Keeping Literacy Centers Simple, Easy, and Fun!

Literacy centers in the classroom should be simple, easy, and fun!  Using no-prep or low-prep ideas helps with time management, lesson planning, and easy weekly setup.

Throughout the years, I have tried a plethora of ideas for my literacy centers.  Some worked okay, and some did not work at all.  Finally, I realized I was overthinking and making center time WAY more complicated than it should be for both myself and the students.  Once I realized that the simplicity of the centers was what made them work, everything else clicked into place.

Using five weekly centers in your classroom each week makes things easy.  Having a group of 4-5 students in each group rotate through only one center each day keeps it simple for the students.  The no-prep or low-prep activities keep it fun and SUPER easy for you!

Five Literacy Centers for All Year

Set up these five literacy centers at the beginning of your school year, and use them all year long!

Center #1: Technology: Use any activity that you have on hand. This can be computers, Chromebooks, iPads, etc. Students can play online games or you can assign a digital activity via Google Classroom to your students for this center.  Using digital task cards or interactive digital  games for practice are great choices.

Center #2: Writing: The activities change in this center weekly, but the supplies remain the same.  Any activity that you want your students to use for a focus on writing can be used. Add a word bank, thesaurus, dictionary, writing tools, paper, etc and give your students a weekly writing prompt. 

You can also use one of the writing activities from my No Prep Literacy Centers units.  Print the center directions on color copy paper to grab the students’ attention and place it in the same place in the center from week to week because students need that routine and dependability of knowing where to find the directions.  Copy the other pages for the activity on regular copy paper to add to the center.  These activities are sometimes longer in length, and students might need two weeks to complete.  On those weeks, do not change out the materials.

Center #3: Reading: It is especially important to give students multiple opportunities throughout the school day to read independently from books of their choice.  For some, school might be the only time they are exposed to books.  During this center, give students comfortable seating choices throughout the room so that they are not in a group and disturbing other students or being disturbed.  Students can have individual book bins that contain books they have chosen to read.  By having their book bins already stocked, students are not constantly moving around the room to visit the classroom library during this time.  Use these Digital Reading Responses for students at some time during the week to add a writing component.

Center #4: Word Work: This center can look vastly different weekly.  I always use an activity from my No Prep Literacy Centers.  Students might be manipulating letters to create words one week, and the next week, they might be playing a word game from the same unit.  Another week, they might complete the monthly “Put It in Order” alphabetical order activity included in each monthly unit. For the last week, they might do a part of speech word sort from the unit.  Adding some of these activities normally used for Morning Tubs can add a lot of fun to your literacy centers as well.  

Center #5: Miscellaneous: This center can include anything related to what you are currently studying in reading or grammar or a review of previous learning. One week students can move around the room on a scavenger hunt, while the next week has students reading an informational passage and answering questions.  This center allows for flexibility and might include task cards,  sightwords, or even an activity from my early finishers unit.  

Adding any kind of game that you already have in your classroom is a simple and fun activity for this center also.

(Click here for a list of ten easy activities to add to your centers using items already in your classroom.)

Using these five simple, easy, and fun literacy centers all year will help you keep your sanity.  The prep time is 15-30 minutes on a Friday afternoon, helping me get out the door and home to my family.

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