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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Four In A Row - Synonyms Game
Practice identifying and using synonyms with our similar word matching activity.
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Word Chain Mazes - Worksheets
Color a path through the maze by identifying the changing phoneme to create a continuous word chain.
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CVC Words - Spell and Write Task Cards
Practice spelling CVC words and manipulating their phonemes to create word chains with this set of hands-on work mats.
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Synonym Dominoes
Match up similar words with this set of 28 synonym dominoes.
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Synonym Word Match Cards
Match pairs of synonyms with a set of printable synonym flash cards.
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Synonyms Board Game
Read 18 words and identify their synonyms as you race players to the end of the game board.
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Building Sundaes - Synonym Activity Center
Practice identifying and using synonyms with this deliciously fun word game.
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Football Vowel Teams Worksheets
Practice reading and spelling words using vowel teams with a set of fun Football themed phonics worksheets.
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CVC Football - Word Building Center
Build phonemic awareness and spelling skills with a football-themed word-building center.
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Spring Short and Long Vowel Sort
Practice distinguishing short and long vowels with a Spring-themed short and long vowel sorting activity.
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Out of the Book - Reading Game
A fun board game for students to practice comprehension strategies.
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OW Sound Spelling Patterns- SCOOT! Task Cards
Explore words containing spelling patterns that make the "ow " sound with a game of SCOOT!
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Long OO Spelling Patterns - SCOOT! Task Cards
Explore words containing spelling patterns that make the “long oo” sound with a game of SCOOT!
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Words with OO - SCOOT! Task Cards
Identify the long and short "oo" sound in one- and two-syllable words with a game of SCOOT!
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Spelling Long U Words - SCOOT! Task Cards
Explore words containing the “long u” sound with this active classroom game that will get your students moving!
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Spelling OI and OY Words - SCOOT! Task Cards
Explore words containing graphemes that make the diphthong “oi” with this active classroom game that will get your students moving!
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Spelling the Short OO Sound - SCOOT! Task Cards
Learn to spell words with OO sounds with this active short OO Scoot! Game
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Hickory Dickory Dock - Pocket Chart Retell Cards
Read and retell the story found within the nursery rhyme Hickory Dickory Dock with a set of retell pocket chart cards.
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Valentine's Love Bug Rhyming Game
Bring a bit of love into the classroom with an interactive Valentine’s Day rhyming word activity for Preschool and Kindergarten.
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Earthworms Everywhere - Reading Passage and Comprehension Questions
Enhance your students' comprehension, vocabulary, and writing skills with this high-interest reading passage about earthworms!
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Phoneme Segmentation Bingo - Printable Phonics Game
Help students master phoneme segmentation through targeted listening with fun and engaging phonics games.
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R-Blend Words - Printable Word Cards
Forty-eight R blend vocabulary cards for a word wall.
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Syllable Examples Sorting Activity
Practice identifying and sorting syllable types in two- and three-syllable words with this treasure-themed sorting activity.
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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.
- Reading Center Activities for For Pre Kindergarten
- Reading Center Activities for For Kindergarten
- Reading Center Activities for For 1st Grade
- Reading Center Activities for For 2nd Grade
- Reading Center Activities for For 3rd Grade
- Reading Center Activities for For 4th Grade
- Reading Center Activities for For 5th Grade
- Reading Center Activities for For 6th Grade