Reading & Literacy Centers

Here is a post I did a long, long, long time ago. I still sue centers, but I haven't used some of them for a while. I can update you on what I am doing now...just email me! Lori

These are only my literacy centers. I do purely literacy centers during my L.A. block and save Science, and Math centers for different times. Unfortunately with the day we have, I do not often get to do "fun" centers like blocks etc. But my kids love doing these, and the ask me when we are going to do them if we miss them for whatever reason. This is the time I pull out my guided reading groups. I would be more than happy to talk about how I introduce them, if you are interested.

To introduce I usually do one at a time. For example if I am introducing Stamp a Story, I would do a model and have each kid do one. Then I would say that was great, let's try that as a center. The results have been great, I have never been more happy with my reading and writing...for all learners.

1.Literature circle A group of students read together from our reading series stories from the anthologies we have finished. After a while they begin to have discussions about the story and I do writing after....beginning middle end, circular story, steps in a process etc.(as a group on big chart paper...these come out really neat!)This is sorta my way of getting around using an anthology!

2. Browsing Box Each guided reading group takes the books read during group and puts them into a browsing box they can look at the books as a group. It is really good because they are dealing with familiar text. Each day three students choose book to read from their browsing box to share with the entire class. The velcro books are also in these boxes. THIS IS WHERE THEY DO READERS WORKSHOP...

3. Independent Reading Children can choose from our class library, they complete a book review which is kept in a three ring binder in our library for others to look at.

4. Buddy or paired reading....I have a box of two copies of books at all levels they read with a partner, this can be familiar or unfamiliar texts.Then they work with their buddy to draw or write about their favorite part.

5. Writing Folder This is where the children make books and write
stories that they will share during group. Someone told me that kids are more likely to write stories if given a book format to write in...it really does work, so in the box with their folders I have about 15 different blank books. They can publish them on the computer(in the beginning of the year I type them)

6. Journal Writing (can be a teacher directed topic if you choose)

7. Pocket Chart. I have an activity they work on. For example this week I have the big book The Big Red Barn (we are studying farms) I have the directions on sentence strips they have to choose a farm picture, write at least 2 sentences about it. and draw a picture. This is good for your themes.

8.Phonics Center Phonics based literature, games, phonics desk etc.I also found a great book that has activities for the 5 levels of phonemic awareness, I copied these and have them in an index card box.

9. Handwriting Center I usually have a frame with blanks. I also
have laminated alphabet cards for my lower kids to practice.They can also use wikki sticks, pipe cleaners etc. to make letters.

10. Overhead I put cloze paragraphs on there a lot(kids love working on the overhead) I also let the kids map out their stories on the overhead, stories they have read or will be writng.This is also where my kids start to develop their use of graphic organizers, I make overheads of plot graphs, venns etc. and have the children do them for a story they have read.

11. Sight Word Center (which may change to vocabulary center depending on your students) They can make the sight words with rubber stamps, magnetic letters and I have letters written on all sorts of shapes(shells for Junel) I use this to reinforce letter and word manipulation. Plus it works great to help them learn the sight words! YOU COULD USE YOUR SPELLING WORDS...

12. Poetry Box I have poems that are laminated, and another set that are the words cut apart. The kids put the words together and glue them and illustrate it. I also have their poetry laminated and poetry books, rhyme games etc. My kids keep a three ring binder of poems in there are poems we have done in class, and original works. I also put all the poems we did in group there the kids use pointers and can stick wikki sticks or highlighting removable tape over words.

13. Listening This is always followed up by a writing activity.

14. Drama Center I just have some scarves. The kids write their own plays and perform them. I usually will allow a group present one play per month to the entire class.

15. Big Books The kids use pointers etc to read the books. I sometimes put a post it outside a book a want them to read. I might put a post it that says circle all the Days of the week in this story. So they use pipe cleaners or wikki sticks to do that, and might write them etc.

16. Computers (I only have 1....) I usually have a living book or ed Cd rom. They have a log to record what cd they did and three things new they learned

17 Stamp a Story..Kids use rubber stamps(I have tons) to make a picture, and write a logical story to go with it.

18. Buid a sentence Kids choose sentence parts out of a bag they put them together to make a silly sentence which is copied onto a sentence strip and illustrated)

19. Deal a story I have cards I purchased that allow kids to choose one of each color to write a story about...my kids love this!

