EL Skills Block – Simply Split Creations

Four children gathered around a book, smiling and engaging in reading activities in a colorful, bright classroom.

You have probably heard lots of talk about work charts (must do/may do) as a replacement for reading centers, and may be wondering what the hype is all about. As with everything, there are pros and cons to work charts. I’m going to share some of the perks below that may intrigue you…

Benefits of a Work Chart System

Little to no transitions – this saves a lot of time
Students get a choice in the order that they complete their work (making it more enjoyable or feasible for them)
Teachers can pull students whenever during this time frame – this means you can have groups for as long or as little as you need to.
Allows students to take time if needed on certain items or work quickly through concepts that are easier for them (less wasted work time)
Students can stay at the same table/desk almost the whole time (depending on the work chart activities) – less moving around and wasting time
It holds students accountable for completing their work

So you might be wondering how the work chart system works and how you can implement it in your classroom. I’m going to show you how below:

Pick the Work Chart Activities

The activities you choose can be very similar to your reading center activities. I choose activities for fluency, word work, writing, & accountable independent reading. I recommend choosing activities that are easy to organize in one area, prep, and for students to complete independently.

-Need a premade & low prep option?

After a couple of years of piecing together activities for my students’ work chart, I finally created an all-inclusive work chart packet that covers everything I need. It includes a FULL YEAR of engaging work chart activities, and all you have to do is print it out each week. Check out what it all includes below:
- 6 fluency activities
- 5 word work activities
- 4 writing activities
- 1 accountable reading activity (bonus extras included in the bundle)
- A work chart OR a checklist w/ screenshots of each activity (students will check off as they go)
  - Plus, there’s a spot for a teacher or adult to verify completion for each item

These are available in 1st grade and 2nd grade

The great news is that if the full bundle does not align with your phonics curriculum, you can pick and choose the specific phonics packets you need (and buy them individually).

AND, I am starting to make a broader selection of packets like these (plus some extras like lesson slideshows and phonics posters). If you don’t see the skill you need, you may want to check out the “Spelling Simplified” packets. You can check out all the available packets HERE (then use the search bar to find the specific skill you’re looking for.

Colorful graphic promoting 'Spelling Simplified' with weekly reading center resources, featuring headings like 'fluency', 'word work', and 'writing'. Includes two clipboards with worksheets labeled 'Pyramid Fluency' and 'ch vs. tch'.

Build the Work Chart

After you have selected the activities you want students to use for the work chart, you’ll need to build the physical work chart. I recommend including a picture of each activity (especially in a k-2 classroom) and a checkbox next to each activity. There are lots of different types of work charts; I’ll share a couple of examples below:

Examples

If you like either of the portrait options, you can grab the EDITABLE work chart in the bundle of weekly center packets OR in the editable template.

Weekly center packets bundle

editable center packets

Bold black text spelling 'TIP' on a red background.

Snipping Tool: I recommend using the snipping tool to grab screenshots of items you are using for your activities in the work chart. This really helps students follow along and make sure they complete their work when they can see a nice visual of the actual paper or activity materials.

On a Windows computer, you can use the search bar to find the “snipping tool,” or you can use the shortcut WINDOWS + SHIFT + S, and the snipping tool will pop up. Then drag a box around the area you want to “snip” or grab a screenshot of. A new screen should load, and you can save the image to your computer, or you can copy and paste directly into your document. I would recommend using Google Slides, PowerPoint, or Canva so you can easily move the pictures as needed.

Organization

If you’re not sure how to organize this system or are having a hard time picturing how it might function, below are a few tips.

Grouping Students

I recommend grouping students like you would with regular centers. Students in a group should be on the save reading level and should be given differentiated materials.

If you need help learning how to group students and level them appropriately, I have a blog post that shows the assessment I use to group students for reading centers or a work chart system. HERE’S a link to the POST.

Tables

I recommend having each group assigned to a table. Students should stay at the table for most of work chart time. This helps students stay focused on tasks, allows them to ask their group members questions if they have them, and also prevents lots of unneeded transitions.

Caddies

I have a folder for each student in a caddy that’s assigned to each group. At the beginning of work chart time, the caddy is brought to the table so students can easily grab their folder and start to work. Some materials are also included in the caddies that are needed for students to complete their work. Examples might be: a timer, decodable books, fluency drills, iPad, etc. This way, students don’t have to wander around the room gathering materials.

