Just like setting up the other centers, you will need to have a copy of the Instructional Quality Guidelines (if you teach pre-k in the state of Georgia under the Bright From the Start program) or whatever guidelines are relevant in your state. As you set up your center you can check off each item to prepare for when your site director follows up with the checklist.

Here is a picture of my reading/listening center. I really love how I set it up this year.


Requirements (Georgia BFTS)
  • A cozy reading/listening area
  • Variety of books for enrolled students
  • Listening device
  • 2 books/stories for listening device

Cozy Reading & Listening Area

You want your reading/listening center to be an inviting little nook in your classroom where students can enjoy books. This can be achieved with beanbags, scoop rockers, or other types of comfortable seating. You might add a rug and a cute lamp, or any other decor that will make it a place kids want to spend time in. My reading/listening center includes a small couch, a chair, a front-facing bookshelf, and an end table that serves to store a lot of my music center instruments. I also decided that I wanted to arrange it near our family tree this year, where we hang photos of our families. We won't be able to have a lot of family events like we usually do this year, so I wanted to find different ways for students to be able to still feel comfortable. 

Variety of Texts

I am pretty sure the basic rule is that you need at least one book per enrolled student. I will have 22, so I try to keep at least that many books in my listening center. I have books in several other places around the classroom that help. Variety just means you'll want lots of topics and types of books. You may want some board books for students who are new to learning about print concepts and how to handle books. You may want some interactive books, like pop-up books or books with moving parts. The key is to expose them to lots of books this year. Most of them cannot read independently, but you definitely want them turning pages and "tracking" words. They love to retell familiar stories to each other. I have so many videos of my students "reading" Brown Bear, Brown Bear to each other!

Listening Device

This is something that students can use to listen to others read to them. This can be audio books and CDs/tapes that are paired with a physical text, videos of people reading to them, etc. You can use iPads or CD players. I have a CD player with several headphone jacks on the back of it. I like to put command hooks on the wall for headphones to hang from to try to keep them from tangling all the cords. Just remember to keep your device near an electrical outlet or charger because they will need to access it daily. Since I don't introduce the listening center until a few weeks into the school year, I have limited the items that I currently have out. The table in the corner will have the CD player on it once I open the center up for play.

Books/Stories with Audio

You need at least 2 books with audio out for your listening devices. I like to change these out with my themes or based on student interest. My kids fell in love with Dragons Love Tacos a couple of years ago, so I decided to buy the CD and book set from Scholastic. 
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