An easy way to increase student engagement in read-alouds is to choose books from a series. When students see a familiar character on the front cover of a new book, they are eager to start the story to see what happens! The “Click Clack” series is one that I have turned to time and time again for kindergarten read-alouds and listening centers. In this post, I’m going to share some fun listening center activities that you can use to enhance the read aloud experience for this fun book series!
The “Click Clack Books” are written by Doreen Cronin and illustrated by Betsy Lewin. These books showcase farm animals that always seem to be giving Farmer Brown a hard time. Kindergarteners always love the twists and turns that the mischievous farm animals cause in each story.
One of the most popular stories in this series is Click, Clack, Moo Cows That Type. I’m sure you’ve read it a time or two! Here are some other Doreen Cronin books that I love to incorporate into listening centers and read alouds throughout the year:
Between the clever stories and detailed illustrations, there are plenty of things for students to explore as they listen to these stories. This makes them a great choice for student listening activities.
Having students listen to reading in your classroom is a must! I loved the listening station that I set up for my students during literacy centers. I wanted my students to actively listen to reading as much as possible! Research supports that listening to reading increases students’ oral reading fluency and comprehension. More specifically, younger children and students with developing reading skills have even more to gain from listening to stories being read aloud.
When students don’t have to worry about doing the reading work, they are able to focus their attention on doing the thinking work. This gives students the chance to practice important comprehension strategies as they listen to the story.
You can take advantage of the benefits of listening to stories in different ways. Reading stories out loud to your whole class is always a great choice. Listening centers are another easy way to make sure your students get a chance to listen to fluent reading during the daily learning routine.
I have written a detailed post with tips for setting up a listening center in kindergarten. To summarize, you can set up a CD player with headphones as a literacy station, along with a physical copy of the book. When they are at the center, students can flip through the book as they listen to the story, then complete some sort of written activity to go with it. These response sheets can keep students engaged during the entire center time. A written activity also increases accountability for the activity.
So here is what the listening center in my classroom looked like. If you look closely, you can see the little specks of green and red on the play and stop buttons. This helped my sweeties A TON! Green means go, red means stop. I would already have the CD loaded and the book there waiting for them.
I have created a variety of response sheets that students can use during their turn at the listening station.
The response sheets are simple enough for students to complete independently but rigorous enough to strengthen and review literacy skills. There are various activities so you can choose which skill best suits the needs of your students. Here’s a sneak peek at some of them:
Students can review a variety of phonics skills with themed activities that correspond to the story. You can choose activities that target the specific phonics skills that your students need to review.
For example, students can cut and paste a variety of pictures to the correct word family. Students can use their phonemic awareness skills to listen for the ending sounds of each word, then match it to the correct word family.
Cut-and-paste printables are also great because they give students the chance to strengthen their fine motor skills as they complete the activity!
The listening center response activities can also strengthen comprehension skills. For example, students can reflect on and then write about their favorite part of the story.
Since students’ writing skills are still developing in kindergarten, they might choose to draw instead. Students could also identify the problem and solution from the story. This is a great way for students to practice expressing their ideas through writing and drawing.
Some of these listening center activities can also be used as whole-activities! I have created retelling cards and story detail cards that are perfect for pocket chart activities. These work really well in a whole-group setting!
For example, students can identify whether or not certain details are in the story. They will add the picture to the pocket chart under the correct heading. There are also a lot of ways that you can use the retelling cards to start discussions with your students and have some meaningful conversations about the story.
If you’d like to use these printable listening center activities for the Click Clack book series, you can find them here:
Youc an also find these listening center activities in a Year-Long Listening Center Bundle.
Would you like to try some of these listening center activities in your classroom? I’ve put together a set of free listening center activities for Click, Clack, Boo! Just add your information to the form below and I’ll send them directly to your inbox.
My teaching career allowed me to experience teaching in different classroom environments and grades. My heart belongs to early childhood education. My job is to make teaching FUN, ENGAGING, and EASIER. Welcome!
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