Below is a picture of the caddies I use to store group materials.

A colorful classroom with a 'Welcome' banner, featuring a bookshelf filled with books, a display of student artwork on the wall, and a cozy reading area with cushions.

Checking Work

It is super important to hold students accountable with completing their work; otherwise, it can turn into a big distraction or waste of time. This is what I love SO much about a work chart system, because you can check students’ work throughout the week, and students can feel that pressure to actually get their work done. It can become a little bit tricky finding time to actually check off students’ work, though, so here are a few things I have done to make sure there’s ample time to check off.

Daily 5-10 Check-off Time: I will take the last 5-10 minutes of “centers” to check off student work each day. This motivates students to have a few items ready to sign off each day.
Friday 20 Check-off Time: On Fridays, I take extra time to check off students’ work. I usually do 20 minutes.
Sign-off for a few min with each group at the beginning of your small group lesson: You can also have students bring their work charts to small groups, and you can check off each student’s work during this time.
Ask for parent volunteers to help sign students off (once or twice a week): This is a super simple and easy way for parents to help out in the classroom. If you have a parent willing to come in once a week or a few parents who rotate coming in once a week, then you have the perfect system for checking off student work. I usually like to remind my students the day before a volunteer comes in so they are super motivated to have a lot of work ready to be checked off the next day.
Utilize SeeSaw for students to record themselves reading, or take a picture of their work: Another way to hold students accountable is to utilize the app SeeSaw. SeeSaw is a great app where students can take pictures of their work, record themselves reading, or you can even create activities directly on the app. This can make it really easy to see which students are slacking and which students aren’t. Plus, you have a clear record of their progress.

Small Group

One of the perks of having nontraditional reading centers and using a work chart system instead is that you can take as long or as little time as you need with each group. If you have a higher group that is nailing the content, you can quickly wrap up your session, OR, if you have a group really struggling with a skill, you can pull them more frequently or have a longer lesson.

On the other hand, it can be very easy to lose track of time so I have a few recommendations for you to ensure you utilize this time the best.

Form a rough schedule: It’s important to have a goal or schedule in mind with how frequently you’d like to meet with each group. Figure out about how long each group session might be and schedule it out roughly, and do your best to stick to the schedule so groups don’t get behind.
Use a timer to keep you on track: I recommend using a timer to keep yourself on track. You can definitely ignore the timer if needed, or stop the timer early, but it just helps you not lose track of time.

I hope these tips have been helpful for you. If you decide to give a work chart system a try in your classroom, I’d love to hear how it goes! Feel free to leave a comment below.

EL Skills Block, Literacy Centers, Phonics, Teacher TIps

Mastering Classroom Reading Centers: Essential Tips for Teachers

June 18, 2026July 10, 2026 simplysplit

Somehow, each school year, I always forget how hard it can be to turn a classroom into a well-oiled machine.

One of the hardest areas I have found to get set up and fully functioning each year is reading centers. The struggle might be real, but it doesn’t have to be.

Let me share some tips for teaching your students about your reading center process to make the transition period less painful.

Tip #1

My #1 tip is…

Go slow to go fast. Going slow in the beginning is so important so your students can really nail the routines, procedures, and structure of centers.

This might include…

Teaching, reteaching, & practicing the same center over and over again
Practicing transitions over and over again
Stopping centers abruptly to go over expectations again
Focusing solely on the procedure and less on actual learning (at least at first) – This is so important, because if it’s chaotic, there won’t be much learning or practicing going on at all anyway.
Addressing problems quickly when you see them happening in real time

These suggestions might sound tedious, daunting, and disruptive, but I can promise you that if you focus on these things in the beginning, your classroom will run much more smoothly, which will allow learning to take place and exponential growth for your students.

Tip #2

Teach each center independently. Your students should know exactly how each center works and have zero questions about them before combining that reading center with another center.

Tip #3

Slowly add in centers to a rotation. Do NOT start rotating all centers at once. You need students to get used to rotating centers and completing centers independently while rotating with 2 centers at a time, then 3 centers at a time, and so forth until all centers are rotating at once. The teacher center should be the last center introduced, so you can walk around and answer questions as needed.

