Differentiated Literacy Centers

The most effective method that I have found for differentiating is during centers. I teach first grade and our ultimate goal is to be "expert" readers. Clearly this is a big and slightly ambiguous goal, however, all morning we complete activities that help us get there. The way that I differentiate is by breaking my kids up into groups based on where they are. One group will be working on identifying sight words in newspapers. They will have a color code and will have to circle a particular word with a particular color every time they see it. Another group will be working with sentences. They are more advanced so they are working with magnet words and creating sentences on magnetic boards. Then they are writing their sentences and reading them to one another. They are making sure they are punctuated correctly and make sense. Next, another group will be sorting pictures that start with different digraphs, letters, or sounds--depending on what we are studying. Some students will have to simply sort and paste, others will have to sort, paste, and invent spell the words of the pictures. Another group will be segmenting and blending the sounds in their classmates names and using counting cubes to count the sounds in the names. Yet another group will be buddy reading, listening to a book on tape and reading along, or doing a reader's theater play with other group members.