Christmas Literacy Games

December is a great time of year to introduce hands on activities that kids can play independently in literacy centers. Here are a few of our favorite games for kindergarten and first grade kids.

Roll a Word

To play this game:

• Invite the kids to place a cube or other marker at the bottom of each row of pictures.
• Roll a dice and move the first marker up the column that many spaces.
• Repeat for columns two and three.
• Give each child a worksheet, recording page, "Roll a Word".
• Next, the kids write the three letters, where the markers landed, on the paper.
• Lastly, write the three letters together and read the word!

Roll, Say, Keep

To play this game:

• Invite the kids to place one of the cards in each of the 6 boxes on the game board.
• Roll a dice.
• Look on the game board and find the box with the dots that match the dice.
• Invite the child to read the card.
• If they can, keep the card.
• Replace the card with a new card.
• If they can't, leave the card on the game board.

Spin a Word

Here's how to play this game:

• Invite the kids to spin the consonant spinner. 
• Find the tree box with the letter on which the spinner landed.
• Next, spin the vowel spinner.
• Find the tree box with the letter on which the spinner landed.
• Repeat on the consonant spinner.

• As you spin and collect the letters, place them on the tree game board.

• Record the words on the recording page.

Syllable Sorting

Here's how to play this game:

• Invite the kids to select one of the presents.
• Name the picture.
• Count the syllables.
• Place the pictures under the correct tree.

• Record the words on the recording page.

All of these games are from this literacy game pack: Christmas Literacy Game Pack

December Pocket Chart Activities

The Pocket Chart...we all have one,right? But do our kids really choose that center? IF they do choose it, do they know what to do? I developed 6 different types of activities for the pocket chart that kindergarten and first grade kids can use independently as part of your center rotation.  By keeping the same types of activities, and just changing the standard and themes, the kids quickly become independent! Here are the 6 activities for December:

Pocket Chart Poem

Each month, I write a poem that the children can sequence in the pocket chart. First, I invite the kids to sequence the pictures to tell the story.  Then, we match the sentences to the pictures. Next, the kids can build each sentence by matching the words.  Once they learn the poem, the kids can skip the sentence step, and just sequence the words to make the sentences.  I reproduce each sentence on a different color of paper. This helps kids know which words go together.

Syllable Sorting

I also include some type of sort. In December, the kids are sorting seasonal clip art by 1 or 2 syllables.

I also included a cut and paste activity for each of the 6 activities. These make great follow up activities for morning work or another independent time.  It's a great way to spot check to see if they are successfully mastering the standard on the pocket chart.

Word Family Sort

For a different sorting idea, the kids sort the pictures on the present cards by the word families.  Place the 4 trees across the top of the pocket chart. Invite the kids to sort the pictures into the correct column. This would be a phonemic sort.  If you want the kids to practice phonics, have them sort the picture cards with the words. The kids then, complete the word by finding the beginning sounds.

Making Words

Making words is another activity included each month.  I just select some seasonal words and find the clip art. Then, the kids match the pictures with the word card and the pictures.  Lastly, they kids use letters to make each word.

Find the Hidden Picture

This is the class favorite of all the pocket chart activities.  For this game we are using sight words, but you can easily change this to letters, pictures, or any other standard.  To play the game, kids take turns reading one of the words on the chimney. As they read the word, they flip over the card.

They keep taking turns reading the words and flipping over the cards until one of them finds the hidden picture.

Beginning Sound Match Up

The final activity is some kind of matching game.  Here the kids are matching the beginning sound (blends and digraphs) to the picture of the item in the sleigh.

Since color clip art isn't available to everyone, I also made all of the activities in black and white. Simply choose your favorite color of paper, copy, and laminate!

Here is another example of the cut and past activities!

All of these activities are included in the December Pocket Chart Unit