Listening Center Activities and Ideas!

Listening center ideas and response activities for kindergarten and first grade. These listening center ideas will turn your listening to reading station into an active learning activity for students.  SWEET!

Listening Center Activities: Research Supported fun

I have always loved having a listening center!  It is a great way for students to explore and comprehend literature that may be above their reading level.  Research suggests that listening to reading strengthens literacy development and is an important element of becoming successful readers.  Students are exposed to vocabulary that they may not otherwise be exposed to.  This is just another reason why I have always had one in my classroom!

Students love using technology in the listening center. If you have devices available in your classroom, using QR codes is a simple way for students to scan and listen. To learn more about a QR listening center you can read this blog post:   Listening Centers with QR codes.

If you aren’t feeling too techy, have no fear! Using a CD player is effective and possibly, easier way for some (I am waiving my hands in the air on this one!)

Listening Center Ideas: Response to Listening 

After listening to reading, students have a chance to respond through a variety of options. In this example, a student has corrected a sentence about the book she listened to. Then my little kindergarten friend,  fixed and rewrote the sentence with correct capitalization, spelling, and punctuation.  So instead of students being finished in 5 minutes, now they have a related activity that reinforces literacy skills. This is double high five in my book.

At the listening center, students also work on phonics and phonemic awareness skills. In kindergarten and first grade, it is important to incorporate word work wherever we can… right?

Listening Center Ideas: As a whole group activity

Another option for students is story retell and sequencing. This encourages students to go back into the book and build their comprehension of the story. Using the sequencing cards can also be used during a whole-group time to encourage further discussion of the story. 

You can find the newest Listening Center Bundle by clicking: Listening Center Activities and Response Printables.