That is a lot! Hope it was of some value! The centers are also easy to set up and only a few need to be changed weekly(the pocket chart and hand writing) I just add more poems, clozes etc through out the
year! Lori

Here are some center ideas I got from a newspapers in the classroom workshop. You could have one center in your classroom be a "newspaper center" with rotating activities.

Have students find their spelling words in the newspaper, cut them out and paste them on a paper next to the written spelling words.

Cut rhyming words from the newspaper. Mount them at the ends of lined paper. Try to make a poem using the words you found. Write the rest of the poem with a pencil. Illustrate it if you like.

A center my friend next door used last year was "make your own comic book". Have students at the center choose a newspaper comic they like, cut it out and mount it on a piece of paper. They then must write all the nouns from the strip below it on their paper - or all the verbs, or all the describing words, or whatever you are working on. The finished paper then goes in one of those inexpensive 3 ring folders. At the end of the year each student should have a nice selection of comics.

Just some general ideas about centers - start slowly, introducing one center per day until students "get it". Insist that students respect materials. Remove students who do not. Try to group students across ability levels. In other words, don't put all your low students in one group. Literacy centers work best if there are high and low students in every group. That way the students teach each other. I love centers because they promote cooperative learning and are FUN.

Here are a few of the things I have done so far this year. The children work in with partners. AS they finish they visit the class library. I know the time is up when most are at the library.
*I have dry beans which are spray painted for interest. Each bean has an upper or lower case letter. The children try to match them up to the ABC tapes on the tables (or to any ABC reference you have.)
*I photocopied black line masters of a dog and a bone / a fish bowl and a tropical fish. Each child received one fish and one dog to illustrate. Each piece already had a letter in permanent marker written on it and that letter was highlighted. The children were asked to illustrate the picture while avoiding the letter itself to keep it pretty clear. I used blue chalk on the fish bowls for water. The bones and fish have the lower case letters on them. When all pieces with letters were finished, I laminated them. The object of the activity is to match the lower and upper case letters. I provide laminated ABC pages for a reference. They like seeing their own work in action.
*I write each childs full name on a short envelope. I then write that name twice more on tag sentence strips. One of these strips I cut into individual letters. While using the longer piece for reference, the letters are assembled in the pocket chart. After they do their own name, they try a classmate or teacher name, again the individual envelopes are labeled.
*Use letter tiles to group tall and short letters, round and stick letters, open and shut letters, letters in their name or not, etc. I also use tiles for careful discrimination n/m, t/f, b/d, h/n, etc. The children like to use the tiles to copy words they see in the room or to create names and words they think they know.
*I have a poem each week which the children illustrate in a preassembled poetry journal. I recommend you use shorter poems so that the children can later read them as they recite the often repeated poems. Mine are a bit long this year
*I use a listening center with a report that follows. This week they listened to Trashy Town then illustrated their favorite part. Each paper has a shadow of the title (made by photocopying highlighter) which they traced over. I wrote down what they wanted to say about the story. You can make your own story tapes to extend the selection.
*I use a game called Letter Perfect. There are many letter matching activity cards that go with tiles.
*The children make letters out of play doh and cookie cutters or free hand. They make their own names as well as other words they see in the room.
*Later in the year I will add independent reading, buddy reading, any number of worksheet type activities and/or art projects related to stories we have written. Right now I usually have one center for a twenty minute block of time. If I want to extend things, I tell everyone to work on their poetry journals before going to centers. There are 4 groups of children rotating to a center a day so I have four centers a week. I have a work board which they reference to see which center they need to do. That is a good lesson in independence that they can handle.

Try teaching heart net
They have a Literacy center link in which I got a lot of ideas from. I just started Literacy centers and so far I have:

Scrambled Sentences: they have to unscramble the word cards(usually sight words) to make a sentence and write it.

Spill the word: Using film containers, I wrote out sight or reading vocabulary words and cut each letter out. I then placed the letters in the container and the children have to spill the container and create the word. The are to record all the words as they spill them.

