Skills - More ideas- Sight words & Environmental print

 This is a meaningful area where children listen to songs, sounds, noises, stories. We can have a chart on the wall to keep track of what the children have listened. 

Set up this area near the Book centre so they can share materials. Provide children with headphones so that they can be listening silently.

A rug,, cushions, a small table and all the stuff labelled are more than enough to organize this centre.

  Suggested Materials:

·        Tape players

·        Tapes of stories

·        Tapes of teachers, principals, parents, etc.  Reading stories)

·        Paper

·        Response sheets

·        Audio cassette player-recorder and audiocassettes

·        Automobile parts (old hub caps, brake drums, fly wheels, etc.)

·        Booklet

·        Chairs (small)

·        Chimes

·        Compact disc player and compact discs

·        Cymbals

·        Drawing and writing tools

·        Drums

·        Guitar

·        Handbells

·        Jars, bottles  

·        Listening post and earphones

·        Lummi sticks or rhythm sticks (dowel rods work fine)

·        Mallets

·        Maracas

·        Music boxes

·        Piano

·        Record player and records

·        Tambourine

·        Tin cans (assorted sizes filled with various articles for shaking, and large cans to be used as drums)

·        Triangles

·        Washboard

·        Water

·        Wind chimes (can be made from various materials such as keys, leaves..)

·

These are possible outcomes for this centre:

1.    Enjoying stories

2.    Revisiting favourites

3.    Developing letter recognition

4.    Developing listening skills

5.    Following directions

6.    Reading

7.    Improving phonemic awareness

8.    Building sight word vocabulary

9.    Tracking print

Suggested activities:

• Prepare copies of books with tapes in Ziploc bags. Children listen to a story using the headsets. Having the book there allows the children to read and listen simultaneously.

• Draw the favourite part of the book

• Retell the story to the group

• Record different sounds and prepare pictures of these sounds. Store them  in  an envelope or a Ziploc bag so that children can listen and identify the sounds

reading glasses (party-glasses with colored lenses)
pointers:
flyswatters with the middle cut out (leaving a "frame")
rhythm sticks
flashlights
large magnifying glasses
pencils with novelty erasers on the ends
gloves with wiggle eyes on the pointer fingers
fun and fancy pencils
dollar store magic wands
Clipboards (can be made by using a clothespin to clip paper to a chalkboard or whiteboard)

Children use special pointers or "Word Munchers" to read thematic words, sight words, word walls, then record them on their Recording Sheet

Buddy Reading

Attach a list of words to a key ring and the children must find these words around the room

Word Detective

Put a word list inside an easy reader (put on a tab that sticks up from the back cover) and have them use a pipecleaner bent into a magnifying glass shape to locate those words in the book. They can put their initials in a post-it inside the book to show they have done this center.

The Writing area  also called the ABC area is a place where children can explore with different materials such as pens, pencils, markers, lined pages, …  You can set up this area near the Book centre to share the stuff.

Provide children with letters from different materials, sizes, textures and shapes as well as alphabet puzzles, bingo, lotto, memory games, letter sound matching activities, letter beads, flashcards, and discovery bottles.

 It is very important to store the different materials in envelopes or Ziploc bags so that children can find what they need.

 Suggested Materials:

·  Alphabet stickers

·  Alphabet charts

·  Alphabet flashcards

·  Alphabet posters

·  Alphabet file folder games

·  Alphabet bingos

·  Alphas fonts to sort

.  Felt board and pieces

.   Different pens and pencils