Literacy Work Stations Making Centers Work

Author, Debbie Diller

Presenters:

Charlie Council

Sandra Maisonet

Debbie Davis

Ingrid Anderson

Chapter 1 What is a Literacy Work Station?

Dillard’s definition: An area within the classroom where students work alone or interact with others, using instructional materials to explore and expand literacy. It is a place where a variety of activities reinforce, or extend learning, often without assistance of the teacher. It is a time for children to practice reading, writing, listening and working with letters and words.

Teacher concerns: is space an issue???

Utilization of existing furniture/equipment negates this issue. Examples:

• Big Book easel becomes your Big Book Work Station

• Tape recorder becomes your Listening Station

• Classroom computers is now your Computer Station

• Overhead is now the Overhead Work Station

Advantages of LWS• Students can work alone or with partners which will decrease the noise

level and reduce the number of students working together.

• Students may work in pairs but this will also allow some students to work alone if they chose to do so.

• Allows for independent practice

• Additional enrichment

• Differentiation

• All students participate

• Equal access to engage

• Improved student behavior

• Utilizing a variety of materials

• Use of manipulatives

• Students internalize more

Points to Ponder

Literacy Work Stations:

• Are not something extra. They are not “fillers of time.”

• They should replace worksheets

• They provide choices that are relevant, personal and engaging.

• Should be set up for student success

Within the LWS, students can:

• Play a game

• Make something

• Talk with a partner

• Tell a story

• Be a recorder

• Move

• Do something new

LWS guarantee independence by:

• Modeling appropriate behavior

• A gradual release of responsibility

• Provide a risk free environment

• Proper independent work level

• Provides clear, explicit instructions

Non-Negotiables for LWS

• Focus on practice and purposes

• Link to your teaching

• Slow down to speed up…..start slowly & build

• Balance process & product

• Less is more…keep materials to a minimum

• Use novelty…try one new thing at a time

• Simplify – if it takes longer for you to make it than it does for the children to use it instructionally…..don’t do it!!

Classroom LibraryHighlights and Overview

• Teachers must provide quality time and opportunity for children to read during the day.

• The classroom library is a place where students are expected to browse books, and read or pretend to read.

• Teachers are in the same business as bookstores: we need to be selling books.

• Literacy work stations provide an extra chance for reading at school.

Classroom Library

How to Set Up the Classroom Library

Ideas that workBooks should be available in an organize fashion to help students be able to find books for independent reading.

• Space is inviting, roomy and well lit.

• Comfortable sitting.

• Books arranged by topics, authors, fiction/non-fiction, and genre.

• Books available by reading levels.

• Rotate books in your library to keep the student interest.

What Teachers Must DoIt will make your life easier.

How to Introduce the Classroom Library

• Tour your classroom literacy areas. Explain your classroom organization.

• Go over literacy stations, expectations, responsibilities, and consequences.

* Literacy stations are a team effort.

Be a Model

• Go over how to choose a book. Model and verbalize the steps you follow. Older students can use “five-finger” test.

• Have students explain to each other how they chose a book. This will reinforce that they should “think” before selecting a book.

What the Children DoWhat you should see in your classroom to promote

literacy.

• Author study

• Familiar books

• Independent level text

• Telling the story

• Sharing books with partners - discussions

• Writing responses

• Reading to stuff animals/partners

• Writing book reviews

• Recording books in an individual reading log

Child Friendly Environment

Classroom Library

Points of Disagreement with Debbie Diller, Author

• “Classroom libraries are not a silent place”. * It is important to maintain a balance.

• We are somewhat restricted with materials, type of furniture, or space available for literacy stations.

• It is difficult and time consuming to maintain an organize classroom library.

How this book assisted me in my classroom Instruction.

• This book encouraged me to reflect and assess my own environment.

• It gave me new ideas to incorporate in my literacy stations.

• Reminded me that I am in the business of selling books. So I need have a library that is well organize, inviting and exciting.

Drama Work Station

Drama Work StationHighlights and Overview

The drama work station is the place to “improve reading comprehension and fluency, as well as to encourage creative expression”. Children enthusiastically visit this station to read plays and retell stories. It is a “space where oral language related to books can flourish. The more the children read, the better they get at reading.” Activities designed to engage and promote student learning at this station include:

• Retelling a familiar book.

• Using puppets, props, and dramatic pieces to retell a familiar book.

• Reading a familiar play, reader’s theater script, or a student authored play.

• Writing ads for the play students will enact and/or audio taping a performance.

Set Up and ModelingDrama Work Station

Set Up

The drama work station can be set up using science, flannel, or magnetic boards. The science board should have a dry-erase surface on one side to provide space for writing ads. A large flannel board or magnetic board may be used to create an area for retelling. Labeled containers are essential for organizing and storing props, puppets, and books and will make these materials easily accessible to students.