Read the room: They use a fly swatter with a rectangular whole cut out and read the room.

Write the room: Self-explanatory

Book Boxes: using their leveled books the children are to read and fill out a recording sheet.

Listening Post: Listen to a book on tape and fill out a review sheet. (ie: thumbs up, down recommendations)

Sticker story: use no more than 5 sickers to create a scene. Write about it. They love this one!
That is all that I have introduced since the beginning of the year. So far so good!
good luck
JC

PATTY,
THIS IS MY THIRD YEAR TEACHING SECOND GRADE. I AM NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE SCHOLASTIC LITERACY PLACE
PROGRAM, I USE SCOTT-FORSMAN READING SERIES. HOWEVER, EVERY FRIDAY MORNING AFTER THE SPELLING AND MATH TEST, MY STUDENTS GO INTO LITERACY CENTERS AND I WORK WITH A SMALL GROUP WITH GUIDED READING. SOME OF THE LITARACY CENTERS ARE:
-WORD WALL
-READ AROUND THE ROOM
-SPELLING OUT NEST WEEKS SPELLING WORDS W/ MAGNET
LETTERS
-LISTENING CENTERS- I CHOOSE BOOKS AND RECORD
THE TAPES MYSELF
-POETRY CENTER- I TYPE UP POEMS, CUT OUT AND MIX UP THE WORDS. FOLLOWING A MASTER SHEETS,
THE STUDENTS HAVE TO PUT THE POEM BACK TOGETHER.
I USE A SENTENCE CHART FOR THIS.
-READING BINGO
-SORTING WORDS- USING MAGNET WORDS SORTING THEM
UNDER A OR B OR C UNTIL THE ENTIRE ALAPHABET IS DONE. A B C
APPLE BIG CAT
AN BUG CUP
-ABC ORDER
GIVING THEM PREMADE STENTENCE STRIP
WORDS TO PUT IN ABC ORDER....I GENERALLY START OUT WITH THE STUDENTS NAME BECAUSE THEY ARE ALLL CONFIDENT HOW ABC ORDER FOR THEIR NAMES...WE USE THAT ORDER EVERDAY.
THIS IS ALL I CAN THINK OF NOW- I HOPE IT HELPS YOU GET STARTED.
MRSP

I have a great book that has really good ideas for literacy centers. You can find it at any teacher supply store. I think it's called "What Other Kids are Doing" (While I teach small groups)

In my classroom I use buddy reading, independent reading, read the room, ABC make words - I have everything from play doh and wikki sticks to bottle caps with letters on them at this center. I have a reporting form that students fill out as they make words; Word Wall center, Writing Center, Keyboard ( I drew a computer keyboard on a clear shower curtain). They use a fly swatter to "type" words. I also have "Build a Sentence" center. I use colored word cards and a pocket chart for that. I also use computer and listening center.

Spelling...I use Task Cards where they do different activities with the words...I also use dry erase boards for pretests

Vocabulary...Day 1...define the words...Day 2...read the vocabulary reader and answer the questions (these came with the reading series)...Day 3 -5...phonics skill

Fluency...Buddy Read or a Listening Station

Reading...Study Island (computer-based program), Leveled Raeders (these came with the reading series),

Independent Reading...novel, reading passage, newspapers, magazines...


I use http://www.fcrr.org/Curriculum/studentCenterActivities45.htm. Their centers cover the five domains of reading and are ready to print. I print them on cardstock, laminate, cut out, and they're ready to go.

Other teachers are allowed to integrate other subjects during their Literacy Block, but I am not. If you're allowed, you might even have centers for math, science, social studies, health, grammar, and writing.

LaTina

I have the following centers that run M-Th each week and occasionally on Fridays.
Listening Center
Book Center
Poetry & Plays Center
Phonics Center
Word Study (vocabulary) Center
Games Center (educational of course)
Computer Center
Writing Center
Fluency Center
I think there is one more I cant think of.

While the students are in centers I call small groups to me. My centers are mixed ability and my small groups are same ability so they do not rotate to my small group, I call them to me.

