I DO CENTERS AS OFTEN AS I CAN

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Home : 2004 : August : 20

I DO CENTERS AS OFTEN AS I CAN
By HEIDI

I love doing centres!!! I don't feel frazzled on days that I do centres. I enjoy circulating and helping and I absolutely love seeing the kids enjoying their time at centres.

I do not do them every day, but whenever I
seem to have activities that will work in centres. Some weeks I might do just one day, other weeks 2 or 3 days with centres.
In language arts time, I set up literature circles, so that can be a centre (the group meets to discuss their book and the job sheets each person has completed at home before-hand). Another centre might be math practice with a worksheet, an assignment from the

text, or a math game. Sometimes I teach a mini-lesson as a centre. I teach it over and over again as each group comes to me. The trick is: kids who who be daydreaming if I taught the material as whole class discussion, are with me when it's just me and four students! They're actively engaged and volunteering answers.
SOme science activities lend themselves to centres. Writing a social studeis opinion could be a centre.

The trick is: provide variety. If one centre is quiet writing, make another centre hands-on and more social. Also, from the very beginning, I explain in painful detail how each centre will function. I explain what the groups will be. I explain where they will be moving their desks to. I also explain what happens if someone is not behaving the way I expect. It takes at least half hour to expalin everything and move the desks. then 15-25 minutes at each station. Usually I take 2 or 2 and a half hours for centres. Some days it can carry over to the next day to finish up and my planning for the next day is already finished!!!

I'd be ahppy to e-mail you some of my centre activities if you want ideas.

Try it!!! You have to have a great relationship with your class and get them psyched for centres. they beg for centres more often and I tell them we can only do them if I can trust them to work quietly. If they get too noisy, I send them back to their own seats and they lose the opportunityu. Then I don't do centres for a while and they realize they can make it or break it.