1. Literacy Work Stations
From Debbie Diller’s
Literacy Work Stations
Making Centers Work

2. The Literacy Work Station Continuum…
Where are you at?
Freshman in College…
Watch out Debbie, here I come!

3. What do Literacy Work Stations Look, Sound, and Feel Like?
The Vignette…
What do Literacy Work Stations Look, Sound, and Feel Like?

4. What is a Literacy Work Station?
“An area within the classroom where students work alone or interact with one another, using instructional materials to explore and expand their literacy.”
Diller, 2003

5. Literacy work stations are:
An area within the classroom
Save classroom space
They are not an extra
Integral part of instruction
Working alone or with Partners
Most children work in partners
Sometimes children work alone

6. Literacy work stations are:
Using Instructional Materials
Materials that have been used for whole-group and/or small group instruction
Model first before moving to work station
Variety of Activities
Choice is important for the success of literacy work stations
Each work station should have a variety of choices but not so many that they overwhelm the students

7. Literacy work stations are:
Time for Children to practice
Meaningful, independent practice
Things are not put into the work stations just to keep children busy.

8. The Purpose of Literacy Work Stations
The Purpose of Literacy Work Stations is Two-Fold:
Provide “meaningful practice that allows the learning to take root in the child’s brain.” (pg. 2)
AND
Provide time for the teacher to work with small groups to focus on meeting the needs of all students
Work stations should include activities (independent practice) that are real, relevant, and meaningful for both the students and the teacher.

9. To increase students’ attention to tasks, students could:
Play a game
Make something
Talk with a partner
Tell a story
Be a recorder (have a job to do)
Move
Do something new
Do minimal amounts of worksheets

10. Literacy Work Stations
Must place an emphasis on teacher modeling and increasing student responsibility.
All students have equal access to the high level of engagement that Literacy Work Stations provide
Activities should be grounded in manipulative type activities versus paper and pencil activities
Students are better able to internalize what they are learning with multiple opportunities to practice what was taught – they can connect the old with the new.

11. Guaranteeing Independence
Teachers must model appropriate behavior, allow for a gradual release of responsibility, provide a risk-free environment and a proper independent work level, and communicate clear, explicit expectations.
Modeling – must be modeled to children multiple times
Gradual Release of Responsibility – Modeled (I do) , shared (we do), guided (we do), independent (you do)
Risk-Free Environment – a place where they feel safe and secure
Independent Work Level
When the task is too hard, the students do not have a clear understanding of the task, or it has not been modeled, student struggle and then often misbehave
Clear, Explicit Expectations – students need to know what they “can do” at each station

12. Non-Negotiables for Literacy Work Stations
Focus on practice and purposes, not the “stuff” of stations
We must think about the WHAT (what you are trying to teach) before looking for the stuff
Link to your teaching
Student practice must be linked directly to instruction
Slow down to speed up
Do not put out too many work stations all at once when starting out
Be sure you have explicitly modeled each station before releasing it students
Balance process and product
Include opportunities to create products at some work stations, but not all

13. Non-Negotiables for Literacy Work Stations
Less is more
Do not put too many things in each work station – keep it manageable for the students
Use novelty
Introduce one new thing at a time – it will make the novelty last longer
Simplify
Keep your management system simple
Keep your materials simple

14. Mini Lessons Short and Focused (5 to 10 minutes) Explicit
Types of Mini Lessons
Beginning of the year how tos
Introducing a work station
After adding something new
Reviewing work station activities
Anchor charts
I Can Lists

15. “I Can” List What is an “I Can” list?
A list if activities generated by the class that they could done at a work station.
Why use I can lists?
Helps build student ownership and buy in.
They provide students with choice.
Provides opportunity for differentiation.

