Does it seem like you are spending so much time planning your ELA centers? You don't need to spend hours trying to plan and prep your centers. There is a more efficient way that you can plan your centers for the week in as little as 5 minutes! Over the years, I've learned these three tips that have helped me save time when it come to planning ELA centers.
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Tip #1- Plan similar centers for each day of the week, just switch out the skill weekly.
To save time and help your students get into a routine, I stick to the same types of centers each day of the week. Here's how you can figure out what activities you want to use for your students.
First, you will sit down and write down about 6 different center activity types you typically do. Mine were always these: picture sort/game, hands-on/kinesthetic learning, independent work, digital center, and fine motor/arts. Plus you have your small group center that gets added in there.
Depending on how many centers each student will do in a day, narrow down your list if you need to. If you are not sure how many centers, make sure to read this post here to determine your center rotation schedule. I use this editable centers planning sheet to plan mine out and write down for each day.
After you have your center activity types ready, make a long list of different centers you can add for each one. I like to use the same activity for each day, because that will save you even more time.
Here's an example of my weekly independent work schedule:
- Monday- Phonics Cut and Paste Sort
- Tuesday- Phonics Booklet
- Wednesday- Sight Word Cut and Paste
- Thursday- Writing Picture Prompt
- Friday- Phonics Interactive Notebook Page
Once you have your center activity types and activities for each day- just look at the skill of the week and go! If your students start getting bored of a specific activity, then you can always change it out.
Tip #2- Organize center materials by skill or month for easy access.
Not being able to find what you are looking for while you are planning is definitely a time waster! Staying organized with your materials and knowing where everything is will make it easier to find that center you are looking for. I organize my center materials into three main categories: printable (saved on my computer by skill or season), by skill, and by season.
How to organize printable files
I think it's easiest to buy an external hard drive and organize all your printable files (aka worksheets) on there rather than keep a hard copy of all your worksheets. I just print out the one I need, then go make copies for the rest of the class. On my external hard drive, I have my worksheets saved into these main categories: phonics, sight words, writing, reading comprehension, and seasonal. Then, I break down the categories even more- by specific skill or by season, then skill. So if I am looking for a CVC words worksheet that is spring themed, I would go to the seasonal folder, click Spring, then click phonics, then CVC words to find what I am looking for.
How to organize activities by skill or season
I use these sterilite bins to organize all my center activities. I keep each activity in its own separate ziplock baggie. If you are looking for something more durable, these bags on Amazon hold up well and come in a variety of different sizes. For example, the CVC words bin will have all the center activities for CVC words inside.
For the seasonal activities, I put them into one of these scrapbook cases and label by the holiday. These are bigger so that I can fit any crafts inside too. I keep all activities that have to do with that season in each one.
Finding activities while planning
Now it's time to plan. I know which skills I am teaching, so usually I am only pulling down two bins- the phonics skill and seasonal bin. As I am writing down each activity, I pull it from its bin OR print it off my computer. I put them into a bin thats labeled for each week and that's it. Knowing where everything is has saved me so much time!
Tip #3- Plan your entire month at one time
Planning out the entire month at one time can seem like a lot of work. However, once you do it, then you won't have to worry about it for an entire month. After you complete these first two steps, this is the most effective final step to help you save time when planning your ELA centers. It’s easiest to batch plan because many of the centers you will end up repeating. Planning each week should take about 10 minutes total from writing down the plan and finding the center activity you will need. Typically, on the last Monday of the month, I would plan my centers and grab the activities for the following month. It was always completely finished in under an hour and I didn't have to think about planning centers the rest of the month!
My favorite center bundles to use year round
Here are my favorite seasonal center bundles that you can switch out year round to save even more time!
Want to learn more about how I was able to run successful ELA centers in my classroom? Check out this post here to learn more!
You can also watch this IGTV video here to learn more about my center rotations in my classroom.