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Literacy Center Materials Station
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Literacy Centers |
Literacy Center Rotation Board
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When I taught 2nd grade in 2002, my students rotated through literacy centers on some days to enhance their language skills in fun and creative ways. Below are pictures of some of the centers. You may find that some of the centers will work for first or third graders as well. |
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Click on the pictures to see us learning.
Mystery
Sack 
As we practiced spelling "bossy r" words, students drew pictures out of a sack and classified them according to their spelling patterns.
Download "Bossy r" Pictures (PDF)
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Vegetable
Stew 
It is important that students are able to alphabetize words. Especially as it become more important to locate words in a dictionary, students will need to alphabetize words by the first, second, and third letters.
*You will need to have The PrintShop software to open the files.
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Clothespin
Spelling
Students recognize word families and spelling patterns as they match consonants and blends (onsets) with "rimes."
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Making
Words 
Students use teacher-selected magnetic letters to make words. After making words, they determine the "mystery" word that can be made using all of the letters and sort the words for spelling patterns.
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Pocket
Chart
Students use the pocket chart to build sentences using teacher-made words, rebuild poems we have been studying, and retell stories.
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Buddy
Reading 
Students may read teacher-selected stories together. They are encouraged to "stop and think," ask questions, and make predictions as they read.
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CVC
Eraser Words 
This activity helps students recognize relationships between words and how changing the onset or the "rime" of a word can create a new word.
Download Eraser Words Zip File *You will need to have The PrintShop software to open the files.
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Listening
Center 
Students listen to books on tape after previewing and making predictions about the text. Students use a timer while they are reading. When the timer goes off, students must "stop and think," ask questions, or make predictions while they listen and read.
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Short
Vowel Picture Sort At this center students practice matching pictures to vowel sounds. After determining the short vowel sound, they must attempt to spell the word using what they know about CVC words. Teaching students to recognize specific sounds helps them to spell more accurately in their everyday writing.
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Laptop Literature
There are many great sites on the web where popular children's stories have been published as electronic books. The books are animated, and students can navigate through the book by pressing buttons. There are teacher selected options to have the story narrated or to have the students read the story themselves. We have used these electronic books after reading different version of the story in our guided reading groups. Students compare the two versions to find similarities and differences.
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Retelling
Center 
The Retelling Center is a place where students practice retelling familiar stories using scanned pictures. Retelling is done using a pocket charts, a flannel board, a magnetic board, and even a puppet theater. Retelling a story increases a student's depth of comprehension. Students are encourages to use transition words like first, next, then, and finally when retelling the stories.
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Fun with Spelling
There are many ways to practice spelling words, patterns, and rules. Often times, I create games for students to play during literacy centers that help them practice and internalize the specific concepts that we are working on during the week. Many of the activities emphasize the visual and kinesthetic learning styles which are often beneficial in helping students remember what they are learning.
"Magic e" Uno *You will need to have The PrintShop software to open the files.
 Flip Chart Blending
Homonym Memory *You will need to have The PrintShop software to open the files.
Red & Green Word BINGO
Red Word Quick Write
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Pancakes for breakfast is a story by Tommie DePaola that has no words. Students are asked to put scanned images of the pages into their own order, telling their creative stories as they go. Before the end of the center, they are allowed to compare the order of their story to the one told by Tommie DePaola.
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Making
Words
Students use teacher-selected magnetic letters or letter tiles to make words. After making words, they determine the "mystery" word that can be made using all of the letters, and they sort the words for spelling patterns.
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Dictionary
Detectives
It is important that students are able to locate words in a dictionary and a thesaurus. This center helps students practice using guide words by placing word eggs in the correct guide word basket.
*You will need to have The PrintShop software to open the files.
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Picnic
Basket Writing
Students draw pictures of three objects out of a picnic basket file folder. They have to come up with a creative story including all three objects. The story must have a well-defined problem and solution. This center is a favorite for room 10 students! *You will need to have The PrintShop software to open the files.
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Common or Proper?
Students use a spinner to practice the concept of common and proper nouns. It is important that students learn the difference between the two types of nouns so that they capitalize the correct nouns in their writing.
Download Student Sheet (MS Word) Download Student Sheet (PDF) Download Spinner Template (PDF file)
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Glue Words
 Students practice creating compound sentences using glue words like and, but, or, because, and so.
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Pocket
Chart Grammar
Students use a pocket chart to put fractures sentences back together. They have to divide the sentences by subject and predicate and use colored transparency cards to highlight nouns, verbs, and adjectives.
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Students practiced recognizing synonyms by matching tops and bottoms of hot air balloons. If you click on the picture, you will be able to see some of the pairs more clearly.
*You will need to have The PrintShop software to open the files.
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Base Word Addition
 Students practiced adding prefixes and suffixes to common base words.
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Magic E Treasure
Hunt
*You will need to have The PrintShop software to open the files.
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Word Family Fun
Becoming familiar with common word families it important for developing spellers. Many literacy centers focus on the word families that are part of our spelling program. As each new word family is learned and practiced, it is added to our classroom "Chunk Wall."
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Word Family Scattergories This activity is named after the Scattergories™ board game. Spin one of the word wheels below. They then use the worksheet to record words that can be made in the time the sand timer takes to empty. The can use initial consonants or consonant blends to make words. Students then read the words they have made. They must cross out any words that other players also made. They get a point for each word they make that no one else made. (You can purchase spinners to use with the wheels below.)
Download Spinner1 (PDF) Download Spinner 2 (PDF) Download Spinner 3 (PDF) Download Scattergories Worksheet (PDF)
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Word Family Fishing This word is played just like Go Fish except students must collect all cards from a common word family.
*You will need to have The PrintShop software to open the files. |
Word Family Candy Land
Download Game Board 1 (PDF) Download Game Board 2 (PDF) Download Playing Cards Front (PDF) Download Playing Cards Back (PDF)
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Onset and Rime Memory Students have to match initial consonants and consonant blends with common rimes. (Essentially students are playing an onset and rime game.) The picture of the word that is supposed to be made is on the rime card.
*You will need to have The PrintShop software to open the files.
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Common Consonant
Blends I created this Blend & Digraph chart for a variety of literacy center activities.
Download Blend Chart (PDF)
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I print all materials for games on colored cardstock and laminate the materials so that they can be used again.
Pancakes for
Breakfast 
