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Play-Based Literacy Centres for Kindergarten – Grade 1
Ann George
Greater Victoria School District
[email protected]
Organization of Materials
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clear tubs, open tubs, clear freezer bags for easy access to materials
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easy access shelving
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give children responsibility for the activities and materials whenever possible
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make the literacy centre materials available for free play as well
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update as needed – e.g. add current spelling list
Scheduling
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various ways to group children – academic need (academic peers or a mix of more
capable but nurturing students with less able students), social groups, randomly
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post a schedule so children always know their work group and activity
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introduce new materials to whole class at first, allow free exploration time the first few
activity sessions
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increase duration of literacy centres over several sessions
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various approaches to scheduling:
o 5 centres – set up same 5 activities every day for two weeks, children work at one
centre per day, rotate centres daily, the second week allows children to revisit and
practise known activities
o 3 centres – rotate through all 3 centres in the same session, schedule 2 or 3 times
per week
o same centres twice per day – assigned centres in morning, children have free
choice of centres in afternoon
o 24 centres – put children in pairs, one activity per child, do one task in morning,
switch tasks in afternoon
Literacy Centre Ideas
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shaving cream on table tops (if scent is an issue, do this outside on plastic placemats)
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washable markers on table tops – write words, letters, sentences, wash when done
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finger paint on paper
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gel bags (a small amount of coloured hair gel and glitter in freezer bags), write letters
with finger on outside of bag, can use with a light table
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letter sort – a variety of letters (wood, plastic, paper…) to sort by colour or letter name or
attribute (tunnel letters, curved letters, straight letters, zig zag letters…)
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object sort with a variety of objects and an alphabet – match objects to initial letter
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tactile letters – trace over felt, sandpaper, cornmeal, ridged plastic letters
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cookie sheets with coloured sand, rice, cornmeal, salt – print letters, words
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letter magnets and cookie sheets – sort letters, order alphabet, spell words
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letter match – match upper case letters with lower case
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Alphabet Soup game –plastic letters or tiles or magnets in a “pot”, recording sheet
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alphabet pasta – letter sort, spelling (or use for Alphabet Soup game)
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stir sticks/popsicle sticks – straight letters
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shoelaces with beads (for weight) – curved letters
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pipe cleaners or Wiki Stix (curved and straight letters)
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letter beads, shoelaces – order alphabet, spell words, create sentences
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geoboards – letters, words
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pegboards – letters, words
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playdough, cookie cutter letters – roll “snakes” to form letters, stamp letters
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Chicka Chicka Boom Boom book, tree, Velcro letters
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alphabet puzzles (can add sand timers for those needing a challenge)
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bingo – picture, letter, sight word
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commercial alphabet and word games – sight word dominoes, concentration
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Roll A Letter or Word – letter or word dice, recording grids
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wooden letter blocks – order the alphabet, build words horizontally and vertically
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Lego – letter and word building
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wooden letter train – assemble in alphabetical order or link cars to make words
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body letters – can also spell words (in groups)
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printing practice – laminated sheets with dotted letters to trace
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spaghetti letters – draw one continuous “spaghetti” line (including straight and curved
parts) in black, trace over any letters that appear in the “spaghetti” using a different
colour for each letter
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grid letters – trace over letters formed by a grid using a different colour for each letter
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laminated letter or word puzzles, dry erase markers and erasers – alphabet mazes, letter or
word searches, words hidden in pictures
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newspaper, highlighters – highlight letters and words
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letter, word, sentence sort – sort cards and place under appropriate headings
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letter search in illustrations – read a book, search for letters in pictures (e.g. Why Can’t I
Fly?)
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book with matching puppets – retell the story
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sequencing – put picture cards in order, tell the story to another child
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felt board #1 – felt letters in alphabetical order, spell words
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felt board #2 – book with matching felt shapes, retell the story
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painted rocks #1 – upper and lower case letters on opposite sides of rocks, order alphabet,
spell words
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painted rocks #2 – book characters on rocks, retell story (e.g. Grumpy Bird)
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character match – match name cards with pictures of characters from a story
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story retelling – a book with a few simple appropriate props
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chalkboards – letters, words, sentences, illustrations
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framed glass (white paper, lined paper, themed paper) or whiteboards, dry erase markers
and erasers – letters, words, sentences, stories, illustrations
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room or hall search – using clipboards and recording sheets, search for letters and words,
words with specific initial letters, words containing specific letters
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pocket chart – initial letters matched with pictures, rhyming words, assembling sentences
and poems
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match word cards with pictures, use plastic letters or magnets to spell the words
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paper chains #1– read pre-made alphabet chains, using both ordered and scrambled
alphabets
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paper chains #2 – write known words on paper chain links, or write word families, or
write sentences (one word per link) and read to someone else
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word families – laminated cards with word family stems ( _ad _og _in _et….), create
lists of words for each stem, read to another child
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word wall – read the classroom word wall to another child
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sight words on rings, sand timers – read words before timer runs out
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Read-A-Friend – clip sight word cards (clear nametag sleeves with clips) to one child’s
clothing, second child points to words, third child reads words
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sentence strips with the same words on individual cards – reassemble the cards to form
the sentences
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poem sort – reassemble cut up poems, line by line or word by word
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greeting cards – supplies (including vocabulary) to create cards
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letter stamps #1 (oversized) – for poster titles and captions
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letter stamps #2 (smaller) – stamp the alphabet in order, spell words, make sentences
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words from names – make lists of words using the letters in classmates’ names (Liam – a,
I, mail) (Isabella – I, is, a, as, bell, ball, sell)
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lists – make lists of words – beginning with specific letters, ending in silent e, animal
names, wish lists…
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alphabetize lists of words – sight words, spelling words, colour words, friends’ names,
toys, vocabulary lists….
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Fill-Ins (cloze) – laminated poem, sentence or message cards with words missing, fill in
blanks
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word bags – pick a few words out of a bag, use them to write a silly sentence
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scrambled words – reorder letter cards to create words, read to a friend
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scrambled sentences – reorder word cards to create sentences, read to a friend
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scrambled stories – reorder sentence strips to create stories, read to a friend
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word web – print a word in the centre of a web, write related words around it
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listening centre with a book, draw or write a response to the story
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iPad centre – animated Tumblebooks stories (provide book, too), draw or write a
response to the story
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Reading Train – three to four pairs of kids sitting side by side, one pair in front of the
other, each kid reads a simple levelled text to partner, at “conductor’s” signal partners on
right side move forward to new partner, continue until are back at original partner
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reading centre – create an unusual space such as a tent, add pillows and stuffed animals,
include a wide variety of reading materials – levelled books, fiction and informational
texts, class made books, poems, oversized books
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writing centre – include a variety of writing papers and writing instruments, a collection
of pictures and interesting objects, thematic and seasonal vocabulary lists
Outdoor Literacy Centre Ideas
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sticks, twigs, wood chips – build letters
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sidewalk chalk
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bucket of water and an old paintbrush – write letters, words, lists, sentences quickly on
the pavement before the writing evaporates
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sandbox – write in the sand with sticks or stamp letters with sand molds or cookie cutters
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skipping rope spelling – make letters and words with skipping ropes