When I became a kindergarten teacher, I thought okay, I’ll come up with a system for my literacy centers that fits inside my schedule. I never took into consideration the order of my classroom or how to organize my centers and optimize them for ALL my students.
Well… let’s just say things didn’t go as planned for my literacy block. And they tell you that if you don’t have a plan, the students will have a plan for you – aka pure chaos. Which meant I stayed late every day at school, always was playing catch up, and constantly had piles of papers to grade.
It doesn’t have to be this way!
I came up with the 3 O’s to having successful literacy centers all year! This can be implemented at any point in the school year and save you time in the long run.
Order In Literacy Centers
Before I start to set up my classroom, I want to make sure I know the “order” of my classroom. I make sure I have order in 4 main categories: my schedule, classroom management, my curriculum, and assessments. Once I have an order in my schedule, I can plan for where to fit everything from my curriculum in it first because it is a non-negotiable. If you need help with your literacy center schedule and literacy block, read about my 10/20 model here. Once my curriculum is planned, I check when assessments will be given. Lastly and most importantly, I need order and structure in my classroom management plan for both individual students and my whole class.
Organizing Literacy Centers
Y’all know this is my SPECIALTY and my favorite part of my classroom. If you don’t make time to organize your classroom, you need to. I know it can be the last thing on your mind or your to-do list, but it is key to having successful literacy centers. No more prepping hours after school! I spend my 45min planning every day prepping and am fully prepared for the following week. I make sure to put everything into categories that make sense for me. Sometimes it’s by the unit, sometimes by the month, sometimes by standards. Once I have everything into categories, I find a storage system whether it is a plastic envelope, a tub with or without a lid, baskets, etc. Then I place one of my labels on the outside so anyone can come into my room and find what they need, including my students. This has created fewer questions like “Mrs. Hair, where do I find that?” and more opportunities for independence.
Optimizing Your Literacy Centers
One thing that you have to do if you teach Kindergarten or any primary grade is differentiation. Students come in with such a wide variety of skills, levels, and academic needs. It is important to differentiate your centers for each group in order to meet the needs of all your students. One way I do that is by creating activities for my centers. I will create an activity that all groups will use but the skill is different. For example, my I Spy Literacy Mats have 3 different templates to pick from. One mat has students find pictures that begin with the same letter sound and color the picture. On another mat, they must find the picture, color it, and then write the picture word. On the last mat, students must read the word and then find the picture that matches. The activity is the same, but with different skills depending on your student’s levels.