I typically follow a schedule like this:

Introduce center 1 and practice center 1 independently for 3 days.
Introduce center 2 and practice center 2 independently for 3 days.
Practice centers 1 and 2 on the same day (but go over expectations or procedure before/in between each center – therefore, no transitioning/switching centers independently) for 2 days
Introduce center 3 and practice center 3 independently for 3 days.
Practice centers 1 and 3 on the same day (but go over expectations or procedure before/in between each center – therefore, no transitioning/switching centers independently) for 2 days.
Introduce center 4 and practice center 4 independently for 3 days.
Practice centers 2, 3, and 4 on the same day (but go over expectations or procedure before/in between each center – therefore, no transitioning/switching centers independently) for 2 days.
Practice centers 1, 2, 3, and 4 on the same day (but go over expectations or procedure before/in between each center – therefore, no transitioning/switching centers independently) for 1 day.
Introduce center groups. Introduce center rotation slideshow & timers. Practice rotating with your group to each center (literally just moving to the different areas, not completing any work. Practice transitioning to two centers for each group (completing the work in each center) for 1 day.
Practice transitioning to two different centers for each group (completing the work in each center) for 1 day.
Practice full centers (including the teacher center).

Tip #4

Reteach expectations often. Especially in the beginning, it is important to go over expectations for centers often. Don’t be afraid to stop centers completely to reteach expectations altogether again. This might seem annoying and redundant, but it’s important to have those expectations nailed down. If your centers are sloppy to begin with, they will only get worse – I promise you – unless the problem is addressed and fixed.

Tip #5

Use a visible countdown timer. Let’s face it, timers help people of all ages stay on task. If students know what is expected of them to finish by the end of center time, having a visible timer showing students how much time is left in each center helps students hold themselves accountable during center time.

I actually incorporate a timer in my center rotation slideshow (see picture below).

click here

The center rotation slideshow also really helps students understand clearly which center they’re supposed to be at and where they will go next. The slideshow definitely keeps my centers nice and organized. I sell these center rotation slides in my shop, and they are linked below if you’re interested.

Tip #6

Plan for clean-up time in between centers. Picture this, you’re a little 2nd grader heading to your next center, really excited to do the word work activity. BUT, when you get to the word work center, you find papers scattered around the table, pencil shavings everywhere, and you’re not sure where all the dice went that are needed for the activity. Would you be able to get to work very quickly? Probably not. First, you’ll need to find Jimmy and ask him where all the dice went. Then, if you are lucky enough to find the dice and don’t get distracted talking to other students in Jimmy’s group, then you have to clean the work station, or hope that it doesn’t become a distraction.

Do you get the point? The bottom line is that clean centers = less distractions which means more productive students

STILL STRUGGLING?

If your centers are still a hot mess after implementing these suggestions, you may want to take some time to analyze your center activities. Ask yourself questions like…

Are my centers easy enough for my students to complete independently, while still being challenging enough to help them progress and grow?
Are my centers consistent each week? Or am I constantly introducing new centers?
Are there too many steps, moving parts, or tools needed to complete any of my centers?

If it seems that your center activities are the problem, I will share my favorite full year reading centers resource that will not only help fix any of the above problems, but also be super EASY to prep each week because who has hours to prep centers each week.

These weekly reading center packets include several activities for each center (word work, writing, fluency, and accountable independent reading) totaling in 29 pages (per packet). This gives you the ability to pick and choose the activities you’d like your students to complete.

My favorite part about these weekly center packets is that there is an accountability portion included. The first pages include a checklist where students can mark off each page as they complete them. With an accountability portion like this, it helps students stay on task and take ownership for the work they have completed (or not completed).

I know many people might not be a fan of “worksheet” styled centers, but I will tell you why I will always choose this style of center over task cards, a game, or activity…

You can actually SEE the work students are doing which allows you to check their progress
Student can be held accountable (rather than, slack off or play games without the academic portion included)
The prep is actually manageable and takes WAY less time. No laminating, no cutting, no little pieces.

as a sidenote…

I was very intentional when making these worksheets. They are not traditional, boring worksheets. Instead, these worksheets were made with the child’s interest in mind, meant to engage and challenge students.
The activities are consistent week to week, so students are never guessing HOW to do an activity. They already know what is expected of them.
I like to include fun learning games/activities at my teacher center, which gets students excited, and I can monitor their progress this way

These weekly center packets are available for the full year for 1st & 2nd grade (look at the bundling options below):

click here

BUT, did you know that there is a template of these weekly packets that you can use to build your own center activities as well. This means that if you have a different scope and sequence you follow, you can buy the centers that match, and then buy the template to create the remaining packets you need. This also means that you can purchase the template to build packets for a different grade level.

