Literacy Centers - Recently Updated Pages

K-3 Centers

stephaniebartell — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 11:42:02 CDT

Centers take up a large percentage of
instructional time in most primary classrooms. It is important that your centers are both meaningful and engaging.

How do we accomplish that task?

To make centers meaningful and engaging:

Use instructional materials in centers

As cute as those games are at the teacher store... your centers will not be successful if you simply get a lot of "stuff", explain the directions once to your students, and then put it in a center. Ditto for those file folder games you spent hours cutting and laminating.

Instead, use the materials and activities you are using in your teaching. Adapt activities you are doing as a whole group and reintroduce them as a center activity.

Practice authentic reading and writing tasks

Sure, it might be cute to have students write to prompts like if you were an animal what animal would you be... but it would be much more meaningful and engaging to have students write a letter to a classmate, or make a birthday card for their mom. If we want our students to develop into life long readers and writers we need to instill in them from a young age that there are real and important reasons for reading and writing. Along those lines, rethink how often you have students filling out graphic organizers or using strategy worksheets in the classroom library. Think about it. What do you do after you have read a good book? Run to fill out a venn diagram? Of course not! You call your sister or best friend and say, "Hey! I read this great book, you should pick it up." Have your students talk to each other about what they are reading! If they must write in response to reading, have them write book recommendations or reviews.

Centers in my 1st Grade Classroom

Poetry Center

stephaniebartell — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 13:54:00 CDT

What are students doing?

reading poems
illustrating poems
building poems
copying a poem
writing about a poem
writing their own poetry
finding or changing words in poems

What mini-lessons do I need to teach to get it started?

reading with expression
finding rhyming words
illustrating a poem
how to write a poem
how to make connections to poetry

Big Book Center

stephaniebartell — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 13:48:17 CDT

What does it look like?

What are students doing?

Read big books that were read together during shared reading
Read with a partner
Use a pointer to track print
Use highlighting tape to mark high frequency words, highly reoccurring phonic elements, or word families
Use post it notes to cover words and change them to another word that makes sense
Use post it notes to write down connections to or questions they have about the book

What mini lessons do I need to teach to get it started?

how to turn the pages of the book
how to use a pointer, hightlighting tape, and post it notes
how to read with a partner
how to keep the big book on the easel

Working with Words Center

stephaniebartell — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 13:46:21 CDT

What does it look like?

What are students doing?

word sorts
using magnetic letters
reading ABC books
making words
playing word games

What mini-lessons do I need to teach to get it started?

how to do a word sort
how to use an ABC chart
how to use materials at the center (letter stamps, word cards)
how to use a dry erase board
what to do when you are done with one activity

Writing Center

stephaniebartell — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 13:31:55 CDT

What does it look like?

What are students doing?

writing stories
writing lists
writing letters
using dictionaries and other reference books
working on writing from writer's workshop

What mini-lessons do I need to teach to get it started?

how to use the writing materials
how to talk about writing with a classmate
how to use reference materials
what to do with finished work

Getting Started

stephaniebartell — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 12:41:47 CDT

Why use literacy centers?

For students, literacy centers:

provide an opportunity for self-directed learning
provide authentic and meaningful literacy practice
allow students to interact with their peers and problem solve

For teachers, literacy centers:

create a block of time in which the teacher can work with small groups of students
reinforce skills that have been taught to students
individualize instructional practice

That's great! How do I get it started in my classroom?

Teach your students independent reading routines
Provide a variety of reading and writing experiences at the beginning of the year that could later be put into centers
Teach mini-lessons on how to handle materials as well as proper behavior
Model using the center and have students model as well
Fishbowl the center modeling so other students can talk about what they notice

My beginning of the year procedures:

After my students can read independently for about 15-20 minutes and have the beginning of a handle on choosing a "just right" book, I begin introducing centers. The first center I introduce is the library. After all that time learning how to read independently, the library is a natural choice! We spend time modeling the procedures, making an I Can list, students model and others fishbowl and say what they "noticed". This takes about two days of mini-lessons. On the second day, after the mini-lesson I send my students to independent reading letting them know that if they are following independent reading procedures I might ask them to go try out the center.

