for you. This resource includes simple alphabet sentences that feature words that follow our Kindergarten scope and sequence, as well as early sight words.

Students will be engaged as they move around the room looking for the picture words to write that complete the sentences on their recording sheet. After they find and record all the words they read the simple sentences to practice and build their fluency.

This resource includes both handwriting and phonemic awareness activities because we know these are essential skills for our beginning readers. When students get to the handwriting picture cards, there is a picture cue to prompt the student to say the beginning sound. For example, before they trace and try writing the letter M, they will first say the /m/ sound.

I hope you’ve found the information and details I have shared about Write the Room to be helpful. You can now feel great about using this center, knowing it offers your students the meaningful, SoR-aligned practice they need to become fluent readers and writers.

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