Literacy Centres for the Early Years Classroom 1 to 3 Adapted from the book by Caroline Blakemore and Barbara Ramirez.

Literacy Centres for the Early Years Classroom 1 to 3

Adapted from the book by Caroline Blakemore and Barbara Ramirez

A. Letter Play Centre

1. Letter Formation Activities • Purpose : students will form letters using a

variety of materials • Materials : Magna Doodle, laminated strips with

letter formation and directional arrows, sand tray, letter shaped cutters with play dough, pipe cleaners, letter templates, white boards with markers

• Preparation : organise materials in labelled containers, provide flat working areas

Letter Play Centre

2. Letter Matching Activities • Purpose : students will match lower and upper

case letters • Materials : magnetic letters all sizes and

colours, rubber stamp letters, link letters, felt letters, ABC puzzles, a small alphabet poster or strip, upper and lower case letters on cards

• Preparation : organise materials in labelled containers

Letter Play Centre

3. Letter Recognition Activities Using Names

• Purpose : students will form names using a variety of materials

• Materials : same as for Letter Matching activity but also include each child’s name card for children to copy

• Preparation : organise materials in labelled containers

Letter Play Centre

4. Letter Sequencing Activity

• Purpose : students will manipulate letters and put them into alphabetical order

• Materials : as for previous activity

• Preparation : organise materials into labelled containers with appropriate work surface eg paper, felt board etc

Letter Play Centre

5. Letter Sorting Activity • Purpose : students will sort multi-coloured

letters according to letter, colour, shape and upper and lower case

• Materials : as for previous activity • Preparation : organise materials in labelled

containers and provide appropriate work surfaces eg paper, felt boards, overhead projectors

Letter Play Centre

6. ABC Book Activity

• Purpose : students will read from a variety of carefully selected ABC books and /or letter books with a partner or independently

• Materials : a variety of ABC or letter books • Preparation : put books in containers that are

easily accessible to your students

Letter Play Centre

7. Letter Collage

• Purpose : students will search for and locate specific letters

• Materials : magazines, catalogues etc with large print, scissors, glue, paper

• Preparation : on each page write an upper and lower case letter

B. Word Play Centre

1. Word Wall Action • Purpose : students will replicate the words on

the walls using a variety of materials • Materials : word walls eg focus words at

children’s eye level , writing materials • Preparation :organise materials in labelled

containers and provide a work surface eg paper, card etc

Word Play Centre

2. Classifying Words • Purpose : students will classify word cards

according to some specific attributes • Materials : words cards, pocket chart and

basket for word cards • Preparation : commercially produced word

cards or teacher made and written on index cards and kept in a box

Word Play Centre

3. Alphabetical Words • Purpose : students will select words from

familiar reading books and arrange them into alphabetical order

• Materials : familiar reading books from shared and guided reading , rectangular pieces of paper , A4 paper cut vertically and a small alphabet strip

• Preparation : 6 to 8 pieces of rectangular paper per child and one half piece of paper per child

Word Play Centre

4. High Frequency words • Purpose : students will practise forming high

frequency words and locating them in a familiar book

• Materials : levelled readers which children can read independently, any type of loose letters, high frequency words on cards, plastic ziplock bags for holding letters of high frequency words

• Preparation : word cards and bags of letters in labelled containers

Word Play Centre

5. Onset and Rime • Purpose : students will practise assembling

onsets and rimes from familiar books • Materials : levelled reading books that children

can read independently, sentence strips, rectangles of two different colours 4x10cm, word family list

• Preparation : select words, write sentences from familiar books and write onset and rimes on coloured papers rectangles

Word Play Centre

6. Picture Word Match • Purpose : students will match a word card with

an object or a picture card • Materials : word cards to match pictures or

actual objects • Preparation : commercially produced or

teacher made word cards and pictures including words from any area of school life

Word Play Centre

7. Search and Tally • Purpose : students will search for high frequency

words in printed materials • Materials : shared, guided reading books,

individual writing, big books, poems etc and laminated cards with a high frequency word on it, white board markers

• Preparation : laminated high frequency word cards (about 5cm X20 cm ), work space for children to spread out with books

Word Play Centre

8. Overhead Words • Purpose : students will practise forming

high frequency words and other words on the overhead projector

• Materials : word cards, lower case letters, OHP

• Preparation : word cards, letters and OHP

C. Sentence Play Centre

1. 1. Sentence Collecting • Purpose : students will select a favourite

sentence from a current guided reading book and copy it onto a sentence strip and then match it to their illustration of the sentence

