Over the past few weeks, I had the incredible opportunity to immerse myself in a second-grade classroom, designing and facilitating a literacy centre, followed by working with third graders in a Reader’s Theatre activity. As someone who has always been drawn to Language Arts, this experience was both exciting and a little nerve-wracking. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I walked away with valuable insights into how young learners engage with language and how I can best support them as they build foundational literacy skills.

The Word Strips Literacy Centre: Playful Sentence Building

When tasked with creating a literacy centre for second graders, I drew inspiration from my upstairs neighbors, who keep a set of magnetic words on their door. Every time I walk by, I see what creative and often silly sentences their kids have constructed. I’ve even started leaving little messages for them in return! This small, everyday experience sparked the idea for my literacy centre – I wanted to give my students the chance to play with words in a way that would encourage both creativity and practical thinking about sentence structure.

Developing the word list was an eye-opening process. I had to ensure there was enough variety to keep students engaged while also including keywords that would allow them to form complete sentences. Despite ending up with nearly 200 words, I still felt I could have added more! Handwriting and cutting out each word myself also gave me a deeper appreciation for the intricacies of sentence-building. It made me think about the small but critical decisions students face when forming a sentence, choosing the right subject, verb, and connectors to make their ideas flow.

Curriculum Connections: Grade 2 Language Arts

This activity directly ties into the Grade 2 BC Language Arts curriculum, particularly the Big Idea: “Playing with language helps us discover how language works.” Through hands-on sentence creation, students were not only having fun but also engaging with the core competencies of communication and critical thinking. The activity aligned with key curricular content, such as:

  • Sentence structure – Understanding how words come together to form complete thoughts.
  • Communicating using sentences – Experimenting with different ways to express ideas.
  • Exploring word choice and meaning – Recognizing the impact of different words in a sentence.

I was beyond thrilled to see the students enthusiastically constructing sentences, some humorous, some poetic, and all demonstrating a growing awareness of how language functions. 

Reader’s Theatre: Bringing Stories to Life

The following week, I had the chance to work with third graders on a Reader’s Theatre activity, helping them perform Town Mouse and Country Mouse. This was my first time leading Reader’s Theatre, and I quickly saw why it’s such a valuable literacy tool. The students had fun, built fluency, and improved their reading confidence through performance! 

One challenge that arose was in role assignment—some students selected lengthy parts without considering their reading abilities, leading to moments of hesitation during performance. This made me reflect: should the strongest readers always get the most challenging roles, or should we encourage struggling readers to push themselves? With more rehearsal time, I believe we could have provided extra support to those who needed it, boosting their confidence along the way. Still, the students embraced the experience, and it was rewarding to see them engage with storytelling in such an interactive way.

Curriculum Connections: Grade 3 Language Arts

In the Grade 3 BC Language Arts curriculum, one of the Big Ideas is: “Stories and other texts connect us to ourselves, our families, and our communities.” Reader’s Theatre exemplifies this by making stories come alive and allowing students to explore character, dialogue, and expression. This activity also aligns with:

  • Oral language strategies – Practicing fluency, pacing, and expression.
  • Comprehension strategies – Understanding character motivations and story structure through performance.
  • Collaborative learning – Working together to bring a story to life, emphasizing teamwork and shared responsibility.

The experience reinforced my belief in the power of interactive literacy activities. Whether through sentence-building or dramatic reading, students benefit most when they can actively engage with language rather than passively absorb it.

Looking Ahead: Lessons for My Future Classroom

My time at GT solidified my love for teaching Language Arts and gave me practical insights into how to implement engaging, meaningful literacy activities. I now feel more confident designing lessons that balance structure with creativity, ensuring that students have both the support and the freedom to explore language in ways that excite them. I’m especially excited to refine my word strips activity and continue using Reader’s Theatre as a way to build fluency and confidence.

These experiences have reaffirmed my belief that literacy learning should be dynamic, hands-on, and joyful. Whether constructing silly sentences with magnetic words or stepping into the shoes of a storybook character, students learn best when they are actively engaged and having fun. I can’t wait to bring these ideas into my own classroom someday!