GAN ALEF AND BETLITERACY CENTERSShoshana Freedman

2011-2012

CENTERS ARE NECESSARY

Entering kindergarten students bring varying skills and talents to the classroom. Some are still learning the letters and sounds in the alphabet, and others can decode with confidence.

To meet the needs of every student, my co-teacher Jami Rechtman and I designed literacy centers tailored for our classes.

Students rotate in small leveled groups between the centers. Groups consist of 2-4 students.

Students complete a full rotation every week.

THE CENTERS

Listening Center: Students listen to a story and complete an activity. The focus for the activity changes every one or two weeks.

Game Center: Students play a game cooperatively or complete an activity independently. The game changes weekly.

Writing Center: Students write about various topics guided by Ms. Rechtman. Students also complete dictated words and sentences.

Reading Center: Students read stories with me, focusing on decoding, comprehension, and fluency.

THE STUDENTS

Assessed higher than most students

Read independently at H level on the Fountas and Pinnell spectrum at the start of the school year

Assessed lower than most students

Recognized less than half of the letters and sounds in the alphabet at the start of the school year

Shayna Rachel

THE STUDENTS

Assessed in the middle between the students

Recognized all letters, most sounds, and a handful of sight words at the start of the school year

Assessed in the lower-middle of all the students

Recognized most letters and sounds, and a handful of sight words at the start of the school year

Zellik Amber

THE LISTENING CENTER

LISTENING CENTER ASSIGNMENT

Listen to the story and share the book provided, following the story along with the recording

Record student name and story title

Identify the beginning of the story using pictures and words

LISTENING CENTER WORKShayna Rachel

Zellik Amber

GAME CENTER

GAME CENTER ASSIGNMENT

Students work cooperatively to accurately sequence at least one scenario

Some groups successfully complete three scenarios; others manage to complete all scenes

Students can check their work by flipping the cards over to the other side; the backsides have images that fit together if the sequence is done correctly.

WRITING CENTER

Students work with Ms. Rechtman to write dictated words and sentences.

In conjunction with the Orton-Gillingham approach, students work to isolate individual letter sounds, finger-tap the sounds they hear in the words, and write the sounds they hear.

Sentences are structured to give symbolic clues to students: Capital letters Punctuation Red words (non-phonetic sight words)

WRITING CENTER WORKShayna uses lowercase letters consistently. She is working on placing the lowercase “a” in the correct location on the handwriting paper.

WRITING CENTER WORKRachel uses a combination of lowercase and uppercase letters. She is encouraged to write the last word in all lowercase letters.

WRITING CENTER WORKZellik works to accurately form lowercase letters. He is persistent and works to adjust his letters to lowercase. He accurately spells “the” but flips the “e”. In his efforts, he forgets to include punctuation.

WRITING CENTER WORKAmber’s lowercase letter formation is consistent. She first forgets to use an uppercase letter in her sentence, but then remembers with the visual symbol and adjusts. She mishears “the” as “a” and adds it in without erasing “a”.

READING CENTER

Students work with me reading stories and completing activities to further their literacy skills, including: Letter and sound recognition Sight word recognition Blending sounds to read words Using picture clues to help decipher unknown

words Reading with inflection, keeping in mind

punctuation and changes in print Understanding new vocabulary Thinking beyond the text: making predictions,

inferences, looking at theoretical differences in the story, looking into character’s motives and feelings

BLUE READING GROUP: HIGHStudents take turns reading pages in the story. The group discusses how a person’s voice changes when they read words characters say aloud. Students also consider the animals’ feelings as they read, using the illustrations to assist their responses.

BLUE READING GROUP: LOWStudents take turns reading and use picture clues to help decipher unknown words. We discuss how the story progressively focuses inward, from the city down to a bird.

RED READING GROUPStudents take turns reading, using picture clues to help decipher unknown words. They then work together to build words in the –it family with lowercase letter bears.

YELLOW AND GREEN READING GROUPS

Students take turns reading stories with the group, focusing on specific sight words. Picture clues help them decipher unknown words.Students then take turns reading these stories in pairs to each other. They begin to look past identifying the words and read with more rhythm.

FLEXIBILITY IN CENTERS

Students are periodically assessed in their letter and sound recognition, sight word recognition, and comprehension throughout the year

As students grow and change, the activities and assignments are adjusted to accommodate those changes.

Students may change groups depending on their needs.

GEORGIA PERFORMANCE STANDARDS MET DURING CENTERS ELAKR1 The student demonstrates knowledge of concepts of

print. ELAKR2 The student demonstrates the ability to identify and

orally manipulate words and individual sounds within those spoken words.

ELAKR3 The student demonstrates the relationship between letters and letter combinations of written words and the sounds of spoken words.

ELAKR4 The student demonstrates the ability to read orally with speed, accuracy, and expression.

ELAKR5 The student acquires and uses grade-level words to communicate effectively.

ELAKR6 The student gains meaning from orally presented text. ELAKW1 The student begins to understand the principles of

writing. ELAKLSV1 The student uses oral and visual skills to

communicate.