centre time

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centre time
By Joanne

Hi there. I am going to give you a brief outline of how I set up my centres. I do not have the students go when their work is done. My centres are set up to be all they do during that time. With an hour, you could run 2 different
sets. I also run 2 sets but at different times of day and week. Set1: 6 groups of 4 students each, organized by reading development. One group is with me and the others go to centres such as Lego, Knex, practice writing spelling words on blackboards, flashcards, on white boards, with pretzels, with magnetic letters..., word searches with spelling words, activity sheets (can do independently),

make booklet with theme words, pocket chart activities (math, alphabetical order...), write in journals, during holidays a great centre to have is make cards for family members, decorate envelopes to put Valentine's in, the list goes on.Most of my ideas have come from this board. I change them every week. My group works on guided reading with levelled texts. Because I have 6 centres I have to do 2 rounds one day. The other set I run over a 2 week period (or as long as it takes). Set2: 6 groups of 4 (grouping doesn't matter here). All groups go to centres. Here I try to add Math activities and Science activities if I can. I have a set of geoboards they love to play with, pattern blocks to make pictures with. I also incorporate art activities (easier to get paint ready for 4 than 24) or things that are a real pain in a whole group. Activities where they have to cut out of magazines is great in centres.... Then I use this time to pull students I feel need extra help with whatever. I can pull who I need from any centre. If there is something I need for them to do at a centre and they miss because I pull them out, I give them some catch up time at end of rotation. If you have an aide, she also can pull a few out of groups and work with them. If she is in there during Set1 you can set up a centre where they work with her. You can have her challenge the more advanced groups and work with needed concepts with others. I find this works great for me and it has allowed me to incorporate activities you otherwise don't have time for. Hope this has helped a bit or given you some ideas. Joanne