Write-the-room activities are common in elementary school classrooms. They are versatile, and I love them for various reasons. Today, I want to discuss how I set them up in my classroom as an independent activity all year long!
Reasons to Use Write the Room
- Assessment – If this center is done correctly, the students should complete it independently (or with a partner). You can get a quick and easy assessment of a student’s progress on a particular skill.
- Independent Investigation – Students are allowed free range of the classroom and can problem solve on their own. It definitely requires the students to have some attention to detail!
- Teacher Time for Small Groups – If students are completing this center (along with other centers) independently, you as a teacher have more time to work one-on-one or in small groups with students.
Write the Room Center Set-Up
This image was from a Halloween event we did where we all dressed up as Mo Willems characters. The parents went all out! I didn’t have a picture of write the room in action, but I wanted to show you how I placed cards at random spaces all around the room for the students to find.
- Review Concept – Before the students started their centers I would review whatever concept they would be working on. Beginning sounds, CVC words, digraphs, etc. If possible I would do multiple centers on the same skill to make it easier for me and the kids.
- Clipboards – I always had clipboards available for the students to use whenever they needed them. I used them as part of my flexible seating plan, and the students were 100% in charge of accessing them and cleaning them up as needed.
- Rules – I’d take the first month or two of school to introduce the center and reinforce routines. I tried to only have 2-3 students per center and make partners based on personality compatibility over academic skills. I did have a lot of students who came in with little to no English, so I would usually partner them with someone who had a firmer grasp on the language.
- After the Activity – Make sure students know where to put the recording papers once they are done and the activity they go to next. Practicing the finishing routines is just as important as practicing the beginning ones. Once students know what to do, your small group time will have fewer interruptions!
Penguin Write the Room Resource
Want to get started on an organized write the room center? I have some free Penguin CVC cards for you that will help get the ball rolling. Just click on the link below to grab them.
Penguin CVC Cards
Alternative Uses for the Write the Room Cards
This resource can be used exactly like my Turkey CVC Cards with these alternate activities.
- Memory – match the word to the picture
- Pocket Chart Match – complete as a whole group or during small group work time with the teacher.
- Fold and Read – keep the words and pictures connected. Fold the picture behind the word, have the student read the word, and reveal the picture to check for accuracy.
Year-Long Write the Room Resources
In my first couple of years teaching I pieced together my write the room centers. One summer I sat down and created a write the room resource that covered all of the standards I wanted and kept the same format all year long so my students would know exactly what to do each time.
The pacing of the write the room resource goes like this:
- August/September – Letter identification
- October – Beginning sound recognition
- November – Ending sound recognition
- December – Beginning and ending sound recognition
- January – CVC words
- February – Beginning blends
- March – Beginning and ending digraphs
- April – CVCe words and rhyming words
- May – Real vs. silly words and short vs. long vowels
- June – Sentence scrambles and fix-it sentences
40 different write the room activities in one resource!!! If you’d like to check it out, just click on the link below:
Year-Long Write the Room Resource
Additional Resources
You might also like some of these other year-long center resources that make your small group planning time a breeze!