Fluency is one of my centers in reading. I teach a whole group lesson on how to time each other reading. I give the group a timer. One person times while one person reads. The others in the group follow along and count the number of words read. The kids love it because they each get a turn to time. It really works.

I use a half sheet of paper...the kids need to put the date, the title, author and illustrator. They need to indicate whether they liked the story a lot, a little or not at all. Then they have to write a complete sentence answer on why they picked their ranking. On the back now I am having them do a written retell. Since some of my 2nd scores have been low in retell fluency, that it what I am working on. They know to write what happened at the beginning, middle and end.

I love guided reading and found the following centers enabled me to work with guided reading groups:

1. Computers-I had computers with software, like Reader Rabbit or Living Books, loaded on them for students to listen to. The computers had individual headsets so the students could work quietly without disturbing others. Only two of my computers had the capability to run some programs so when this happened, I got a headset splitter from my local electronics story so two people could be on one computer. The pairs worked well together! (Teaching Target: Phonics skills, fluency, comprehension)

2. Reader's Theatre-students were assigned parts of simple plays. This works better if you have a parent or aide, but can work well as long as you model your expectations and help them choose parts. (At first my students would bicker about which parts they wanted. I solved this, by writing a character on a bookmark and placing it in each book. They randomly selected books and whichever character name was on the bookmark was the one they had to be.) (Teaching Target: fluency, expression)

3. Reading Games-I have two games at this center so pairs can play together. I used to have just one game for each group of 4, but found management was better when I split the 4 into pairs. There was less downtime for those waiting and all were involved in some action (either reading the question for the other or listening to answer). (Teaching Target: Phonics skills at beginning of year; finding the main idea,

4. Listening station-children listen to books on tape. I invested in 5 individual headsets so each student listened to their own book. It wasn't expensive and lessened management issues. (Teaching target: fluency)

5. Listening Reports- students chose and filled out a book report form on the story they listened to at the listening station. This way I knew they were listening to the story. (t.t: comprehension, writing)

6. Partner Reading-this center is always after the guided reading meeting. students work together on guided reading strategies or word work assignment (from our guided reaidng lesson) then they partner read familiar material such as shared reading poetry; former guided reading books; big books. (t.t: guided reading strategy, fluency, expression)

7. Writing station-children respond to stories as assigned or write their own stories or reports. (t.t: sequencing, report writing)

I have two centers a day for guided reading so I can meet with each group twice a week. I have 6 centers a week and if possible, only 4 students in each group for optimal management. I make sure the students do at least one quiet center a day.

Hope this is helpful.

This will be my 4th year teaching 3rd grade. I can tell you some of the things that I do and hope it helps.
Some of the centers that I use for Reading are:
Poetry: each student has a notebook that they copy the weekly poem into, they then illustrate the poem. In their center groups they will put the poems (recent and past) in order from sentence strips that I have made. They will read the poem together and alone to build fluency.
Buddy Reading: they read with a partner.
Computers: play various computer games, use word, etc.
Word Study: I give them a list of words from other areas, they put them in alphabetical order then create a vocabulary book.
Listening Center: listen to stories and perform some type of comprehension activity.
Art: I have them create some form of art project relating to a book that they have read either with a partner, in the listening center, or in the independent reading center.
Writing: I give various types of writing activities: write a letter, make a card, make a poster, etc.
Independent Reading: individually read books and take accelerated reader tests.
Journals: write in journals
Sight Words: use flash cards or sight word bingo.

I also use centers in math.

2. I usually start with 10-15 spelling words but this year we will be starting a program called Spalding so I will have to wait and see.

3. Fluency Checks and Reading levels:
I use DIBELS and Readinga-z. I also give a reading diagnostic test the beginning of the year.
Usually while the students are doing their diagnostic assessments I individually assess fluency and guided reading levels.

4. My first couple of weeks usually include going over the class rules and procedures, assessments, and introducing centers.
5. For discipline I use the stop light system, which has been covered on the board, with a time-out or isolation desk for consequences. I have students come in for lunch detention if needed.

6. Homework: I give a weekly math assignment package to teach responsibility (given on Monday due on Friday). This averages out to about 10 problems a day. My students are also required to read for a minimum of 15 minutes (time increases as year progresses) every night and record it in their reading logs. A few students are chosen the next day to share what they read the night before.