Check out the editable template below:

click here

EL Skills Block, Literacy Centers, Phonics, Teacher TIps

How to Assess Students 1 on 1 Without Giving Up Your Prep Time

August 7, 2025July 10, 2026 simplysplit

Assessments are very important. They provide teachers with valuable information about each student: what each student already understands and what they are struggling with. Assessments don’t just help you understand what students do and don’t understand; they help teachers analyze student growth and can help teachers improve their teaching methods.

However, especially in K-2 classrooms, assessments are not always easy. As a teacher who has taught in Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade, I know the struggle of assessing K-2 students (especially reading assessments) because they almost always have to be done one-on-one. Where does a teacher find time to assess each student one-on-one? What is the rest of the class doing while the teacher is assessing? These are the hard problems that teachers often have to find solutions to, and it’s not easy. Along the way, I found a few things that were helpful to me as I tried to make one-on-one assessments work in my classroom. Keep on reading to learn of my secrets that can hopefully benefit you in your classroom.

VOLUNTEERS: Ask for parent volunteers! – Many parents are eager to help in classrooms but just need to be asked. Depending on what you feel comfortable with, you can either have parent volunteers do a portion of your assessment, OR you can have them read books aloud to the class while YOU assess students. I personally usually like to do most if not all of the assessing myself because it helps me get a better picture of each student plus you’re able to make sure the assessment was performed with fidelity, but if you’re comfortable with parents assessing, this may be a great option for you. I would recommend having parents sign a confidentiality agreement if they do help with assessments just to be on the safe side. Otherwise, parents are perfect for reading books aloud for the class, while you assess. I recommend assessing students in the hallway so that they aren’t distracted by the book being read aloud.
ONLINE BOOKS: Use Vooks, Epic, or Story Online – all of these websites are amazing classroom tools. These websites will read books aloud to the class. Just project it to a screen and let it do its thing. I’ve sometimes used these websites to play books in the morning time as students arrived at school and it is so helpful in keeping students engaged and quiet in the morning time. These websites are also great when you need to do one-on-one assessments. Let the books play while you assess students. I would recommend using some noise-canceling headphones for your students to wear while they are assessed so they aren’t distracted by the book, or if you feel you are able, you can step into the hallway to assess students as well.
CATCH-UP DAY/FREE FRIDAY: Another option is to have Free Friday. This works like a “Catch-up Day” where students are able to catch up on any work that they missed or haven’t fully completed yet. Students completing all their assignments get to have “Free Friday.” This is a great time to assess students. Again, I recommend using noise-canceling headphones for the students being assessed to help them not get distracted while they are assessed.
ADDITIONAL COMPUTER TIME: Schedule additional computer time in the computer lab – This may not be an option for you or you may only have an opportunity for additional computer time at random times throughout the year, BUT if your school does allow this, it is so helpful to schedule extra computer time. Have students work on something specific, use Epic, or whatever program subscriptions your school has, and assess students while the rest of the class is busy on the computers. This is the easiest way to get assessments done very quickly. Students are all usually quiet when on computers, and there is a lot less chaos going on, making it easy to assess students very quickly.
LITERACY GAME DAY: Literacy game day is something that my students usually beg for. All you need is some engaging phonics or reading games, and your students will be entertained while practicing reading skills. My students typically behave really well during these times because they know if they don’t, we’ll end our game time early. This makes it easy to assess students. As long as students understand how to play each game, this is a really great option and can help you assess students quickly. I would also recommend using noise-canceling earphones for students being assessed – that is, if they are getting distracted.