16. Management Pocket Charts Rotation Wheel Planning Sheets
Work Station Check List

17. How to Document Progress at Literacy Work Station
Anecdotal notes
Student work samples
Take photos of students working at stations (twice a year)
Use work station sharing time to collect information

18. The Focus of Literacy Work Stations

19. Key Components of Reading
Phoneme Awareness: the ability to isolate and manipulate the sounds of language
Phonics: “the alphabetic principle” mapping print to sound
Vocabulary: the ability to understand and use a broad variety of words
Fluency: the ability to read with accuracy, automaticity and expression
Comprehension: the ability to understand what is read by applying appropriate strategies
Big 5/Big 3

20. Five Big Ideas Phonemic Awareness Teach to Automaticity Phonics
Fluency
Vocabulary
Comprehension
Teach to Automaticity
Teach deeper Cognitive
Processing
Middle School Big 3 Fluency, Vocabulary and Comprehension

21. Changing Emphasis of Big Ideas
Comprehension
Vocabulary
Automaticity and Fluency with the Code
Alphabetic Principle
Phonological Awareness
3-8 2 1 K
Listening
Reading
Multisyllables
Letter Sounds & Combinations
Changing Emphasis of Big Ideas
 Our long-term goal is that all children will read independently gain meaning from text. To do this, certain skills have more importance at different times. Our charge is to emphasize what is important at critical points in time.

22. Big Ideas

23. Evaluating Work Station Activities
Does the literacy station activity address one of the “Big Five”?
How does this literacy station activity employ effective and efficient means to reach one of the “Big Five” goals?
Does the activity provide meaningful literacy practice for your students and support what your are teaching?
Is there anything that could be changed or added to this the activity to make it a more meaningful literacy activity for your students?

24. Work Stations for the Emergent Stage
Emergent Readers:
Develop phonological awareness
Develop print awareness and concepts of print
Learn about letters and sounds
Experiment with writing, using letters or letter-like forms

25. Work Stations for the Early Stage
Early Readers:
learn to read and write high frequency words
learn to decode and spell single syllable words
use pictures and print to construct meaning, both in reading and in their writing
are acquiring fluency
they reread to self correct and attend well to print.

26. Work Stations for the Transitional Stage
Transitional Readers:
Are gaining in fluency
Have good decoding skills but may lack comprehension
Have difficulty with decoding longer words or certain vowel patterns
Are making the transition to silent reading and are learning to do more editing and revising

27. Places and Spaces Questions to consider:
What literacy stations do you want to have? Why?
Where will you put them?
How will they link to instruction?
How will you structure them for independence?
How will you share the ownership with the students?

28. Places and Spaces
Materials that are used frequently need to be readily accessible. 

29. Places and Spaces
Worksheet driven literacy stations take the responsibility off the student and put it all on the teacher –choosing the papers, running copies, finding places to keep them, and of course the hours of grading – instead put the learning in the hands of the students.

30. Stations do not need to be a “thing of beauty” or
Places and Spaces
Stations do not need to be a “thing of beauty” or
“as seen on Pinterest”

31. Places and Spaces
Think outside the box…

32. Places and Spaces
Word walls can be great teaching tools, but are often “out of reach” for the students – they are intended for the students use and must be located where students can use and own them.

33. Places and Spaces
Don’t lose sight of your whole-group instruction area – it is a place where kids feel like they are a part of the learning. Older students often pay more attention here than they do at their desks.

34. Places and Spaces
Having an organized space can make more time for actual instruction
Must make space for kids our priority

35. Places and Spaces Planning Your Space – Quotes from Debbie
“Think about your instruction first…then plan for space to make that happen.”
“There is a direct link between structure, organization, and effective instruction.”
“Clutter can lead to chaos.”

36. Planning YOUR Space Reflect on your CURRENT space…
Do you like the way your room is arranged?
Is it conducive to student learning?
Are there changes you would like to make for next year?

37. Work Stations

38. How to Add Literacy to Traditional Kindergarten Centers
House Keeping – Simple recipes, children’s cookbooks and class address or telephone book
Blocks – Maps, architectural books, take pictures of structures for class building book
Sand and Water – Letter molds, catch ABC confetti, bury magnetic letters for a letter treasure hunt
See pages for more ideas