Gan Alef and Bet Literacy Centers

1. GanAlef and BetLiteracy Centers Shoshana Freedman 2011-2012

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. The Students Shayna Rachel • 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

5. The Students Zellik Amber • 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

6. The Listening Center

7. 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

8. Listening Center Work Shayna Rachel Zellik Amber

9. Game Center

10. 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.

11. 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)

12. Writing Center Work Shayna uses lowercase letters consistently. She is working on placing the lowercase “a” in the correct location on the handwriting paper.

13. Writing Center Work Rachel uses a combination of lowercase and uppercase letters. She is encouraged to write the last word in all lowercase letters.

14. Writing Center Work Zellik 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.

15. Writing Center Work Amber’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”.

16. 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

17. Blue Reading Group: High Students 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.

18. Blue Reading Group: Low Students 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.

19. Red Reading Group Students 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.

20. 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.

21. 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.

22. 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.