If you would like game recommendations, I will link some of my favorites below:

Snap it up! – This game is a really fun and easy game for students to learn. This is available on Amazon – click here to view
Phonics Three in a Row – This is such a fun partner game. It plays just like tic tac toe, except students must read the word in the box in order to place their “x” or “o” in the spot – click here to view
Speed & Read – I love this game option because it can be played with a group or individually. Students roll the dice, move around the board, read the word, then find the clipart that matches the word they read, and then place a game chip over the clipart. They work to get 4 in a row. – Click here to view
K-2 Phonics Games Mega Bundle – This includes all the phonics games listed in my shop. If you want a wide variety of games, this is a much cheaper option than purchasing games separately – click here to view
Flashcard Games – I have a blog post you can view that talks about several fun games students can play with any flashcard set – click here to view

CENTERS/WORK CHART – This works better for MOY or EOY testing because students will already be familiar with centers or a work chart in your classroom. How this works is that instead of having a “teacher table,” you’ll just call individuals to be assessed. This is typically when I assess students most frequently, but this is trickier to do at the BOY before students start centers.
PREP TIME – Using your prep time is a last resort but sometimes necessary. Don’t sacrifice your whole prep time, but take 5 minutes of your prep time to assess 1-2 students while the class is at specials. This will add up over time and before you know it, you can make it through your whole class of students.

Write each student’s name on the assessment sheets you need completed. This will help you keep track of which assessments still need to be completed (or use the tracker in my assessment pack).
If you have a literacy team at your school, I would recommend asking for assistance with assessments at the beginning of the year. Typically, the literacy team isn’t up and running until after assessments anyway, so this isn’t too unreasonable to ask and would save you a LOT of class time.

Finding a good assessment that gives you a clear picture of each student’s strengths and weaknesses is so important. It is also very helpful if you’re able to track students’ progress throughout the year to measure growth. Grouping students for centers can also be tricky.

What if I told you there was an assessment that does all three of these things…because it’s true, there is!
Check out the K-2 Assessment Bundle in my shop! Click here to view the assessment.

K-2 Benchmark Reading assessment

EL Skills Block, Literacy Centers, Phonics

Frequently Asked Questions About EL Skills Block

May 19, 2023July 10, 2026 simplysplit

Are you new to EL Skills Block? Are you having difficulty understanding how Skills Block is organized and set up? Well, you’ve come to the right place! Just a few years ago, I was in your shoes, ready to pull my hair out because I was so frustrated and unsure how to make this new program work. I was frustrated trying to figure out how to make my reading centers align with Skills Block and frustrated trying to navigate all the manuals Skills Block provided. I have found some great ways to help make this program work for my classroom and am here to share all the secrets I discovered and hopefully, this can help you feel more comfortable as you implement the Skills Block program. Below you’ll find some frequently asked questions that I hear many Skills Block users ask.

CURRICULUM

If you are a classroom teacher, you may not get a whole lot of say in what will be purchased for your classroom. Luckily, however, there are ways to make Skills Block bearable with or without the manuals. It is nice that all of Skill Block can be found FREE on EL Education’s website. The downside is that it is not extremely user-friendly and can be hard to lesson plan from a digital manual. I’ll explain the workarounds for Skills Block regardless of your skills situation and ability to purchase all the materials.

K-2 Manuals for each teacher – It would be very ideal to purchase the k-2 manuals for every teacher. You may not realize the importance to begin with, but when it comes to centers, it is so much easier to lesson plan small group lessons with ALL THE MANUALS. This is because during small groups, you will differentiate your instruction based on students’ skills. A 2nd grade teacher might have kindergarten level students in their classroom, therefore, during small groups, they may be teaching a kindergarten lesson to a group.
Grade-level manuals for each teacher – The next best thing is to purchase just the grade level manuals for each grade level teacher, meaning the 2nd grade teacher only gets the 2nd grade manuals. This will help the grade level be able to plan their whole group lessons more easily. Small groups lessons will be somewhat of a struggle though without having a physical copy of all the lessons you may be teaching. What I recommend doing is checking out these Skills Block lesson summary resources found in my shop. I specifically made this resource to help simplify my small group planning time and found it to be so helpful. You can buy these separately by grade level or buy the k-2 small group bundle that also includes EL’s phonics assessment along with data tracking documents. With the use of the small group lesson plans, I was able to easily find the lesson that each group needed during small group time by keeping them all in one binder. This makes it nice to not juggle between 20+ manuals. It has all the information you need in a simplified format making it easy to follow along. I have gotten to a point where I no longer plan small group lessons beforehand and I don’t prep any materials. During small groups, I can now look at the title of the activity and adapt it to work with just whiteboards. The small group lesson plans are definitely an economical way to access EL’s materials AND will save you lots of lesson planning time. Links can be found below.
Don’t have funds to purchase any manuals? – Not a problem! All of EL’s lessons can be found online. I highly recommend downloading all the manuals and materials and organizing them into google drive. This way you can access the lessons from anywhere and easily print materials without having to navigate through EL’s website constantly. Also, like mentioned above, I definitely recommend getting the small group lesson plans especially if you aren’t purchasing any manuals.