Modeling

To facilitate learning and ensure student success at this station, the teacher must model four basic routines over time. The routines focus on how to:

retell a book read a play

use props and puppets write a play

Solving Problems and Differentiating

Drama Work Station Solving Problems

According to the author “because it is easy for children to make up unrelated activities with props and puppets (such as puppets hitting each other on the head), it is essential that students know exactly what is expected of them at this work station. Clearly defining parameters and teaching expected behaviors will keep this from happening and insure that students will act responsibly in this station.”

Differentiating

The key to differentiating at this station is to make books from many genres at various levels available to students. “Just be sure that the books used for retelling are familiar to all the children.”

Keep It Going and Kids Accountable

Drama Work Station Ways to Keep This Station Going Throughout the Year

Variety is the Key!

Remember to leave some of the children’s old favorites in the drama work station while adding “only one new book or script at a time to keep things novel.” The sources of the new material may be texts introduced in read-aloud, shared reading, and/or guided reading.

How to Assess/ Keep Kids Accountable

Teacher observation is a valuable assessment tool at this station. Creating an “I Can” list with students will help them to be more responsible and to utilize their time wisely. Additional means of assessing students may include allowing them to perform or audio tape their retellings and reading of scripts for the class.

I Agree with the AuthorDrama Work Station

In Literacy Work Stations, Debbie Diller recommends to “focus on practice and purposes, not the stuff of stations.” Teachers often begin setting up work stations or centers by searching for a standard list of materials that tell what should be placed in each station, along with a timeline for changing them. According to the author, “if you begin with what it is you’re trying to teach – your purpose – then you can more easily figure out which materials to use.”

How Literacy Work Stations Assisted with Classroom Instruction

The author states that “if what you’re doing in your class-room is working effectively for your students, don’t change it just because of this book. Use the parts that work for you and your students.”

Presently, I have eight “literacy centers” in my classroom as opposed to literacy work stations. Although the centers are changed bi-weekly and correlated with units of study, they provide opportunities for practice and extension of skills taught in whole and small group instuction.

I am in the process of developing a drama work station for my students. Their scores on the DRA indicated clear deficiencies in comprehension (retelling a story). This station will be utilized along with other reading strategies to help improve my students’ reading comprehension and fluency.

Developing A Drama Work StationFor My First Graders

How Literacy Work Stations Assisted with Classroom Instruction

The author states that “if what you’re doing in your class-room is working effectively for your students, don’t change it just because of this book. Use the parts that work for you and your students.”

Presently, I have eight “literacy centers” in my classroom as opposed to literacy work stations. Although the centers are changed bi-weekly and correlated with units of study, they provide opportunities for practice and extension of skills taught in whole and small group instuction.

I am in the process of developing a drama work station for my students. Their scores on the DRA indicated clear deficiencies in comprehension (retelling a story). This station will be utilized along with other reading strategies to help improve my students’ reading comprehension and fluency.

Poetry Work Station

What the Children Do

• Reading a poem

• Illustrating a poem

• Filling in the blanks

• Building a poem

• Changing a poem

• Copying a poem

• Listening to a poem

• Writing a poem

• Comparing two poems

• Memorizing and performing a poem

Materials

• Tub of favorite poetry books

• Jump rope rhymes and tongue twisters

• Songbooks

• Paper, pencils, crayons

• Magazine pictures

• Copies of student written poems

•Poems copied onto large chart paper

Introduce the Poetry Work Station\

by modeling: • How to read a poem fluently

• How to read with good expression

• How to find rhyming words

• How to make connections

• How to create visual images

• How to write a poem

• How to buddy read a poem

• How to illustrate a poem

Ways to keep the Station GoingThroughout the Year

• Change the poems as often as needed

• Add new poetry books

• Add a new poet study tub

• Add a new kind of paper for copying poems

• Provide shape paper for copying poems

• Add a new medium for illustrating poems

Ways to keep the Station GoingThroughout the Year

• Change the poems as often as needed

• Add new poetry books

• Add a new poet study tub

• Add a new kind of paper for copying poems

• Provide shape paper for copying poems

• Add a new medium for illustrating poems

How to Keep Kids Accountable

• Ask students to share favorite poems

• Students memorize and perform poems

• Collect student poetry in notebooks

Other Work Stations

• Computer Work Station

• Listening Work Station

• Puzzles and Games Work Station

• Buddy Reading Work Station

• Overhead Work Station

• Pocket Chart Work Station

• Creation Work Station

• Science/Social Studies Work Station