When you begin spring in the classroom, students tend to get a little bit bored and want to switch it up a little bit. In order to keep them engaged in the things that you do every day you want to find some engaging content. Today, I am going to share with you a few ideas to switch it up this spring with your reading centers!

Spring Slide Decks

Slide decks are the most popular reading center in my classroom.

Each slide deck gives the students 7 slides to go through on a given topic.

In the slides they watch videos and answer questions, complete close reading assignments, do a word work and vocabulary assignment, complete a writing prompt, and play games!

These slide decks could be your reading centers for a full week or you could a do a slide deck day! Either way, your kiddos will learn about a new topic and stay engaged!

For the spring, I focus on St. Patrick’s Day, Earth Day, Economics, Poetry, and Plants!

>>>Grab them all here<<<

Word Work Board Games

Have you ever taken a board game the kiddos loves and made it part of your word work?!

It is so simple to do! I have the kiddos take their vocabulary words and make index cards with them. The word will be on one side and definition on the other.

Then, I have the students play the board game, but in order to get to take a turn they must take the word and define the definition. If they are correct, they get their turn. If they are incorrect, they lose their turn.

You could also have them spelling words, using the word correctly in the sentence, saying a synonym or antonym, etc.

So simple to set up and the kids will be engaged the ENTIRE time!

EPIC Book Companions

Are you using EPIC in your classroom?! If not, you should be. You can read all about it in this blog post here!

Anyways, EPIC is a free reading resource for kiddos.

My kids LOVE getting on EPIC, but sometimes I want them to be focused on something specific when they reading. That is where the book companions come in. The students read a book and answer questions after reading specific pages.

Then, at the end they get to do a fun and engaging assignment. These are all hosted on Google slides and have easy clickable links for your students to get to the books.

During the spring I focus on titles that relate the season and what the kids are thinking about during that time. This is a great way to get kiddos working on reading skills, while being fully engaged in a book.

>>>Check out the spring book companions here!<<<

March Word Work Centers

During the month of March I do totally new word work centers to switch it up and give kiddos a break from our normal daily centers.

1. Basketball Words- Students will shoot a basketball in order to practice spelling or defining their words in different ways.

2. Write a Tune– Students create a song with their spelling or vocabulary words.

3. Sticky Peanut Butter– Students will play a board game called “Sticky Peanut Butter” to practice their words.

4. Make a Holiday– Students will create their own holiday using vocabulary and spelling words.

5. Write a book- Students will plan and create a book using their words.

I also like to focus on some new skills throughout the month.

6. Rainbow Shades of Meaning- Students work through shades of meaning for interesting words.

7. Zoo Animal Sentences- Students will be creating a zoo mural by editing sentences.

8. Popcorn Part of Speech- Students will be practicing sentence editing which playing with popcorn. Hello fun!

9. Leprechaun Quotes– Students will work on literal and nonliteral language.

10. Women’s History Month Quotations- Students will be working on quotations and commas.

>>>Check out all these here!<<<

Take them Outside!

In the spring there are lots of opportunities to take them outside.

I will have the group that is working with me bring their materials.

Then, my word work people are going to do something with chalk and their words outside. My reading and writing people can simply find a comfortable and warm spot outside to work. We have little tables outside which are perfect for my computer station.

Find a way to get your kids outside and it will bring a whole new energy to your reading centers!