Reading Learning Centers for the Primary Grades

This comprehensive resource provides everything you need to set up and manage a variety of exciting, hands-on learning centers to enliven and enrich your reading program for all children in any first, second, or third grade classroom. Included are illustrated, step-by-step directions and over 130 reproducible games and activity pages for creating eight different types of centers and eight monthly theme centers to meet the varied learning styles and ability level s of your students. For easy use, these materials are organized into five convenient sections: Managing Learning Centers Section 1 describes how Centers enhance the learning of reading and other subjects through children's active involvement and includes a letter to parents explaining the value of hands-on individual and cooperative learning center activities. Organizing Learning Centers Section 2 shows how to organize the room to accommodate centers, create a manageable schedule for student use, and keep track of an evaluate work done at the centers. Types of Learning Centers Section 3 provides detailed directions, diagrams, and suggested activities for setting up eight different kinds of centers to meet different student need: Teacher, Paper and Pencil, Library, Listening, Writing, Computer, Theme, and Art. Monthly Theme Centers Section 4 presents direction, illustrations, and reproducible patterns for creating eight stimulating theme center units through the year, form School Days (September), Pumpkin Patch (October), and Indian Tepee (November), to Space Ship (March), Springtime (April), and Restaurant (May). Learning Center Skill Games The Last section features easy-to-follow directions and reproducible patterns for making reading skill board games, card games, sorting games, and matching games that can be used at any center to develop word analysis, vocabulary, and comprehension skills. Reading Learning Centers for the Primary Grades will help you get even the most reluctant and unmotivated learners involved in reading while strengthening and enhancing your entire curriculum for all students.

Table of Contents:
About This Book. How to Use This Book. 1. Managing Learning Centers. 2. Organizing Learning Centers. 3. The Learning Centers. 4. Learning Center Theme Units. 5. Learning Center Skill Games.

About the Author :
Shirleen S. Wait, Ph.D., has been both an elementary classroom teacher and reading specialist for over 20 years. From 1987-90, Dr. Wait was a reading specialist for Project CHILD, a Florida State project that integrates computers into the classroom using learning center approach. She developed a complete reading curriculum for grades K-5 and designed hundreds of learning center activities for each grade level.