The consumable decodable books are a nice idea. It’s cool that students can write in them and take them home to read more later. However, in my experience, students don’t appreciate them or care about taking them home. Plus, they are expensive and hard to store. I recommend using the printable version that EL provides on its website. These are easy to print and can still be written on and taken home, but are much cheaper.

If you are finding that you are using too much paper printing the decodables from EL’s website, I have a solution for you. I re-formatted EL’s decodable books to fit onto one page to help save paper. I have also included some practice words with the phonics skill for each cycle at the beginning of the decodable. These are sold separately by grade level, plus there are some k-2 bundling options. Check them out below:

TIP

If your school decides to purchase the consumable books after all, the easiest way I’ve found to store the books is in clear sterilite storage boxes. The consumables fit perfectly in the sterilite storage boxes on its side (spine up). To make it easy to find the books, place the first book of each cycle vertically.

All of EL’s manuals can be very overwhelming at first. It can be tricky to figure out which manual a particular cycle or lesson is found in and it can be hard to navigate where the lessons actually are. I recommend putting stickers on the spine of each manual. I put 2 stickers on each spine. One sticker is numbered in the order the books should be used. For example, module 1 book 1 would be labeled #1, module 1 book 2 would be labeled #2, module 2 book 1 would be labeled #3 etc. This can really help you keep all the manuals straight. The other sticker I put on the spine says which cycles are included in that particular book. For example, module 1 book 1 contains cycles 1 & 2, module 1 book 2 contains cycles 3-5 etc. This is really helpful when it comes to planning small group lessons.

Next, I suggest using sticky tabs to tab each cycle and lesson in each book (also write the cycle number and lesson number on each tab). This will help you quickly find the lesson you need to teach and help you find the cycle words quickly.

FYI: If you’d like to have the cycle words all in one place or a premade cycle word list to send home to students, check out the EL cycle word lists I made. They are sold separately by grade level, plus there is a k-2 bundle. Check them out below:

TIP

Tab each lesson starting with the back of the book. This will help you line up your tabs more easily (trust me!)

TIP

Keep the boxes the manuals come in. This makes it really nice to store them on a bookshelf or table. (SEE PICTURE)

There are several manuals for each grade level. There are about 8 per grade level. There are a few cycles included within each manual. There is also a resource manual that includes the assessment and other activities (read the section below titled “What’s in the resource manual” for more information).

There is a summary of each cycle just before all the lessons within that cycle. The cycle words and high-frequency words for that cycle are listed on the first page of the cycle summary (SEE PICTURE BELOW).

All of the materials provided by EL for the lessons will be found at the end of each lesson. They can be printed from the PDF manual, copied from the hard copy manual, or downloaded individually from EL’s website. It is helpful to have all of the documents from EL’s website downloaded and uploaded to google drive or whatever file storage system you use. This helps to save at least a little bit of time in the long run.

TIP

I would not recommend printing every lesson material provided by EL. It can be a pain to prep. Most activities included in each of EL’s lessons can actually be adapted to work with students using whiteboards. If you are low on prep-time, definitely figure out which activities work well on whiteboards (without printing the materials) and which ones you actually need the printed materials for. This will help you save a lot of time.

The resource manual is where you’ll find EL’s assessment. The resource manual also includes an activity bank. The activity bank is full of games and activities you can use perhaps during small groups or as an intervention to help with a particular skill. Most of these activities require a good amount of prep.

ASSESSMENT

The most important thing to note about the assessment is that it is the KEY to reading centers. The assessment is what you need in order to form reading groups and it helps you know which cycle each group needs to work on. Students may be taught a curriculum from another grade level. For example, the assessment might show that a 2nd grader is below grade level and therefore should be taught a 1st grade lesson in small groups. I have a whole blog post all about Skills Block’s assessment, which you can read by CLICKING HERE.

I also have created a more user-friendly version of EL’s assessment that includes data tracking documents which will help you measure student growth easily. You can check that out by CLICKING HERE or clicking on the image below.