This serves several purposes... students who are meeting expectations are rewarded and my independent reading procedures are reinforced... students who are NOT meeting expectations have a model of behavior which they can follow... students who are not engaged in reading are at least observing appropriate center behavior (because they want to know what is going on over there... this does not last long because they know if they want to get there, they have to read.)... and centers are established as a priviledge in the classroom (the moment a student exhibits an inappropriate behavior they are asked to leave centers).
I continue this process with my other centers. (The big three for me are library, writing and the word center. Those are the first three I introduce, in that order.) So only four or five students might get to try out the library that first day. That does not bother me. All of my students are engaging in meaningful reading practice during that time and we are building our skills and procedures. Over time, more centers are introduced and modeled. By the end of the first week, I might have 8-10 students practicing the library and the writing center while the other half of my class is still independently reading.

I continue to work this way until enough centers have been introduced that I can pull guided reading groups... then I STILL observe for about 1-3 weeks to work out any kinks in behavior/management/materials, etc.

Another note about introducing centers--- you want to make sure that the activities you are introducing in centers are activities you have used with the whole class or at the very least in small groups. Some games/activities look fun and cute, but they are not giving your students meaningful practice if you have not taught with the materials or covered the skill! That said, you can not introduce ANY centers until you have had a set of common experiences with your class--- so your first few weeks need to be spent reading, journaling, and engaging in word work activities that will give you materials and experiences that your students can practice during centers.

Classroom Library

stephaniebartell — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 18:13:58 CDT

What does it look like?

What are students doing?

READING!
Choosing just right books
Re-reading familiar books
"Reading the pictures" of difficult books
Reading to a stuffed animal
Using phonics phones to read quietly

What mini lessons do I need to teach to get it started?

how to choose a just right book
the different types & genres of books
how to turn pages carefully
what to do if a book rips
how to put books away
what to do if someone took the space (or stuffed animal, or book) you wanted
how to whisper read

Literacy Center Management

stephaniebartell — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 17:47:29 CDT

There are many different ways to manage literacy centers. The important thing to remember is that you should not be interrupted when you are working with your small groups. The key to running successful centers is choosing a management system that works for you. Here are some examples of management systems:
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This teacher uses center buddies. Students work with a partner at one center a day.

This teacher also uses small groups or buddies.
Students go to two centers a day.

This teacher is using the same system as above, but she uses students' pictures. Using pictures with young students allows for easier identification of center groups--- especially when students are looking at the board from across the room.

This is a picture of the workboard in my classroom. I have five groups of fours students each. My groups are heterogeneous, so one student from each of my guided reading groups makes up my center groups. Students go through three center rotations and a guided reading group every day. That means students will skip one center a day (while they are meeting in a guided reading group.) The groups shift to the right every day so students never miss the same center two days in a row.

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Rotating: I have two timers in my room which I set for 17 and 20 minutes. When the first timer goes off, that is the signal for students to start cleaning up. When they are finished cleaning they STAY at their centers until they hear the second bell. This encourages students to really clean up the centers and be responsible for materials. When the second timer goes off students move to their next center. During this time I am finishing up with a guided reading group, or preparing for the next one. I will call over the students I want to meet with, but I do not give any direction to the students working in centers. If students need a reminder of where to go next, they look at the work board.

When planning your classroom rotations consider:

–How will students move from center to center?

–How will you ensure students are completing the key centers?

–How long should students spend in centers?

–Are there limits to how many students can be in a center?

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Things to think about...

use your physical space to reduce management problems before they occur
seperate noisy areas from quiet areas
think about your line of sight from the guided reading area
materials should be clearly labeled and sorted neatly
students should be explicitly taught how to handle/clean up materials
be sure students understand what to do with finished/unfinished work

Making Literacy Centers Work

stephaniebartell — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 01:57:18 CDT

Literacy centers are small areas within the classroom where students work alone or together to independently explore literacy activities while the
teacher provides small-group instruction.

Literacy centers provide meaningful and authentic learning opportunities for students. The activities at literacy centers are designed to actively engage and stimulate students, as well as to allow them to interact with other students in order to increase their problem solving skills.

Want to find out more about literacy centers?

Check out my Yahoo! group. You will find center resources, links, content, and be able to connect with other educators using centers in their classroom.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/literacycenters/

Choice Centers

stephaniebartell — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 01:41:15 CDT

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