Easy, Simple, and Cheap Literacy Centers

 

   I don't know about other teachers, but as a first year teacher I am trying not to spend a lot of money, though this can be difficult. While doing reading groups it's important to keep the other students engaged and learning independently. 

   Since becoming a teacher, I am constantly searching for new activities and ways to do this while not becoming bankrupt at the same time. I only keep a game or activity out for two weeks at a time or else students become bored with it. 

   I have found some really great and cheap games that I wanted to share with teachers, especially new teachers. 

Typing

For this activity you will need some computer keyboards. I had some extras lying around in my house, but you can always go to the thrift store and get them cheap. All students do is practice typing their sight words. 

Play doh

There are so many things you can use play doh for, so spending a little bit of money will go a long way. Students can use it to make letters and words, but can also be used for math. You can find free mats for making sight words and letters(click on the links for the ones I use). 

Game Boards

There are a ton of game boards for students that you can find for free to build students skills. Here are some ones that I have; magic e, cvc words, sight words, and beginning sounds. 

Clip Cards

Again just like game boards, there are lots of clip cards and all you need is clothes pins that you can get a big bag of them at Walmart for a low price. I have rhyming, vowels  and beginning sounds. 

Sensory Bottles/Shakers

For this you need empty bottles, some type of sensory, and printed words. Students search for words in the bottles/shakers, read and write them. I made a recording sheet that you can get for free here.  

Write/Read Room

Reading and writing the room. Students walk around the classroom looking for words that start with a certain letter or they can look for words they know how to read. You can make this more fun by giving students pointers, wands, or even fly swatters to help them search. 

Popcorn Words

You can get popcorn containers from the dollar store and I just took construction paper to write the words on. Then just crumple up the words and place in the container. Students then take one out, read the word, and write it down. Click here for free recording sheet. 

Go Fish

I found this fish cut outs at the dollar store and knew right away what I would do with them; sight word go fish. Though they can also be used for other skills too like word families and the alphabet. 

Telephone

I found this idea from Kidscount1234. Students pretend to call their partner and give them a sight word to write down. There is a free recording sheet from the website.