CENTERS

The first step is to complete the assessments which will help you systematically form reading groups. The most important assessments to complete in order to figure out each student’s microphase are the decoding & spelling assessments. Once you have each student’s microphase, group students within the same microphase together. Then plan your actual center activities.

The centers that EL suggests to include are below:

Fluency
Word Work
Writing
Accountable Independent Reading (AIR)
Teacher-led small group lesson

I have seen different schools approach centers differently. Some schools will make centers geared towards whatever cycle is being taught in whole-group and then use small group time to teach differentiated lessons based on each group’s microphase. However, I find this approach not to work as well because students aren’t able to get adequate practice on their individual level. I find it better to differentiate activities for each group based on the microphase and cycle each group is on. This helps meet students’ needs and students are able to work independently more easily because they are actually doing work on their own level. This can seem overwhelming to prep all the differentiated work, but I promise I have some simple suggestions to make your life easier. You can see these suggestions under the “What activities can I use in my centers that align with Skills Block” section.

EL provides an activity bank which can technically be used for centers, however, in my opinion these activities are not feasible for a few reasons:

First off, the activities require quite a bit of prep which is not feasible especially if you are differentiating for each group’s specific cycle.
Secondly, the activities are not sorted by center type (fluency, word work, writing & AIR). This makes it hard to know which center is the best to put each activity in.
Lastly, the activities are not labeled by grade level or cycle number. This requires you to match the skill with the correct cycle which is especially difficult to do for teachers new to Skills Block.

If you need some ideas for centers, keep on reading – I’ve worked hard to try and make Skills Block be a little easier for you.

I have spent years (literally-since 2018) working on materials to make Skills Block be a bit easier for myself and other amazing teachers. My main focus has been to help make Skills Block centers easy to prep as well as effective for students so they can grow throughout the program. I have many options you can choose from that all align with Skills Block and continue to create more and more resources to help you out. The bundle I recommend the most is my LOW PREP growing bundle. This includes a bunch of print and go activities that all align with Skills Block that are perfect for centers. I have these listed by individual grade level as well as a K-2 bundle. The K-2 bundle is heavily discounted and makes it really easy to differentiate. The really cool thing is that this is a GROWING BUNDLE meaning that you’ll pay a lower price now, but gain access to new resources that will be added. I will continue to add more and more resources to this bundle that are low prep and align with Skills Block. As I add more products, the price will continue to go up, but you gain access to them as they are released without paying extra. You can check out these links below:

I have also created a buyers guide to make it easy for you to figure out which resources would best fit your needs. This buyer’s guide is constantly being updated as new resources are released. You’ll find great resources for ALL CENTERS for Skills Block. You can check out the latest version of my buyers guide by CLICKING HERE or below:

I hope this blog post has been helpful to you as you try to navigate Skills Block. If you have questions that weren’t mentioned in this post, feel free to drop them below and I’ll do my best to briefly answer them AND I may also include a more detailed response in upcoming blog posts. Make sure to follow my blog so you can be notified when new blog posts are released. You can also join my email list AND get the FREEBIE pictured below — the K-2 Scope & Sequence for EL Skills Block. Click below to gain access to this FREEBIE.

EL Skills Block, Literacy Centers, Phonics

10 Engaging Flashcard Games For Phonics Instruction

January 26, 2023July 10, 2026 simplysplit

If you were anything like me growing up, the thought of using flashcards was always tedious and boring. Despite it being a boring way to study, it was always effective for me and helped me ace my tests. When it comes to young students, the last thing in the world we want to do is make reading “boring.” Instead, a good teacher wants to find ways to engage students while they are learning to help ignite the love of learning inside their heart. Helping students to specifically enjoy their reading instruction time will help them grow their love of learning. If they love books and reading, they will be able to learn through reading.

So how do you get the effectiveness of flashcard practice AND engage those young readers?

Well buckle up and keep reading to learn just that.

Maybe you’re skeptical about the effectiveness of flashcards and that’s okay, it’s good to ask questions and do your research. The truth is that repetition actually helps to build confidence¹. And once students gain that confidence, they start to like that topic more and more and trust in their abilities. AND when using spaced repetition to practice flashcards, they become more and more effective because it helps students actually retain what they’re learning. So what is spaced repetition²? An example of spaced repetition would be using flashcards to practice a concept for a short period of time daily rather than spending an hour once a week to practice.

