Practice Demonstrate Extend Presented By Eric Kern 1

Reading Centers A place where students… Practice Demonstrate Learning Extend Learning Independent of the teacher. 2

Center Content Each center contains meaningful, purposeful activities that are a reinforcement and/or extension of what has already been taught. 3

Centers Past Present Used by teachers to keep students busy Only for students who finished assigned work Incorporated only theme based activities Engaged students in same activity Often included only worksheets Incorporated a lot of non- academic trivial projects Utilized to provide systematic practice that meets student needs For all students Incorporate activities that reflect previously taught reading skills Engage students in activities that are selected to differentiate instruction Include hands-on activities that reinforce previously taught skills Keep students academically engaged in activities that reinforce and extend learning 4

Grouping Students System 1 Students are kept in skill based groups to rotate through centers System 2 Students with varied abilities placed in same group Easier to implement Good starting place Allows students to work together when they need help practicing the same skill Allow student with higher skill ability to help those with less ability in a particular skill. 5

Planning Centers Plan with learning objective in mind, not the product Activities should engage students, AVOID the “FLUFF” If it takes longer to make something than it does for children to use it instructionally, don’t make it Consider Time : provide extension and support materials (books, writing materials, letter stamps, magnetic letters, whiteboards, etc.)for those who finish early. 6

Center Types Read/Write Around the Room Look for and record words with common beginning, end, medial vowel sound or a common element (can be found on walls or in books) Listening Center Read along while listening to story. Response (character, setting, main idea, beginning, middle, end) Recording Center Students record self reading a passage or sentence focusing on voice (scary, excited, dad, ghost) and fluency 7

Center Types Cont. Writing Center Students write for a variety of purposes (list, letter, story, web) using a variety of materials (gel pens, markers, colored pencils, paper (variety of colors, shapes and sizes)). Overhead Projector Use letter tiles to spell words with a target sound Use Vis-à-Vis markers to circle (id) word features, parts of speech, etc. within a nursery rhyme or poem. Buddy Reading Center Read with partner (choice of book) Game Center Published and File Folder 8

Center Types Cont. Word Family and or Spelling Center Students make words (magnetic letters) and sort words and pictures. Mail Center Write to someone in the room (format must be taught prior) ABC Center Alphabet or word activities (phonics lesson responses, games, word chunk wheels, etc.) Poetry Center Read and respond (circle rhyming words, record nouns in poem, circle beginning or end sound, write a poem) 9

Center Types Cont. Wonderful Words Center Gives students opportunities to explore, collect and investigate words from their reading, writing and world. (activities may include: word families, contractions, parts of speech, synonyms, rhyming words, homophones, prefixes, root words, compound words, plurals, syllables, antonyms, homographs, phonics, suffixes, blends Big Book center Commercial or Class Big Books. Attach an envelope to the back of the book and include words and sentence strips that match the story. Students can recreate story, sort words or match sentences Alphabet Center Give students opportunities to explore and discover the alphabet (letters, construction paper, dictionary, phone book, word cards theme words, Alphabet Books) Literature Link Center List characters, settings, foods, problems, etc. 10

Center Activities Sequencing activities with pictures Story boards for retelling Writing events of story using sentence strips Word building using magnetic letters Categorizing using pocket charts (concept sort) Spelling activities using whiteboards Some centers will be permanent, others will change according to the skills, books and activities being currently addressed. 11

Center Management Helps coordinate the following Group Formation Activities Center Locations Systematic movement of groups Scheduling for center times 12

Center Management Boards Graphic Organizer that help students know… Where they should be When they should be there What they should be doing Should be large enough to be seen by all the students from different areas of the room Matching icons should be on the board and in the center area 13

Rotation Wheel Students names on clothespins are placed in groups on outer edge of laminated circle. Students clips may be moved as groups change Center icons are attached to an inner circle using Velcro and may be replaced as centers change. Turn the inner wheel to rotate centers This wheel may be modified for Kindergarten by providing only one activity each day. The wheel would rotate one time each day 14

Bulletin Board  Student’s photos placed in groups using Velcro  Icons placed on right side denoting each rotation or choice  Photos and icons may be moved when groups or centers change  You may move arrow to the right as centers change or you may remove arrow to provide choice.  This board and the following boards may be modified for Kindergarten by providing only 1 activity card for each group of students 15

Bulletin Board 2  Student’s names placed in groups using Velcro  Icons placed on right side denoting each activity/rotation  Names and icons may be moved when groups or centers change  Students move through sequence of activities or may choose activity 16

Bulletin Board 3  Students placed in groups represented by a color  Colored dots placed at top of board  Icons placed under denoting each activity/rotation  When groups change, students may be assigned another color  When centers change icon may be removed  Students move through sequence of activities or may choose activity 17

Explicit Center Directions Model and explain the activity Introduce 1 center at a time Provide guided practice practice what the teacher models teacher provides prompts and feedback Provide supported application student applies the skill teacher scaffolds instruction Independent practice student applies the skill independently 18

Successful Implementation Help students problem solve  What to do when something does not work  What to do when they do not understand the activity  What to do when they complete an activity  Whom to go to for help  How to clean up  How to decide who goes first 19

Establish Behavior Expectations Listening Center What should we hear? What should we see? Silence as students follow along in the text Whisper reading as students follow along in the text Students sitting in chairs with four legs on the floor Students using their pointer finger to follow along in the text One student managing the tape player 20

Behavior Problems Questions to ask Did I do an effective job teaching the activity? Is the activity interesting to the student? Have the students mastered the skill and need to move on? Is this center to difficult for the students to do independently? Did I introduce too many new centers at once? 21

Establish Accountability Provide a basket or other container for collection of completed work A checklist can be used for task completion Provide feedback in a timely manner Students need to be accountable for work completed at centers, but this does not mean there always needs to be a product. MAKE IT A BALANCE!!! 22

Center Activities 23 Sept25 At-fam Sept26 Long o shorto MattX Jake ChrisX DylanX Camilla1 Lilly2 Greg2 Sean2 Tandi Amy Ruth Paul Chris Spencer Carl Jan Harris Sarah When recording Center Activity Information consider the following Am I only checking for complete or incomplete work? Am I assigning a number or letter system for work completed? (1-below standard, 2-meets standard, 3-exceeds standard)

Additional Key Points Have “with-it-ness” Be aware of what’s going on! 24

References The Florida Center for Reading Research (2005). Teacher Resource Guide,