I hope some of this helps. I have been reading the board for sometime now and since there are so many different types of teachers out there I am sure that someone's response will assist you if mine did not.

I read a big book into a tape recorder and the children listen as they flip through the book. They love being on the floor and being "in charge" of the big book and the tape player. I just have a cheap tape player with headset. They write and draw their favorite part on a labeled paper I have in a drawer for that specific station. Before they are allowed to clean up and when I come to check them, they have to read what they wrote to me and explain their pic.

I even have two listening stations this time around. Station 9 and station 5 are both listening and writing stations. At station 5 they have to answer questions about the story that I read write onto the tape at the end of the story for my ones that arent reading fluently yet.

I tweaked it a bit from the original I got from a colleague. The second document is the same information but I printed it and posted it in the classroom.

We often talk about the animal icons... Let me know what you think...

I also use a listening station. Sometimes they listen to the weekly story on tape. Last year I used it the most for tradebooks on tape. We would all read a grade level book on tape or CD and read along in the book. Then there would be activities to tie in to the reading. They could do this in the library area, at their seats, or somewhere else in the room. My students don't really care where in the room they go as long as it is somewhere other than their desks! I think their favorite tape was The Cricket in Times Square. It was so funny when I would hear the listening center students laugh suddenly because Chester Cricket was singing!

My kids LOVE the poetry center. I copy poems onto an overhead transparency and they practice reading them on the overhead. I have them read using expression strips to make it fun. Sometimes they mark patterns they see with overhead markers. I use any poems, but I really like the Scholastic Perfect Poems book because the poems are specifically designed for building fluency. My kids love using the overhead, too. ;-)

Expression strips are index cards that have a certain "expression" on them. The student chooses one and has to read with the expression on the card. So one card might say "a squeaky mouse voice" and the student has to read in that voice. I know another one is a giant voice, a fairy voice...there's some more exciting ones but I forgot what they are! It gets the older kids excited about building fluency and reading aloud.

1. Choo-Choo Words-Write your spelling list end-to-end as one long word, using a different color for different words. Make your "train" wind around like a railroad track!
2. Make Your Own Sentence--Build your own sentence using each word.
For example: artist-All raccoons touch incredibly soggy things.

4. Questions--Write questions with the spelling words as your answers.

circular spelling bee. Students stand in a large circle. I call out a word. The person you designate to start, says the word and the first letter. The person to the right says the second letter, next person to the right says the next letter, so on, until the word is finished. The student that says the last letter also says the word again. Then I call out the next word. If we are just learning words, I let everyone stay in the circle if they miss a letter, and we spell that word again until we get it right. Sometimes we play to have a winner. When it is down to two people, I keep calling out words until one misses a letter and the last person spells the whole word on his/her own. Winner gets a small treat of some kind.