• Materials : sentence strips, 10x10 cm paper for pictures, G/R books, envelopes

• Preparation : sentence strips (5cm ), 10x10 cm paper for drawing and pencils

Sentence Play Centre

2. Sentence Punctuation • Purpose : students will reassemble phrases and

words from sentences they have seen in familiar texts and insert correct punctuation

• Materials : sentence strips, markers, pocket chart, familiar books

• Preparation : make sentence strips from familiar books and cut into words and phrases and punctuation

Sentence Play Centre

3. Sentence Book Match • Purpose : students will match a selected

sentence with a book that has been read aloud to them during modelled reading

• Materials : sentence strips, books, a picture or some representation of the books (photocopy the cover )

• Preparation : sentence strips, books and cover photocopies

Sentence Play Centre

4. Sentence Puzzle

• Purpose : students will reassemble phrases and words from sentences they have seen in familiar texts to practise self-monitoring

• Materials : sentence strips, pocket charts, familiar books

• Preparation : make sentence strips from known books and cut up into phrases or words

Sentence Play Centre

5. Overhead Sentences • Purpose : students will reassemble phrases and

sentences from familiar books using the OHP• Materials : OHP transparency of familiar text,

OHP sentence strips cut into phrases or words on OHP transparencies, envelopes for storage

• Preparation : familiar text on OHP transparency and cut ups of it as well

D. Oral Language Centre

1. Tell, Listen and Do• Purpose : students will give and receive

specific instructions • Materials : familiar books, counters or

other markers, two manila folders • Preparation : two copies of each book,

two manila folders and about 8 markers for each child

Oral Language Centre

2. Living Storybook Characters • Purpose : students will talk about storybook

characters using visual prompts • Materials : story books, simple line drawings of

characters from familiar books, drawing materials

• Preparation : simple line drawings of characters from story books, drawing materials and storage for finished characters

Oral Language Centre

3. Storytelling Tapes • Purpose : students will listen to, retell and read

favourite stories and poems • Materials : selection of books, a cassette tape

recorder with a microphone, blank tapes of 15 minutes, headphones

• Preparation : favourite books for taping, commercially produced tapes of books with accompanying books to start off with , books taped by parents, staff or other familiar people

Oral Language Centre

4. Story Sequencing • Purpose : students will arrange in correct

sequence a series of pictures from a familiar piece of literature and retell a story

• Materials : familiar books , sequential visual representations of the story, envelopes to store visuals

• Preparation : copies of familiar books and four to six laminated representations for each book

Oral Language Centre

5. Guess the Title • Purpose: students will orally retell the

beginning , middle and end of a familiar piece of literature and try to guess what book it is

• Materials : selection of books, book cover representations (photocopy the cover), envelope or box to store

• Preparation : select books and make laminated representations of each book or have students make them

E. Writing Centre

1. Writing the Walls • Purpose : students will copy a variety of words

and texts from the classroom walls to learn to look at and reproduce print carefully

• Materials : class rules, poem charts, high frequency word charts ,Thrass charts, children’s writing , days of the week, months of the year, cardinal and ordinal numbers etc

• Preparation : as you create writing with your class , place this at eye level around the room

Writing Centre

2. Independent Writing • Purpose : students will write independently and

collaboratively for a variety of purposes • Materials : a wide variety of writing materials

and folders for students to store their work • Preparation : a list of the kinds of writing that

children can do eg birthday cards, letters, notes, poems, lists, recipes, descriptions and examples of each genre

F. Reading Centre

1. Reading the Walls

• Purpose : students will read a variety of materials on the walls of the room with a pointer to develop early reading behaviours

• Materials : see Writing the Walls

• Preparation : see Writing the Walls

Reading Centre

2. Reading with a Friend • Purpose : students will read a variety of books

with a partner to practise fluency, gather and share info and foster a love of reading

• Materials : a large variety of books of different genres and levels of ability, big books, class books and children’s own books

• Preparation : organise books into baskets according to subject, theme or level

Reading Centre

3. Independent Reading • Purpose : students will read a variety of

books independently to practise strategies, gain fluency and foster a love of reading

• Materials : see Reading with a Friend

• Preparation : see Reading with a Friend