Writing Centers

Each session of preschool (AM and PM) in my district are two and a half hours long, which makes it difficult for literacy instruction to take place on daily basis. However, during one of the district literacy training sessions with Vicki Rothstein this year a Four Blocks Approach to literacy was discussed and, despite having heard of it in the past, I was suddenly inspired to create literacy centers in my classroom incorporating all of the "blocks".

My centers include: Reading to self or Quiet Reading, Writing Center, Read with Teacher (I often use adapted book or activities with students at this center), and Phonemic Awareness activities including beginning sounds games, rhyming, syllable counting practice, etc. (on the rug). I taught my students to check which center they are assigned to by looking at this visual board:

Student names are written on clothing pins and their photos are attached with Velcro. AM session student names are on one side of the pin and PM session names are on the other.

Writing Center has a miniature word wall, unit related writing prompts or ideas, step-by-step directions (some of my students absolutely adore these!), and a little drawer box with labeled writing supplies.

I got the idea of organizing the centers visually from Developing Literacy in Preschool (Tools for Teaching Literacy) by Lesley Mandel Morrow. 

Have you found good strategies to teach literacy to ECE students? Please share!