Having students work independently in centers while me the teacher is able to teach students in my guided reading groups is a dream come true! :) Well.... after 22 days my students for the most part, aside from a hiccup here or there, are completely independent in their centers and they run very smoothly the rest of the year. I say this is when the "magic" happens! I say this because while other students are in centers I am able to teach small groups of guided reading right on students needs. My favorite part of the day!
I am going to tell you how I introduce centers in 22 days to my kindergartners. All year I have 5 centers: listening, read to self, read to buddy, word work, and writing. Just like daily 5. Each day students go to 1 center and 1 rotation with the teacher. Throughout the week they have to go to each center once. People ask me, "Don't your students lie and go to their favorite center twice, and not go to all 5 in a week?" Simply, no! At the beginning of the year I tell students that this is their time to be responsible and show me that they can make it to all five each week, and they sure do! Unless of course they are out sick or we have an event one day during center/guided reading time. Okay, let me jump off my soap box of giving students responsibility now.
At the beginning of the year I teach each of the different choices in all 5 centers. Through these 22 days students become familiar with the different choices in each center. Then starting in about October when centers are running very smoothly, I introduce a weekly must-do to each center (we go over these on Monday morning). Meaning, when students go to each center throughout the week before they can choose the "choices" they must do the "must do" first. Before they can move on to other choices in that center they ALWAYS put their "must do" on Seesaw (read my other post about Seesaw if you have not yet). When reading centers are complete for the day our class as a whole spends about 5-7 minutes going over the Seesaw posts together and critiquing them. This helps students stay accountable for their center time. If the post gets approved then their parents are able to see/comment on it. Okay... enough background on my centers....HERE... WE...GO!
Day 1:
On week 1 I introduce the first center- read to self. I introduce 3 different ways to read a book: read the pictures, read the words, and retell the story. We keep this poster up ALL year long to remind students the different ways to read. I then model this with a back to school book. Today I chose
Maisy Cleans Up. Next, I introduce the read-to-self rules/expectations and students help me create hand motions for each expectation. Next, students each get their own book bin (with pre-selected books from the teacher) and spread out around the room. When I notice 3 or more students are off task we stop read-to-self for the day. Once students put their book bins away we graph how many minutes we read to self today.
Day 2:
On day 2, we review 3 different ways to read a book with the poster from yesterday. I then model again what this looks like with ___ book. We then review the expectations of read-to-self with our poster and hand motions from yesterday. Students again get the chance to practice around the room with their book bins. Once 3 or more students are off task we clean up and graph our reading stamina minutes for the day.
Day 3:
On day 3 we review 3 ways to read a book and I model with __ book. We review the expectations with hand motions (even call a student up to lead them if they are ready). Students then practice reading around the room with their book bins and we graph our reading stamina on the graph when we are done. Have you caught on how repetitive this is? Kinders needs this repetitiveness to run centers smoothly!
Day 4:
Day 4 is the last day of specifically practicing read-to-self. We review the 3 ways to read a book by reading No David. Then I call a different student to lead the class in the hand motions for expectations during read to self. Students practice again reading independently and we finish by graphing our reading minutes.
Day 5:
Today we reviewed the 3 ways to read a book with a read-aloud. Then students practiced read-to-self and we graphed the minutes we read to self. Then, I introduced the writing center. We first made up hand motions to the writing center rules. Then I showed them that there are many choices in the writing center. However, today we went over one of the choices- handwriting, and practiced. In the handwriting drawer there are many different choices students can choose from to practice their handwriting.
Day 6:
Today we practiced read-to-self again and graphed our minutes. Then, we reviewed the writing center rules with our poster/hand motions. Last, we practiced another choice in the writing center- a letter.
Day 7:
After we read-to-self and graphed our minutes we reviewed our hand motions for the writing center. Then I introduced another choice in the writing center... Sticker Story. For this students are able to choose 3 stickers to make a picture with. Then they write a sentence or a story about their stickers.
Day 8:
Today we again read-to-self, graphed our minutes, and practiced our hand motions for the writing center. Today I introduced a new choice in the writing center... writing our name. Students are able to practice writing their name with pencil, crayon, pen, and marker.
Day 9:
On this last day of practicing the writing center students were introduced to the book drawer. In this drawer they can select a book already copied to complete or they can create their own book.
Read to self stamina after this week:
Day 10:
This was a short week for us, having Monday off for Labor Day and then benchmark testing on Tuesday. So for this week, we introduced Read-to-Buddy. I started off by telling students about how when I went to Starbucks this morning to get my coffee I saw a HUGE spider and yelled EEKK!!! I then used this story as a nice transition into our EEKK poster for buddy reading. We then talk about the EEKK poster and model correct/incorrect voice levels for buddy reading. Last, we go over the Read-to-Buddy rules poster and come up with hand motions. For the last couple of minutes we pair students up with a buddy and they get to practice.
Day 11:
Today, we start by reviewing the EEKK poster as well as the Read-to-Buddy rules poster. Then we call up a few volunteers to model correct/incorrect ways to buddy read. Then we send students to practice around the room with their buddy.
Day 12:
Today, we again review the EEKK poster as well as the Read-to-Buddy rules poster. Students also get the chance to practice with a new buddy today.
Day 13:
We start off our next week by reviewing Read-to-Buddy. I also introduce and model what it looks like for each buddy to have their own book. After I model this, each pair of buddies practices with their own book.
Day 14:
Today I get to introduce one of my favorite centers: Word Work. I first start to introduce the word work center by showing students where it is in the room. I then introduce the Word Work rules by going over the rules poster and making up hand motions. Then I introduce "name activities" and "Extra/game" drawer and allow students to practice. With any extra time we practice Read-to-Self or Read-to-Buddy.
Day 15:
Today we start by reviewing the Word Work rules with hand motions. Then i introduce the "word sort" choice in Word Work. Students get to practice. With any extra time we practice Read-to-Self or Read-to-Buddy.
Day 16:
Today we review the Word Work rules with our hand motions. Then I introduce the "abc drawer" choice in Word Work. Students practice. With any extra time we practice Read-to-Self or Read-to-Buddy.
Day 17:
Today is the last day of teaching Word Work. We review all the rules and then introduced two more choices: sight word/letter writing on dry erase boards and read it, build it, write it choice. For the sight word/letter writing choice students choose whether to write and then read their sight words, or if that is too difficult for them they can write letters and read the letters they wrote. Students practiced. With any extra time we practice Read-to-Self or Read-to-Buddy.
Day 18:
Today, I introduced the listening center poster and rules. For our listening center we use a program on the Ipad called RAZ kids. This program allows students to be reading, recording, and answering comprehension questions on their reading level... and they LOVE it. Today I modeled this program for students.
Day 19:
Today we reviewed the listening center and students practiced on RAZ kids.
Day 20:
Today we reviewed the listening center and students practiced on RAZ kids.
Here is the link for RAZ kids in case you are interested: RAZ KIDS
Day 21:
Today we reviewed the listening center and students practiced on RAZ kids.
Day 22:
Since today is the last day to explicitly teach the reading centers we talked about expectations for next week. I explained to students that throughout the week (Monday-Friday) they have to make it 1 time to each center (1 center each day). It is their responsibly to remember which center they have already been to that week... and surprisingly they do an excellent job at this. Today students get to practice choosing a center they want to go to. While they were practicing going to a center, i pulled groups of students over to my table and we practiced tapping out sounds in words with Elkonin boxes and a variety of manipulatives (play dough, slinkies, and magnetic counters with magnet wands).
