In this post, I share tips for introducing and implementing literacy centers in the kindergarten classroom and recommend the best low-prep, SoR-aligned literacy centers for kindergarten students.
Literacy centers in a Kindergarten classroom?? “No way!” some may say, but I beg to differ! Yes, centers can feel like a juggling act—planning, prepping, managing, and hoping it all clicks with your students but it doesn’t have to be that way! With the right training, practice, and resources literacy centers can become the most engaging and productive part of a kindergarten school day!
Today, I’m excited to offer you tips for introducing and implementing centers in a kindergarten classroom. Then I’ll leave you with 3 of my favorite literacy centers that are perfect for kindergarteners. These centers are consistent, rigorous, naturally differentiated and easy to prep. Most importantly, they will keep your students engaged in meaningful practice while you teach your small groups!
Tips for Introducing Centers in Kindergarten
1. Clearly Model and Practice Expected Behaviors
When you are ready to begin centers with your kindergarteners, you must invest a lot of time to explicitly TEACH, MODEL, and PRACTICE expected behaviors for centers.
I use the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model when introducing each of my center activities. It is a wonderful way to help kindergarten students become confident, independent learners who can perform tasks by themselves.
Think of it like learning to ride a bike. Just as new riders begin by just watching someone ride a bike, your students start out as observers. They watch you model the center activity just as you want them to do it. Next, they get their “training wheels”. This is when they try the activity WITH the support of you and their peers. Finally, they are ready to ride on two wheels! After enough supported practice, they are confident and ready to independently complete the center activity on their own.
2. Introduce One Kindergarten Literacy Center at a Time
Don’t overwhelm your kindergartners (or yourself!) by trying to do too much at once. Introduce just ONE center to start. Model that center and practice only that one center activity altogether. After your students complete the activity come together to discuss how it went. Offer explicit examples of positive behavior you observed. Once all Kindergartners can do the center independently, introduce a second center.
3. Review Routines and Expectations Each Day
Even after your students are your centers are up and running you must continue to reinforce your expectations each day. Yep, daily! Every day before you release your students to work in their centers, take time to review the routines and expectations. As students work observe their behaviors. At the end of each literacy center block, come together and praise the desired behaviors you observed.
The 3 Best Literacy Centers for Kindergarten
1. Alphabet Read and Match
These alphabet decodable sentence activities are aligned with the science of reading and are perfect for literacy center for kindergarten classrooms!
The sentence activities follow our SoR-aligned phonics scope & sequence for kindergarten and incorporate a spiraled review which we know our students need for mastery!
This center allows Kindergarteners to demonstrate comprehension & decoding by reading the sentence and matching it to the corresponding picture. They can then reread the sentences to build their fluency!
2. Write the Room– Decodable Alphabet Sentences and Handwriting Practice
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 kindergarteners get to move around the room with a recording sheet to read & write sounds and simple sentences.
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.
3. Phonemic Awareness Activities- Beginning Sounds
The most foundational skill a student needs to learn to become an accurate and automatic reader is Phonemic Awareness – the knowledge that spoken language is made up of sound units, called phonemes. This includes the ability to blend sounds, as well as isolate, segment, delete, add, and substitute phonemes within words. It is an important skill that takes lots of practice to master.
My 5 in a Row beginning sounds game offers kindergarteners phonemic awareness practice that is explicit, engaging, and multi-sensory. Students spin and cover the picture of the image with the target sound. Each game focuses on 3 or 4 different beginning sounds.
These games require minimal prep from you and students love them! They offer kindergarteners the practice and review they need to master this foundational reading skill!
I hope the information and resources shared here today will inspire you to bring literacy centers to your kindergarten classroom! They are a wonderful, engaging way to give your students the practice they need to master the literacy skills you teach!
-shop this post-
