10 Fantastic Kindergarten Literacy Activities Rooted in the Science of Reading

There are truly so many Kindergarten literacy activities out there – how are you supposed to know which ones actually work? 

If you’ve read any of my other posts (particularly this one all about the Science of Reading for beginners), then you know how passionate I am about structured literacy and systematic phonics instruction. It just works. 

So today, I’m sharing my top 10 favorite Kindergarten literacy activities rooted in the Science of Reading. I believe every student should have access to this type of literacy instruction. Not only are these activities rooted in research, but they are classroom-tested with real students (my own students and 10,000+ others). 

Key Takeaways Ahead:

• Core Literacy Skills For Kindergarteners
• Kindergarten Literacy Activities For Early Reading Skills
• Kindergarten Literacy Activities For Intermediate Reading Skills
• Kindergarten Literacy Activities For Advanced Reading Skills
• Bonus FREEBIES
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Core Literacy Skills For Kindergarteners

All of these activities are going to support the following literacy skills:

• Phonemic Awareness: This is all about helping kids hear and play with the sounds in words.
• Phonics: Matching those sounds to letters – basically, teaching them how to crack the code.
• Fluency: It’s not just about speed, it’s about reading smoothly so kids can really dive into a text.
• Vocabulary: A bigger vocab means better comprehension, so the more words, the better.
• Comprehension: This is the endgame – getting kids to understand what they read, think critically, and even make connections.

As you know, Kindergarteners’ abilities vary so vastly from student to student. So, even though a lot of the activities I’m going to mention have a designated place within a structured literacy scope & sequence, you don’t have to stick to that. Use your judgement based on what your students need most. 

Let’s break down 10 Kindergarten literacy activities that you can use in your classroom right now – based on your students’ ability levels:

Kindergarten Literacy Activities For Early Reading Skills:

1. Letter Sound Sorts 

This activity is designed for students who need practice sorting sounds. Each page has a sorting activity with 4 sounds (example: a, m, s, t) where students match pictures to each given sound. This product comes in two differentiated levels. 

2. Print and Sort

This activity is designed for students who need practice printing and sorting sounds. Each page has a section for students to print a given letter and match pictures to that letter. Pages have 4 letter concepts each. Perfect for small groups, centers, pull-out, and home practice (comes in two differentiated levels). 

Kindergarten Literacy Activities For Intermediate Reading Skills:

3. Decode and Color

This activity is a fun and meaningful way to build phonics fluency. Students will encode (write) each word to find the color code. Then, they will decode (read) to find the word on the picture to color it correctly. Each lesson includes worksheets for different phonics skills.

4. Making Words

Making Words is a hands-on phonics activity that promotes students’ phonological awareness and spelling skills. Students manipulate letter tiles to create words by blending the sounds together. They will need to change letters, add letters, and move letters around to spell new words – an excellent extension activity for Kindergarteners who need a challenge.

5. Write the Room

This is a great phonics activity to get the kiddos up and moving. Each child gets a clipboard with their recording sheet. Once they have found and recorded all the words, they go to the teacher to get the pictures. Then, they match the pictures with the words. An excellent decoding and encoding activity that incorporates movement!

6. Word Mapping / Heart Words

For years I implemented a variety of strategies to help my students learn to read and write high-frequency words (heart words). Some students were able to memorize the words but rarely spelled them correctly in their everyday writing. Upper elementary teachers continued to say that students were coming to them unable to spell high-frequency words, such as said, come, and what. 

What were we missing? Orthographic Mapping! The heart words method was the game changer. I’m so passionate about teaching kids how to properly map words that I wrote an entire post dedicated to this product. You will love it – check it out here!

Kindergarten Literacy Activities For Advanced Reading Skills:

7. Phonics Word Sorts

One of the most powerful word study techniques is the word sort, which actively engages students in exploring, comparing, and categorizing word patterns and relationships. Word sorts can be done as fun, hands-on activities. Students will map out each word under the picture, cut out each picture/word card, and sort the words into the columns using the word sorting rule.  

8. Phonics Word Puzzles

In word sorts, students examine words, seek out common spelling patterns, talk about what they are learning, and begin to identify larger “chunks” in the words, which is an important skill as students transition to studying multisyllabic words. This activity can help consolidate and solidify student learning. Students cut out the puzzle pieces, glue each word on top of its corresponding picture, and then sort the words following the criteria given at the bottom of the page.

9. Sentence Scramble

Research shows that students need regular review and practice using phonics skills authentically. Sentence scrambles are a fabulous activity to get your students reading and writing! The concepts spiral so your students will get lots of practice reading and writing independently. These are great for literacy centers, early finishers, morning work, or just a fun activity for your students!

10.Dictated Sentences

Using Dictated Sentences (guided writing) is one of the most valuable activities you can do with your students. It is the link between isolated phonics instruction and authentic practice. Requiring students to encode (write) is taking student knowledge to the next level. 

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If you’re watching your students struggle to grasp literacy concepts, I’ve been there. I taught for 30 years before learning and implementing Science of Reading techniques in my classroom. 

And since then, I’ve watched my students completely transform their reading abilities under the UFLI Foundations scope & sequence (no – you don’t have to follow this exact program to use Science of Reading based techniques in your classroom). 

So now, it’s my passion and mission to get as many high-quality Science of Reading resources into new classrooms as I can. If you’re looking to get started, check out my full store here.