Literacy Work Stations Making Centers Work

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Literacy Work Stations Making Centers Work

• Author, Debbie Diller

Presenters Charlie Council Sandra
Maisonet Debbie Davis Ingrid Anderson
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• Chapter 1 What is a Literacy Work Station?
• Dillards 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.

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• 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

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• 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

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• 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

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• Within the LWS, students can
• Play a game
• Make something
• Talk with a partner
• Tell a story
• Be a recorder
• Move
• Do something new

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• 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

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• 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 morekeep materials to a minimum
• Use noveltytry 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..dont do it!!

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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.

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Classroom Library
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How to Set Up the Classroom LibraryIdeas that
work

• Books 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.

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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.

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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

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Child Friendly Environment
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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.

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Drama Work Station
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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, readers theater script,
  or a student authored play.
• Writing ads for the play students will enact
  and/or audio taping a performance.

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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

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Solving Problems and DifferentiatingDrama 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.

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Keep It Going and Kids AccountableDrama Work
Station

• Ways to Keep This Station Going Throughout
  the Year
• Variety is the Key!
• Remember to leave some of the childrens 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.

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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 youre
  trying to teach your purpose then you can
  more easily figure out which materials to use.

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How Literacy Work Stations Assisted with
Classroom Instruction

• The author states that if what youre doing
  in your class-room is working effectively for
  your students, dont 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.

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Developing A Drama Work StationFor My First
Graders

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How Literacy Work Stations Assisted with
Classroom Instruction

• The author states that if what youre doing
  in your class-room is working effectively for
  your students, dont 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.

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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How to Keep Kids Accountable

• Ask students to share favorite poems
• Students memorize and perform poems
• Collect student poetry in notebooks

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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