Word Building, 4 Centers, 1 prep

Get more out of your literacy centers!  With just one prep you can get ready for 4 weeks of centers.


I know it might sound like a dream, but you really can get four different word building activities with just one prep.  With the demands on your time increasing, you need to find ways to save time with your prepping and preparing for learning centers.  One way is to find ways to reuse the materials from your literacy centers.  I'm going to show how you can take one set of letters and use them for four weeks in one of your literacy centers.

The letters cards can be made by you, or from a purchased set.  For three of these activities you can also use letter tiles.  I like the letter tiles from the game Banana Grams, but other letter tiles will work.  

Learn how you can use these letter tiles in a literacy center.

The letter cards I've used in these examples are from my Winter Word Building set.
Winter Word Building--Crockett's Classroom




Word building,this is just one of the four activities you can do with very little prep to get ready for your literacy centers.

For the first week, students can use letters you've selected to build words. The letters you choose should spell one long word. That word can be seasonal or go along with one of your current topics of study.  My example uses the letters a, e, f, k, l, n, o, s and w.  With these letters the students can make lots of 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 letter words.  The final challenge is to see if they can figure out the mystery word made using all the letters. Click here for a free recording sheet.







For the second-week students are challenged with a word ladder. The idea is simple, but it can be quite a challenge to make it all the way to the top.

Students (or teacher) chooses a two or three letter word to write on the lowest step of the ladder.  Then they can change only one thing about the word to make a new word to move up to the next step.  They can add a letter, remove a letter, or exchange a letter. It's also allowed to rearrange the letters to form a new word. The words going up the ladder might look like this:
sit-sat-fat-at-bat-bit-bite-kite-tie-time-tame-same-came-come.

Younger students will need to use letter cards or tiles to move around as they form the words and write them on the recording sheet.  Click here to download the Word Ladder Recording sheet.
Update:  Google Slides version of Word Ladder added on Aug. 7, 2020!




During week three students get to practice their spelling skills. 

Guess My Word is a little like hangman, only it can be played with multiple players.


Each player needs a word mat and a set of letters. (extra vowel are provided)
Players place their word mat in front of themselves with the Make My Word  side facing them.  The other players will see the other side that says, Guess My Word.
Each player thinks of a word.   The word can have 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 letters.  The players lay the letters for the word, face down in front of them, on the side of their mat that says Make My Word.  
Once everyone has their word ready, they take turns guessing a letter for an opponent's word.  The guess needs to be to a specific person for a specific letter.  (Rachel, do you have a b?) If the player has that letter he/ she turns it over and places it on the side that says Guess My Word  so all players can see it.  A turn continues until the player receives a "no" for a guessed letter.

When a letter is turned over it needs to be placed, face-up on the 
Guess My Word  side.  The letters should go in correct word order so someone looking from the other side sees the beginning letter in box 1. The numbers on the mat help players know where to put the turned over letters.

Example:  It's Kelly's turn:  "Joey, do you have an 
a?" If Joey has an in his word he turns it over and Kelly gets to ask again.  She can ask Joey again, or another player. When Kelly receives a no, her turn is over.  If Kelly thinks she knows one of the words she needs to guess each letter one at a time.  She does not say, "Is your word deal?“


Once all the letters in a player’s word have been revealed, that player gets to keep guessing the letters for the other words.






For Week Four students play a card game called "Do you have. . .? Using letter cards students try to build words.  The first student to use the agreed upon number of letters in their words is the winner.  Click here to download more detailed directions.


The great thing about this game is students get to choose what words they spell. Students who can only spell 2 or 3 letter words can play with students who easily spell 4 or 5 letter words. 

I hope your students enjoy these word and spelling games!



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