Literacy Centers Goals in our Literacy Centers: * To provide activities that meet the varying abilities of the students. * To allow children to work at their own rate of speed. * To provide a wide variety of activities for the children to complete. * To include both small group activities and individual activities. * To give children a chance to make their own choices. * To give students the chance to work independently. * To encourage children to try new things. This is a brief description of a few of the many literacy centers that the children will complete each week... Meet with the Mrs. Stidham Students meet with me in groups of 3- 4 each day to work on letter/sound recognition and reading. Language Arts & ABC Games Center Students use teacher-made or commercially produced language arts manipulatives to practice letter recognition, phonics and word recognition. Letter Sort Center Predetermined rules guide the letter sort (tall or short, capital or lower case, etc.) Computer Center The students will use Starfall as well as other educational software to strengthen skills. Listening Center Students will look at and listen to various books with tapes. Electronic Games Center Students work on skills with electronic games such as Leapster Handheld Learning Game System and Leap Frog Phonics games in the classroom. Overhead Center Students use clear lettered tiles, water based pens, and other materials to practice stories, letters, names and words on the overhead projector. Writing Center Students can choose from a variety of writing materials to practice writing letters, names or words. They may also work on writing workshop stories, theme related stories and other writing activities. Sight Word Sentence Building Center Students will add the correct sight words in pre-made word/ rebus sentences. Big Book Center Students choose big books stories to reread. Reading the Room Students may choose a pointer and read the walls of the classroom. They may read the calendar, poems, labels, word wall, alphabet, pocket charts and any other print that may be in the classroom. Writing the Room Students will use paper on a clipboard and copy the print within the classroom environment. Magazines/ Newspapers Center Students may choose various magazines and newspapers to read, cut and glue onto their own paper. Dry Erase Boards Students use dry erase board to practice writing letters, names & words. Alphabet Center Alphabet pocket chart, students fill out a chart with letter, word and picture. ABC Table Center Students use magnetic letters words and eventually sentences. Stamping Center Students stamp pictures of familiar objects and then use the letter stamps to spell the objects name. They can also practice stamping the sight words we have studied. Theme Library Center As each new theme or new season comes, I will have a bookshelf in the room that is full of related books. Students are able to choose some of their favorite stories to read at this center.