Phonics with Centers

Every classroom has students with different needs. While some need more help, others need a challenge. So, teaching the entire class at once is often not best for students. Instead, they need lessons in small groups to ask questions and receive instruction on their level. However, this requires a ton of work! It is stressful to figure out how to teach a small group while educating the rest of the class. Thankfully, I’ve found the perfect solution to share with you! Teaching phonics with centers has transformed the education of students. Students can independently work on engaging, effective, and fun tasks using phonics station activities! 

Same Task with Different Skills 

One of the best parts of phonics with centers is how they incorporate the same task with different skills. For instance, if students use the CVC spinners, they will use the same activity to work on digraphs, blends, and vowel pairs. This means students can focus on consistent activities with the skills they learn. So, I can spend extra time in small group lessons versus constantly reviewing directions. 

Word Work 

Word Work activities focus on building 5 words each week. However, there are templates where teachers can add their lists and the number of words. 

After creating the list, students can get started on many different ways to practice their words! This includes writing words with a crayon, marker, pencil, stencils, tracing, and writing with rainbow colors. Additionally, students will study their words, use letter tiles, flip and spell, write in letterboxes, and fill in shapes. 

Students will have so much fun building and designing their words! 

Phonics Spinners

While these spinners are simple, they are one of the first activities students pick!

Specifically, there are 65 activities to teach phonics with centers. Each spinner includes 5-6 images focusing on a specific phonics skill. Additionally, there is a recording page for students to write the words they spin. Students can even write sentences and draw matching pictures! 

Students will focus on CVC short vowels, long vowel pairs, CVCe words, blends, digraphs, and diphthongs. Additionally, there are spinners for R-controlled vowels and word families.

Best of all, prep is so easy! Teachers just need to print and laminate the spinners for durability. Then, you can use a clear spinner on top or a pencil with a paper clip. 

Phonics Read and Clip Mats

These mats incorporate phonics with centers that are incredibly low prep! 

There are 52 different phonics mats included, along with recording pages. Teachers can switch out the mats each week based on students’ skills. There are mats for CVC short vowels, long vowel pairs, CVCe words, blends, digraphs, and rhyming word families. 

All teachers have to do is toss the phonics cards into a bin with some clips. Then, students will study the picture or word at the center of the mat. They will then clip each word or picture that matches the center. Students who need an additional challenge can write or draw the clipped words for each card. 

Word Family Sliders

Students love working on word families!

There are 40 sets to focus on one word family at a time. Additionally, there are 2 differentiated versions. So, students can pull the slider to change the first letter of each word in the one-word family. There are also pictures on the slider template to help students read words. Or, more fluent readers and pull a list of up to 8 words from a single-word family to read. There are also more complex spelling patterns. 

Prep is super easy! Teachers print, laminate, and cut along the dotted line. Students will love learning with sliders.

Word Building Phonics Puzzles 

Students love puzzles! So, this collection of 130 word puzzles is perfect when learning phonics with centers! 

Students practice many skills, such as CVC short vowels, long vowel pairs, blends, digraphs, and diphthongs. There are even puzzles for R-Controlled vowels and Y-ending words. Puzzles are color-coded by skills, which helps students who may need more support. Each skill is also printed on every puzzle piece to ensure organization is easy! 

Students will build the word and matching picture in each puzzle. So, the more word pieces in a bin, the more complex the task. Students always have so much fun putting the puzzles together! 

Write the Room Phonics

When teaching phonics with centers, engagement is key. Thankfully, students always love Write the Room activities! 

There are 30 sets, each with 8 picture cards and a matching recording page. Students will work on many phonics skills, such as CVC short vowels, blends, digraphs, trigraphs, Y-ending words, and compound words. 

Teachers just print the picture cards and tape them around the classroom. Students will then be ready to explore the room! 

Phonics Centers

Honestly, there are many amazing ways to work on phonics with centers! Since teachers work on limited budgets, there is a money-saving bundle! 

There are 5 student-favorite activities. This includes Write the Room, Read and Clip Phonics Mats, and Puzzle Cards. Additionally, there are Phonics Sliders, Phonics Spinners, and printable templates. Students will love working on the phonics station activities!

Specifically, students will work on letter sounds, CVC words, simple sentences, sorting, and writing. Additionally, students will work on CVC short vowels, long vowel pairs, CVCe words, blends, and digraphs. There are even phonics station activities for diphthongs, R-Controlled vowels, double consonants, and compound words.  

The activities allow students to work independently while gaining confidence in reading and writing. 

Strong phonics instruction plays a huge role in students being confident readers, writers, and spellers. Thankfully, learning phonics with centers ensures engagement, enjoyment, and focus! Students will love all of the phonics station activities!

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