Word Center

I worked a lot the past two days in my classroom.  I have it almost set up.  Now it is time to put the finishing touches on it.  I want to go center by center and make sure everything is in order for the first few weeks. 

I thought I would start in my new center the Word Center.  I am glad I decided to work here today.  It was not as organized as I thought it would be. 

First of all nothing is labeled.  So I had to make labels tonight.  

Second, I did not have everything I wanted in the center.  So I had to make a quick trip to Target, well it ended up to be two Targets to find what I wanted, cookie sheets. 

In order to prepare myself to organize this center I quickly reviewed the book, The Daily 5 Fostering Literacy Independence in The Elementary Grades, by Gail Boushey & Joan Moser.  They state in their book the purpose of the word center is that children should be able to “experiment with words for learning and practicing a spelling pattern and memorize high frequency words.”  So I want to keep that in mind as I organize my center. 

Items for a word center:

·      Whiteboards (check)

·      Magnetic letters (check)

·      Wikki Stix (just purchased)

·      Letter stamps (set aside until I introduce them)

·      Writing materials (check)

·      Alphabet puzzles (I am adding this for the beginning of the year)

·      Alphabet bingo (I am adding this as well.)

Ok I feel better about this center.  I made a cute graphic for my daily five chart using KPM Doodles graphics.

I'll add an after picture tomorrow after I label everything.