Centers!!!

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Centers!!!
By red

I have center time all the time, I know a lot of teachers use centers while they juggle reading groups (I don't have reading groups) and that is a great. I use centers to expand on lessons and to improve skills.

You
said that your room was small, centers can take up a lot of space but here are some ideas I have tried in my classroom (which by the way is the size of a telephone booth):

1) Centers can be mobile- I have all of my centers set up in plastic baskets that I bought for a dollar. Becuase they are compact a student can pick it up and carry it to thier desk or anywhere for that matter.

I store the baskets on a bookcase. That takes up less space than setting up areas in the room just for centers.

2) B-Board is not just for looks! I write out poems, word games, mind-benders, etc. on sheets of paper and hang them on the walls, tape them to tables, the floor, and even to the backs of chairs. Then kids can go to that place in the room and work.

3) If you want to have centers where kids sit on the floor, but don't have the room for a rug (I don't becuse the desk take up so much room) get a carpet store to sell or give you scraps, cut them into small squares. Then when no one is sitting on them you can stack them and store them away.

I am sure that you have thought of all these ideas on your own, but just in case I hope this helps.