Reading Centers

Reading is one of my favorite things to teach in first grade.  I love the 90 minute reading block that we have everyday and I love how independent the students are during this time.  One of the things that helps reading run so smoothly is that the students have a strong understanding of the routine and the centers.  Another thing that I love about the centers that I use is that it takes about 2 minutes to set each one up.  I absolutely adore all of the cute centers that people use in their classrooms, but where do they find the time to prep all of those centers?  I wanted to take the time today to tell you about three of the centers that we use at the beginning of the year that the students are able to complete independently and that are easy for teachers to prepare.

Chalkboard Center
Yep, all of our first grade classrooms have a chalkboard.  We have all the upgrades in our rooms: whiteboards, document cameras, projectors, desktops, wireless internet, laptops for each teacher…and a chalkboard.  For the first two years I was there I never knew what to do with it, so I just covered it with paper and used it as another bulletin board.  Then, I decided to use it as a center – and it has been my students’ favorite center every year since!  You would not need a chalkboard to use this center – just any magnetic surface (or even a small pocket chart would work).

I use the chalkboard center as a phonics/spelling center.  If the phonics/spelling skill for the week is short a, that is what the students will work on at the center.  In the demographic that I work with, many of the students do not practice their spelling words at home.  This center gives the students practice reading the words, spelling the words, writing the words and discovering patterns between the words.

At the center the students need four things:
1) the pictures
2) the words
3) magnetic letters
4) chalk (or any writing material that would work for the board you are using)

The students put up the pictures, put the matching word next to each picture, spell the word using magnetic letters and then write each word using chalk.  Here is what the finished product looks like:

Isn’t it precious?
The students love this center!

I also have an accountability sheet that they complete afterwards.  I put it in a sheet protector and the students use a dry erase marker to fill it out – this just helps me save paper.

Here is what the center looked like when he was all finished: