I love March in the classroom! Spring is starting to appear and there's plenty of leprechaun magic floating around the primary classroom. Today I'm sharing 10 of my favorite March Literacy Centers that will engage your students in learning all month long.
Using Leprechaun Magic to Make March Literacy Centers More Fun
Do you enjoy seasonal and thematic teaching? I know I certainly do! As a literacy intervention teacher, I was always looking for ways to spruce up my lesson plan and engage those kiddos in learning. Using fun themes in your activities is one of the best ways to snag their attention. And. . . what's more fun than leprechauns?!
That's why I love these March literacy centers. They've all got a fun St. Patrick's Day theme and were beloved by all in my room. Not to mention - these activities are versatile! Whether you use them for center stations, partner games, small group lessons, or intervention materials - I know you and your students will love these!
1. March Fluency Spinners
This first activity is one of my all-time favorites because it's super simple to prep and use in a variety of ways. The idea is to have students spin the spinner and identify the picture they land on. Then, they will find that picture on their gameboard and then quickly identify the letters (or letter sounds) in the sequence.
This is such a great activity for small groups, literacy centers, and even homework! I also found them to be especially helpful in assessing students quickly and easily as part of our intervention/RTI process throughout the month of March. Best of all, just print and laminate these once and use them over and over in your classroom.
2. Spin and Say Nonsense Word Game
This is another great activity for your small groups and as a center activity. Students love to read the nonsense CVC words and enjoy the St. Patrick's Day Theme on each board!
3. Real and Nonsense Word Sort
Speaking of nonsense words, how about a fun sorting game to keep this theme going? In this Real and Nonsense Word Sort, students will choose a card, read the word and determine if it is real or nonsense. Then, they place it under the corresponding category. There are 60 different word cards included, so you'll be able to play this with your whole group at once!
I liked to play by calling on students one at a time to come up to the pocket chart and make their selections. The cards feature a St. Patrick's Day theme and everyone loves to see if they will pull a real or nonsense word. After modeling as a whole group, this makes for a fantastic center activity as well!
4. March Literacy Center Sensory Bin
Do you ever use sensory bins in your literacy centers? If not, you're missing out on a great opportunity for high engagement in your classroom! Students love to use activities with tactile materials - so adding a sensory bin to your routine might be just what you need to boost engagement. This March Sensory Basket focuses on letters and sounds in a fun way!
To use, you'll fill a small bin or tub with some kind of fun filler. I like to use colored easter grass because it's festive and low-mess. Then, you'll add the letter cards or sound cards and some fun seasonal items. I like to add gold coins or rainbow mini erasers to add to the tactile experience. Next, have students choose or spin for the letter or sound they will be looking for. After they locate the card, they name what they see and then use a recording sheet to mark their answer by tracing the corresponding letter.
Want to add some additional fine motor practice to the mix? Try having students use tweezers to choose cards from the sensory bins. This is so much fun and targets multiple skills at once including fine motor, letter/sound identification, and tracing. Your students will love this March Literacy Center!
5. March Hole Punch Literacy Center
Do your kids need to work on developing hand strength? Mine always did too! That's one of the reasons I absolutely love hole-punch activities. Aside from that, the students always loved getting to use hole punchers during literacy centers! This resource is designed to help students practice letter or sound identification while weaving in some hand strengthening. Best of all, there are many different ways to play and skills to target including:
- Capital to Capital
- Lowercase to Lowercase
- Cross Case
- Beginning Sound
- Letters in sequence
- Letters out of sequence
To play, students will receive a game mat and a stack of cards. They will flip cards one at a time and identify the letter or sound on the card. Then, they find the match on their board and hole punch it! I always liked to use these reduced-effort hole punches with primary kiddos. This activity is a fantastic independent literacy center that students will really enjoy!
6. Spin a CVC Word
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Once all 3 letters have been spun and written, students will read the word and determine if it is real or nonsense. There are also 3 optional recording sheets to choose from that you can have students use to write down their words as they go. On this page, they write the word and then check a box to show if it's real or not. After students have finished, you can have them turn in the pages or swap with a partner to check each other's work.
7. March Word Ladders
Word ladders are one of my favorite ways to practice blending without using traditional worksheets. We all know those get boring, so why not try a more engaging activity instead? These March Word Ladders are just the thing! To prepare, all you need to do is print the pages and slip them into a plastic sleeve for durability. Then, provide students with a set of magnetic letters.
To use, students will begin at the bottom of the ladder. They will look at the shamrock and determine the picture. Then, they use magnetic letters to spell out that word. Students can also use a dry-erase marker to write the word. They will continue this process by progressing up the ladder and changing only one letter to form a new word. The pages have options for both tracing words and writing words so that you can differentiate by skill level easily!
8. St. Patrick's Day CVC Words
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You can also provide students with one of the included recording sheets and 10 mats at a time to use independently. They will build each word and then write it down on their mat. This is great for student accountability and to help keep them on task! This activity comes with both color and black-and-white options, as well as mats with the letters already on the shamrocks. So you can choose what works best for you and your students.
9. Counting Syllables Scoot
Counting syllables is an important literacy skill for kindergarten and first grade students. Try using this March Counting Syllables Scoot Game to make it more fun in your room! To prep, you will just need to print and laminate the included cards. You'll also want to print one recording sheet for each student in your room. Last you'll want to gather up enough clipboards for your students.
When you're ready to play, spread out the picture cards around the perimeter of your classroom. Students will clip their paper to their clipboard and start in front of one card. To complete their task card, they look at the picture and clap and count out how many syllables the word has. Then, they record their answer on the sheet.
This game also comes with heading cards that read 1-4 syllables if you would prefer to play it as a sorting game. This is great if you want to use it in your March Literacy Centers or as a whole group activity.
10. Would You Rather Morning Meeting Slides
Now this last idea isn't directly tied to literacy - but hear me out! While not directly geared towards practicing literacy skills in the activity, I always found that it helped prepare my students' minds and bodies to learn. Let me explain... Do your students ever need to shake out the wiggles? This is pretty common for primary students! If we don't allow for some movement breaks, it can make for a pretty rough day of learning!
So, instead of fighting it... try incorporating some movement into your daily routine! These Would You Rather March Morning Meeting Slides using a fun St. Patrick's Day theme that everyone will love and they'll help ensure that your kids are ready to learn! Each slide has a fun choice to ponder and 2 sets of actions based on what students choose. As they make their choice, they carry out the action shown. Kids will love choosing between things like "being invisible" or "being friends with a leprechaun" and then lunging or running in place based on their choice. Use one of these per day to boost engagement and help students get ready to focus and learn!
Make Phonics Fun with These March Literacy Centers
So friend, which of these was your favorite?! It's always hard for me to choose! I love that these center activities target so many important skills, while also easily limiting the amount of time I need to spend on preparing the materials. Many of them are simply print and go! Another great thing about these activities is that they make engagement simple. My students love the leprechaun theme in these activities and I know yours will too! I hope you found something fun to add to your rotation. You can find all of these activities and many more in my TPT shop!
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