centers

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centers
By Michele

Hi! I'm not sure how many stations you would like to have. I have 20 students and 5 stations for reading rotations. For theme centers I'll have 4 different stations. What I've done for reading is have 5 assignments for
hte kids to do. 4 Of these are on their own activities (computers, completing a review worksheet, reading game, and a color sheet related to the weeks letter.) We rotate through these daily, so the assignments need to last 15 minutes max. The computer rule is...they play the game that I put up...if they exit out of it, they must sit quietly and read. I run through the computers between

each switch. The color sheet is usually part of a larger project, where the coloring is pretty mindless but necessary. The letter games are either file folder games, magnetic letters, somehting that isn't very structured (to give them a little breathing room).I have the fifth group with me working on reading skills.

I also do theme centers which run for two weeks (4 stations about 1/2 a day twice a week). These have written directions (with lots of picture clues) for the kids to follow,. I also run through each station each time, so kids are familiar with expectations.

These centers are usually chaotic right at first, but after the kids have done them a few weeks, they are routine and easy.

Good luck, Hope I helped a little
Michele