ZAP! A Low-Prep Word Work Center

Work work centers don't need to be complicated or take a long time to prep each week. Centers are such an important part of my classroom, but can sometimes be overwhelming to implement. I used to spend so much time prepping my centers, until I decided to start creating centers that worked for me! ZAP is a fun and super easy Word Work center that will last forever!

Teacher Prep Steps: 

Write the words you want kids to practice on plain wooden popsicle sticks. That's literally it. Can it get any easier than that?  I personally wrote out sight words from Fry's Hundred Lists, but you can include any words you are wanting students to practice reading more fluently.

How to Play ZAP! 

To play, all sticks are placed into an opaque cup with the words facing downwards. (The cute buckets in the dollar section at Target work perfectly!) Kids take turn pulling a word and reading it aloud. If they read it correctly, they get to keep the stick. If they are incorrect, they put it back into the cup. When someone pulls ZAP!, the round ends. Kids each read all their words on the sticks and count them. The kid with the most sticks wins. The kids will LITERALLY play this game over and over without getting tired of it.

Why I love ZAP!

One of my favorite things about this game is that it is really helps unify some of my lower readers with their classmates. The game is in such high demand, so they never feel like they are silly or stupid for practicing sight words. Everyone loves ZAP! In addition, the game is super versatile. It's great for helping kids practice their math facts. And did I mention it's low-prep?! I made this game more than 10 years ago and it is still in wonderful condition, even when being played over and over again.

Have you tried ZAP! in your classroom? What other ways have you used this game? Tell me in the comments below!