1. Paint with water- Dip a Q-tip in water and practice spelling the words on the chalkboard. The words will disappear like magic, leaving the chalkboard clean!
2. Shaving Cream Practice- An easy way to clean those dirty work tables clean is to let the children finger paint on the table tops. Have the students practice their spelling words in the shaving cream.
3. Scratch n' Sniff- Use a new sensation to teach the alphabet or spelling words. Write letters with glue on paper, them sprinkle with Jell-O. Makes a super scratch n' Sniff when tracing over the letters.
4. Adding Machine Tape Spelling- Students get tired or writing their spelling words the same way every time. Try having the students practice their words on adding machine tape.
5. Fishing for Words- On 3"x5" cards print the students spelling words, fold in half, and fasten search with a paper clip. Place the cards in a large fish bowl. Using a toy fishing pole or a long stick, place a magnet on the string. The students go fishing for a spelling word to practice.
6. Finger paint Bags- Freezer strength zip lock bags and fingerprint make great writing slates. Place a dab of finger paint (Tempera paint can work, although, not as well. Hey, look a use for all that semi-dried up paint!) in the zip-lock bag, tape the bag closed for extra strength. The student then lays the bag flat on the table, write the word on the bag. The word will disappear like magic.
7. Record a Word- Have students use a tape recorder to practice their spelling words.
8. Disappearing Act- Help your students perform a real disappearing act. Children write their spelling words with chalk on black construction paper. Then you can spray and watch their words disappear and return.
9. Flannel Board Practice- Students use a flannel board and flannel board letters to practice their spelling words.
10. Scrabble Spelling- Place the wooden letter squares from an old Scrabble game on the Scrabble rail. Students can use the squares to spell the weekly words or to write a sentence of words. Incorporate math practice by having them add the number values printed on the squares to find the week's "most valuable word."
11. Word cubes- Write letters on small wooden blocks and have the students arrange them and to spell their weekly words.
12. Spelling Magic- Try a little magic to teach spelling words! Have students write words on white construction paper with white crayon. Then have them paint over the paper with watered down tempera paint. Words appear like magic!
13. Partner Word Step- On large piece of butcher paper print the letters of the alphabet. Have two partners pair up together to play this game. Have one student read th word aloud. The other child must step on the letters to spell the word.
14. Read and Grow- Encourage flashcard practice with this growing flower. Cut a large, colored, construction paper flower with a yellow circle glued to it's center. Use an X-acto knife to make two parallel slits in the center of the flower. Cut green tag board strips the width of the slits, and insert the strip though the flower from the back. Write the spelling words on the stem for the children to practice.
15. Egg Spellers- The teacher writes the weekly spelling words on small pieces of paper and place them inside plastic eggs. (Now you know what to do with all those plastic Easter eggs after your kids are bored with them.) Students pick the eggs from an Easter basket. The students then must write that word.
16. Spelling Keys- The teacher writes the words for the week on construction paper keys. The keys are placed on a shower curtain ring. The students can use keys as flashcards to help them practice the weekly spelling words. On Friday, after the spelling test they can tear off the keys that they learned to spell. The words that they missed remain on the ring, this allows the student to continue to practice the words they need help on. If the student can spell these words on the using review test they may then tear off the keys to take home.
17. Take the Pepsi Challenge- For a motivational technique, "Take the Pepsi Challenge!" (Who remembers that old ad campaign?)Each student has a Pepsi cup. When Fridays spelling test is returned, he writes words he misses on a card and places it in his cup. When we have our review test, students are retested on the same words. Anyone who has a perfect score on all the unit tests and keeps his cup empty wins a Pepsi! Give a Pepsi also for perfect scores on review tests.
18. Spelling Puzzles- Write the spelling words on different colors of tag board. Cut the words apart in a variety of ways. The students then put the puzzle back together to form the spelling words.
19. Q-Tip Eraser- Write the spelling words on the chalkboard. The students then erase the words by tracing over them again and again with a Q-tip until the words are erased.

