puppets - reading appropriate leveled texts in kindergarten

Has it been short of forever since I shared about our literacy centers? Working smart is what I like to think I'm doing, when I share with you that my philosophy on bringing learning and playing together happens during literacy centers. I like to create centers that offer choice and keep repeating the same standards with different materials so each center feels unique. Each literacy center has a poster explaining the choices available to students and Common Core standards listed.

In addition to my other reading centers: big book center, library center, poetry center, and listening center... we have the puppet center. No, my students aren't performing plays. They are using the puppets to practice reading leveled books that are on their independent reading levels. This center doesn't get introduced until a bit into the year and we are actually modeling reading behaviors.

Notice, I didn't say reading...but many of us are solid level 1/A's at the point in the year when we begin. Wouldn't you know, that having a puppet on one hand does wonders for helping the body to focus on the task at hand!

The puppets act as a reading buddy and offer the feeling of choice. Many of the books are ones they have read with me in guided reading groups but I also place books that they haven't read. I do not use individual book baskets. Honestly, this goes back to my teaching half-day experiences and how I couldn't figure out storage for 50 kinders! 

By simply having book baskets with a variety of books all grouped by their level and with some baskets showing a bit of range in levels, my kinders can challenge themselves without going into a frustration level.

This puppet center helps meet Common Core Standards:

• K.RF.1 - Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print.
• K.RF.3 - Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
• K.RF.4 - Read emergent-reader texts with purpose and understanding.
• K.RL.5 - Recognize common types of texts (e.g., storybooks, poems).
• K.RL.7.b - Explain that illustrations support and extend the story

I've learned that by grouping books by level and not by only what they've read offers more choice in content and therefore we have higher levels of interest. They can read anywhere in the room. Take a puppet, your basket and go! It all goes back where it came from as soon as the clean up song comes on!

The kinders know where it all comes from since they can use the picture labels and labeled baskets to figure it out! This center's poster, workboard icon and puppet labels are available in our Literacy Center Poster set.

Just one more way of tying learning and playing together in the name of increasing the time my kinders spend reading and giving them focus while doing it! 

More Literacy Centers

playdough word work - substituting sounds in CVC words
detective literacy center - read and write the room
kindergarten puzzle literacy center
non-fiction literacy center
22 Famous Story Retelling Ideas {+Printables}

Integrating appropriate leveled texts into independent reading time? Check!

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- Leslie

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