#2348. ABC centers

Reading/Writing, level: Elementary
Posted Wed Aug 22 17:21:55 PDT 2001 by Amy Samson (amy_samson@gwinnett.k12.ga.us).
Meadowcreek Elementary, Norcross, GA
Materials Required: paper, glue, scissors, crayons
Activity Time: 45 minutes-1 hour
Concepts Taught: alphabet sounds, sequencing, capital/lowercase, color words

I teach 1st grade in an at-risk Title I school. At the beginning of the year, I often have many many children who still have not mastered alphabet sounds/concept. Before I start my literacy centers, I get the kids back into the "swing" of school and the alphabet by setting up these 3 rotational centers to get them into the idea of doing centers the 1st grade way.

Each center is self-contained and stays at a table. Up to 6 kids can do these centers at a time.

For the Alphabet Center:
Divide a paper into 26 different boxes. Write the ABC's in random order in the boxes (just one letter per box and I just use the capitals). Copy enough for however many kids are in the class. At the center, I give them this sheet and a large piece of drawing paper. They have to cut out the ABCs, glue them to the big paper in order. If they finish before everyone else, they have to draw one picture for each letter (picture starts with the sound the letter makes, ie Alligator for A, Button for B, etc). They can draw their pictures at the bottom of the big paper or right next to where they glued the letter.

For the Captial/Lowercase Center:

At the top of a paper, label one side CAPITALS and the other side "lowercase." Then, divide up the paper underneath these labels into boxes. Fill up the boxes with letters of the alphabet, mixing capital letters and lower case. When kids are at the center, they again get this sheet and big piece of drawing paper. Then they have to cut out the CAPITALS label and the "lowercase" label, glue them to the top of their paper, one label on each side. Then, they have to cut out all the other letters and glue them under the correct category.

For the Color Center:

While the other groups are working on the ABCs, the rest of the kids review their colors. I make a coloring book--I just write the color words, one per paper (I divide the paper in 1/2 and do 2 color words on one piece to save trees:-), I write the word and also write again but in dotted line/letters so the kids can trace the word. Then, I copy enough for all and collate into books. At the center, they trace the color word, read it, and have to fill up the color word's space with pictures of things that are that color (ie, clouds & snowmen for white, hearts & roses for red, etc).

It keeps them busy! It takes 3 days for the whole class to get through all the centers.