20. Block Puzzles- The teacher strings together wooden block beads. Write the spelling words on the top of the cubes, fill in the other sides with other letters. Attach a tag to the end of the string of blocks and write the spelling words on it. The student turns the blocks to reproduce the spelling word.
21. Spelling Bingo- The teacher gives a blank bingo card for a fun activity to take the place of your traditional pretest. As the teacher reads each word, students write it in a space of their choice. After giving all the words, I call words randomly until someone calls, "BINGO!" The winner must say the correctly spelled words that gave him the win.
22. Spelling Dice- The teacher writes the weekly spelling words on dice made from inverted milk cartons. The student rolls the dice and whatever
the dice lands on they write 5 times.
23. Musical Words- A word skill game that is played like musical chairs. The teacher places the spelling words on small pieces of paper in a large box or bag. The children sit in a circle, and start passing the box around while music plays. Whoever has the container when the music stops must pick out the paper and read the word. If he can't, he is out. Continue to play until there is only one person left.
24. Transparency Show Off- The teacher makes a transparency of regular lined paper. The students practice writing their spelling words on the transparency. The students then show off their work on the overhead projector for all to see.
25. Individual Whiteboards- Have the students practice writing their spelling words on small whiteboards or chalkboards. They love it!
26. Tissue Paper Tracing- The teacher writes the weekly spelling words on a large piece of paper. The students then place tissue paper over the words and trace over them with crayon.
27. Wooden Flashcards- Try using pieces of wood as flashcards. The students enjoy the change!
28. Contact Paper Chalkboards- The teacher needs to make 5"x7" cardboard pieces, Cover half the cardboard with the special chalkboard contact paper (You can also do this with chalkboard paint!). Then write the spelling word on the other half. The students look at the word and then copy it on the chalkboard side.
29. Magnetic Words- The teacher arranges assorted magnet letters on a cookie sheet or magnetic white board. Students use the letters to form the weekly spelling words.
30. Overhead Posters- The teacher makes a transparency of the weekly spelling words. The list is then shown on the wall. A piece of butcher paper is taped to the wall. The student then traces the spelling words onto the butcher paper.
31. Hold It- Young children often find it difficult to hold a handful of cards while playing "Go Fish!" These card holders are really simple to make and really do the job! Place two plastic lids (Cool Whip lids work great!), flat sides together. Place a button in the center on each side, and sew the entire unit together with strong string or dental floss. Children slip cards between the two lids and hold the card holder. The game is played just like "Go Fish!" by using a pair of cards for each spelling word.
32. Computer Words/Typewriter Fun- Have the students write their spelling words ten times each on the typewriter. (Or try it on your classroom computer. If you're brave you can use your graphics software! Kid Pix is perfect for this.)
33. Paint Your Words- Have the students use small paint brushes to paint their words.
34. Soft Flashcards- Use wall paper scraps to make unusual flashcards to practice the words.
35. Carbon Paper Practice- Have the students use carbon paper (Yes, remember that stuff?) to help them write their words. I got some old NCR scraps from a printer that worked great and was a lot less messy. The best part it was free!
36. Clothes pin Spelling- The teacher cuts out articles of clothing, from construction paper. The spelling words are then written on the articles of clothing. The students then reproduce the spelling words by hanging them on the clothes line with clothespins that have the letters written on them.
37. Salt Box Spelling- The teacher pours salt in the lid of a box (approx. 1/4"). The student then practices the words in the salt.
38.Alpha-bit Spelling- Students use cereal to reproduce their spelling words. Don't forget the have a snack with the words you make.
39. Pudding Practice- Try using instant pudding as a finger paint to practice spelling words.
40. Palm Reading- Motivate your students with palm reading. Write a spelling word with watercolor marker,(You might want to make sure that this is all right with the parents first.) on the palm of each student. Have the students try to spell each other words. The students can check their spelling by reading each other palms.
41. Pyramid Power- Give your students a weekly spelling assignment with a different twist. have students write their words in order of difficulty. They write their easiest word once at the top of the paper near the middle, the next easiest twice, and so on. Students will have a pyramid shape when they are finished.

42. Portable Slates- Portable slates make a great spelling game. Plastic coffee can lids and 1 lb. margarine tub lids are used as slates. The teacher calls out a spelling word and the students write answers with crayons, hold up their slates to be checked, then wipe them off with tissue.
43. Sandy Words- Have students write their spelling words in glue, sprinkle sand over the glue. The students then trace over the words with their fingers for practice. They make terrific flashcards!
44. Rainbow Words- Have the students practice words with felt pens, alternate colors for a rainbow look.
45. Put It In Print- Have the students cut out the letters from a newspaper to spell the weekly spelling words.
46. Round About Flashcards- Have students decorate a paper pate. Cut a slice out of the paper plate so it looks like a slice of pie cut out of the plate. Brad a round piece of paper to the back. Then write the weekly spelling words in the window. The students turn the wheel and practice saying the word.
47. Spell It With Beans- The students use lima beans to spell the weekly spelling words. The students can also glue the beans in place for a 3-D flashcard.
48. Spelling Squares- Students practice their words on graphing paper. The students use 1 box for each letter. Have the students figure out which spelling word is in the shortest, longest, etc....
49. Rainbow chains- Rainbow chains are a great way of keeping track of the words a student knows. The student writes the words he successfully spelled on Friday's final test on a construction paper chain. The children love to see their chain grow. It's also a great help for review units.
50. Sandpaper Practice-Students write their words on sheets of sandpaper. The students can really feel their words!