So are flashcards really effective? The answer is YES! Flashcards are very effective because the repetition helps to build confidence and using spaced repetition can help students retain the knowledge much easier. However, because of the repetition, flashcards can also be somewhat boring. So now let’s get into how you can actually make flashcard practice engaging and meaningful for students to practice phonics spelling patterns.

This seems like an obvious answer but make a game out of it! Games are engaging and your students won’t even realize they are learning. I have 10 different games you can use to play with phonics flashcards. I’ll share my top 3 favorite games in this blog post and you can download and have access to the rest of the games by CLICKING HERE.

This is a very simple but engaging game that is very easy to prep. This can be done on a table (during small groups) or on the floor in an open area. I personally like doing it on the floor in an open area. You can use premade phonics flashcards or you can write spelling words or high-frequency words on either index cards or full sized papers. Then scatter them all on the ground or table face up. Finally, choose a word to read aloud. Each of the students will then scan through the words and “attack” the word that was read aloud. “Attacking” the word, simply means, slapping near the word (if on a table) or standing near the card if on the ground. You can do variations of this activity by saying something like “Find a word that rhymes with play” or “find a word with the same spelling pattern as spray.” You can also have students take turns calling out the word for them to attack.

My students love this game, and it’s a great movement activity that helps with my hyperactive students as well.

This is a fun game to get those creative juices flowing. This works best in a small group setting with small premade flashcards. Pass out 7 cards to each student and place the remaining cards facedown on the table. All the players will work together to tell a story. Players will look at their cards, reading the words and think of a way to incorporate a card (or cards) into the story. The player who thinks of an opening storyline first, can begin and players will take turns going in a circle clockwise. A player can add 1- 2 sentences at a time incorporating at least one card from their hand and discarding those cards after they are used. After discarding their used card(s), players will draw a new card(s) so they always have 7 cards. The game is over once the players feel the story has ended OR when they run out of cards.

Those creative students will LOVE this game, but you may have some reluctant students. I recommend working with your reluctant students at first and sharing your cards. You can both work together to think of a sentence to add.

This is a fun one to also practice vocabulary. You will need whiteboards and dry erase markers for all students participating. This works best in small groups. Lay out several flashcards face up on the table. Randomly pick a word that is face up and think of 2-3 clues to describe the word. Slowly give your clues to the students. The students will look over all the words that are face up and decide which word it is that you’re describing. When they think they know the word, they’ll secretly write the word on their whiteboard. Once everyone has written a guess on their whiteboard, the students will reveal their whiteboards. Students get 1 point for guessing the right word and a bonus point for spelling it correctly.

Your students will love this game!
To check, see the printable game rules for these 3 games PLUS 7 additional games you can play with phonics flashcards, CLICK BELOW

There are a lot of flashcards out there. There are phonics flashcards, there are sight word flashcards or high-frequency word flashcards and honestly YES any word flashcards can be used with these activities. I do however have flashcards that I recommend that are amazing for 1st and 2nd grade leveled students.

Here’s what I love about these phonics decoding flashcards.

There are 3 differentiated levels
They can be printed in various sizes
There are many multisyllabic words giving students just the practice they need (plus the 3 differentiated levels can help struggling readers also practice multisyllabic words)
There are so many word options (40 per set – which makes 1,000 for 1st & 1,040 for 2nd grade)
The phonics skill practiced in each set is notated on each card making it easy to find it’s home if a card is misplaced
There are so many phonics spelling pattern options

Yes I am a bit biased because I did make these cards myself, but these are helpful features that you won’t see in other phonics flashcard options. Check out the video below to see the 1st grade phonics flashcards in action.

There are lots of purchasing options. You can purchase based on the specific phonics skills you want or you can bundle and save. CLICK HERE to view all the phonics flashcards available.

References

Category: EL Skills Block

How the Work Chart (Must Do/May Do) Reading Center Method Works

Benefits of a Work Chart System

Pick the Work Chart Activities

Build the Work Chart

Examples

Organization

Checking Work

Small Group

Mastering Classroom Reading Centers: Essential Tips for Teachers

Tip #1

Tip #2

Tip #3

Tip #4

Tip #5

Tip #6

STILL STRUGGLING?

as a sidenote…

How to Assess Students 1 on 1 Without Giving Up Your Prep Time

Frequently Asked Questions About EL Skills Block

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10 Engaging Flashcard Games For Phonics Instruction