Reading Center Activities Teaching Resources
Do you need new classroom reading center activities to kick-start literacy learning in your classroom? Explore a collection of thousands of reading activities, games, worksheets, printables, and more that have been created by teachers specifically for you to use in your literacy centers!
What Are Reading Centers or Literacy Centers?
Haven't set up centers in the classroom before? That's OK! The teachers who review every resource on the Teach Starter site before it ever makes it to your subscription have put their expertise together to create this guide to setting up reading centers to ensure your students get the most out of them!
First things first: What are centers? These spots in the classroom are designated spaces where your students can work individually or in small groups practicing decoding, blending, reading comprehension, and any other needed literacy skills. You might think of reading centers or literacy centers as practice areas for students to take the concepts you've been teaching and start tackling them independently.
If you need to differentiate instruction, classroom centers for reading can engage mixed-ability groups or academically-similar groups. You can also use your centers to focus on particular reading areas such as phonics, fluency, vocabulary, or comprehension.
Centers are typically student-led and great for diverse learners to work at their own levels and paces. When group work is involved, the groups are limited to no more than four students.
What to Include in a Reading Center
Just as learning centers can be set up for various subjects (check out our math center activities while you're here!), reading centers can include various activities! That's why you'll find that our teacher team of experts has created everything from task cards to sorting activities to include in your reading centers.
Explore the collection to find the right activities for your students and your centers!
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My Word of the Day Mat
A fun worksheet to use in the classroom when building vocabulary.
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Dictionary Dig Activity Cards
Practice dictionary skills with this set of 24 task cards.
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Synonym Roll Sorting Center
Encourage your kids to take a bite out of language learning with our sweet “Synonym Roll” sorting activity.
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Synonym Activity - Printable Puzzle Center
Print and assemble a set of synonym puzzles for your classroom reading centers.
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Antonyms Board Game
Read 18 words and identify their antonyms as you race players to the end of the game board.
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What's the Opposite? Differentiated Antonym Vocabulary Game
Build vocabulary and recognition of antonyms with a fun game of Antonyms Scoot!
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Humpty Dumpty Pocket Chart Retell Cards
Read and retell the story within the Humpty Dumpty tale with a set of retelling pocket chart cards.
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Chinese New Year Animal - Reading Passage and Activity
Read and learn about the Chinese zodiac animals with a zodiac animal reading passage and a set of 12 matching activity task cards.
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Alphabet Playdough Mats for Fine Motor Development
A set of alphabet playdough letter mats to help children develop their fine motor skills and identify the letters of the alphabet.
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Space Mini-Book
Engage your students and inspire them to read and learn about space with a printable book for 1st grade and 2nd grade.
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Scoot and Spell - Long O Words Task Cards
Explore long o words with different spelling patterns in this set of differentiated task cards.
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Marine Animals Mini-Book
Learn about the animals under the ocean’s surface with a printable ocean theme mini book.
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Sorting Activity - Hard and Soft Sound of C
Practice identifying the different sounds made by the letter C with this hands-on sorting activity.
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Penguin Booklet - 1st Grade Reader
Chill out with a good book and build reading skills with a printable penguin book for kids.
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Word Chain Worksheet - Beginning L Blends
Manipulate the individual phonemes in words to create new ones with this differentiated word-building worksheet.
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Magic E Wand and Word Cards
Create a crafty phonics activity to explore the power of the magic e in CVCe words.
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Short Vowel Worksheets (Middle Sounds Practice)
Identify medial or middle vowel sounds with this set of three worksheets.
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Phoneme Segmentation Worksheets - CVCC/CCVC Words
Use this worksheet pack to give students practice at segmenting words into phonemes.
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Apple Barrel Blends - Sorting Center
Supplement your phonics lessons with a consonant blend “Apple Barrel” sorting center.
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Syllable Types – Single Syllable Interactive Activity
Identify types of syllables in single syllable words with this Google Slides Interactive activity.
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Lewis and Clark Close Read Comprehension Pack
Enhance your students' comprehension, vocabulary, and writing skills with a close reading passage and activity pack about the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
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Fact and Opinion Board Game
Practice differentiating between fact and opinion with a fun and engaging board game.
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Syllable Types and Syllable Division
Divide multisyllabic words into syllables and identify their syllable types with this Google Slides interactive activity.
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Mars vs. Earth - Differentiated Paired Passage Worksheets
Learn about the planets with differentiated compare and contrast passages, activities, and writing opportunities.
- Reading Center Activities Worksheets
- Reading Center Activities Games
- Reading Center Activities Task Cards
- Reading Center Activities Board Games
- Reading Center Activities Sorting Activities
- Reading Center Activities Interactive Activities
- Reading Center Activities Templates
- Reading Center Activities Matchup Games
- Reading Center Activities Puzzles
- Reading Center Activities Dominoes
- Reading Center Activities Card Games
- Reading Center Activities Magazine
- Reading Center Activities Dice Games
- Reading Center Activities Mini Book
- Reading Center Activities Flashcards
- Reading Center Activities Color by Code
- Reading Center Activities Posters
- Reading Center Activities Cut and Paste Worksheets
- Reading Center Activities Graphic Organizers
- Reading Center Activities Bingo
- Reading Center Activities Instructional Slide Decks
- Reading Center Activities Writing Templates
- Reading Center Activities Tarsia Puzzles
- Reading Center Activities Fortune Teller Templates
- Reading Center Activities Flipbooks
- Reading Center Activities Active Games
- Reading Center Activities Book Review Templates
- Reading Center Activities Word Walls
- Reading Center Activities Mazes
- Reading Center Activities Word Searches
- Reading Center Activities Projects
- Reading Center Activities Checklists
- Reading Center Activities Craft Activities
- Reading Center Activities for Pre-K
- Reading Center Activities for Kindergarten
- Reading Center Activities for 1st Grade
- Reading Center Activities for 2nd Grade
- Reading Center Activities for 3rd Grade
- Reading Center Activities for 4th Grade
- Reading Center Activities for 5th Grade
- Reading Center Activities for 6th Grade
- Reading Center Activities for 7th Grade