A Simple, Easy to Use Alphabet Center For Kindergarten Reading Rotations!

If you are anything like me you absolutely love having utilizing centers or rotations in your classroom. Small group will always be one of my favorite ways to teach and it’s also one of the most developmentally appropriate ways to teach key concepts in kindergarten. 

But finding the time to actually teach in small groups while also ensuring that the rest of your class is doing something productive and engaging… well that is tricky. 

I have tried many different things when it comes to centers and honestly, it can be really hard to find the right balance of engaging, standard-based, and simple. You don’t want everything to be play, but you want some creativity and imagination, and it’d be nice if you hit some standards, but you also want your students to be able to complete the activities independently… but you also don’t want to have to explain instructions over and over again… the list goes on and on. 

After many school years trying to find the right balance, I created my own activity. One that can be used over and over again with a different option for every day, but the SAME instructions!!! 

We LOVE a simple, developmentally appropriate, and easy-to-use center activity! 

My Alphabet Decode and Draw books are EXACTLY what you need. 

Here are three reasons you NEED to use these books as a center activity! 

Reason Number One: Simple and Easy for STUDENTS to Follow

This bundle of Alphabet Decode and Draw books takes you through each letter of the alphabet and all long vowel sounds! It includes 32 decodables, each with a letter search and beginning sound directed drawing. All 32 books follow the same format! 

Meaning you have 32 different activities all with the same instructions! You’ll be able to teach it once (with a brief review thrown in here and there, let’s face it… it’s kindergarten), and then your students will be good to go for the next 31 centers!! 

You’ll want to get your students familiar with a couple of things before you let them loose with this activity. 

• Directed Drawings! If you’ve done my Illustration Unit, you are good to go. If not, practice a couple inside the books, grab a set from my TpT store, or start my Illustration Unit now! All are a great, developmentally appropriate way to teach following directions AND fine motor skills all at once.
• Reading a decodable! You’ll want to make sure your students are familiar with basic concepts of print (like reading left to right) and how to use a book respectfully. They’ll need this skill to read these independently. But don’t worry, they don’t need to know how to blend words or recognize high-frequency words. These decodables focus purely on letter recognition and letter sounds! Practice reading them in small group and whole group before having your students start this center independently and you’ll be good to go! 
• Of course, you’ll want them familiar with basic classroom routines and center expectations too. Don’t forget to review coloring and writing expectations as well as voice level and other basics! 

Reason Number Two: They are Great Fine Motor Practice! 

Just like the way I introduce drawing in my Illustration Unit, students are asked to use shapes to draw different objects. They will be using straight lines, curved lines, and basic shapes to create apples, hot dogs, yarn, and so many other objects! 

Even if students aren’t quite ready to independently write their letters, these decodables give students the chance to practice various strokes in a fun engaging way. They’ll need to color inside the lines of a letter search and of course color in those drawings too! 

When it comes to actually writing the letter the book focuses on, they’ll give your student a chance to trace it over and over before writing independently!

Reason Number Three: Practice Identifying Beginning Sounds 

Of course, this is a biggie! We spend so much of our time teaching letters at the beginning of the school year and we want to find as many ways as we can to help our students remember them. 

This activity is a perfect way for your students to review their letters often, and independently! 

Inside each decodable they will read their letter, the letter sound, and then the beginning sound word! They’ll also practice letter recognition by finding it in a letter search, draw the beginning sound word, and practice writing the letter. 

As we know, kids learn best through engaging, developmentally appropriate activities. And bonus points come in when you switch up the modes of learning and give them a few different ways to practice! These decodables do just that! 

Ready to get rolling with these centers?!?

Grab my Alphabet Decode and Draw books and make your life a bit simpler right away!! 

If you are looking for more developmentally appropriate, easy-to-follow center activities take a look my TpT Store! 

You can learn more about using my Alphabet Decode and Draw books in this blog post!