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Literacy Station Rotation Wheel Directions

I received a few questions about my station rotation wheel, so I thought I would just write a post describing how I made it and providing a working link to the editable inner wheel.

( Click here for the original post.)


I started with a piece of 22 x 28 poster board and cut 6 inches off the long side to create a square.  
 Since I have 10 literacy stations, I need the square divided into 10 sections.  It took me a minute to wrap my head around the math!  I actually ended up printing the inner wheel, attaching it to the center of the poster board and using it to place the outer wheel lines.
  
Once the poster board is divided, it gets laminated
 and that part is done. 


I attach the station signs with tape or Stikki Clips so
 they can easily be changed.

I created the inner wheel in using the chart tools 
in Powerpoint (or Word). 

  I have a link to a powerpoint that has wheels for 10, 8, 6, 5, and 4 sections and a couple of ideas for formatting the wheel.  I have not had much luck with Google Docs recently so I have placed it as a free item in my TPT store.  Let me know if you have any problems with it or need assistance editing it.  Click this picture to get it.



I hope this helps!

~Nikki

5-Star Blogger



14

Student Work Mats

A few years ago, my school was almost doubled in size with a huge addition and renovation.  All the kindergarten and first grades got to move into brand new rooms!  We even got to choose our own furniture:)

So, first grade went old school and choose heavy wooden tables with the cutest little wooden chairs.  We love them because they are heavy and sturdy and they still have little cubbies for supplies like our old desks.  But like any table, we had to figure out what to do with the nameplates.  If they are taped down, every time you move a kid, it's a hassle and leaves all the sticky residue on the tabletop.

My team decided to make individual work mats for each kid.  We used our favorite nameplates and a piece of 12 x 18 construction paper.
 The nameplate is from Trend and can be found HERE.



 Secure the nameplate to the construction paper temporarily with a couple of pieces of tape.  We overlap the paper about 1/2 inch.


 Run the whole thing through the laminator and there you have it!


Now, when a kid needs to move, it's simple - they just grab their work mat and go!  This is great for temporary moves like group work, or a kid who needs a quiet, personal space for a short time.

The mat also gives a child a nice defined space to work.  This helps some of our more 'scattered' friends!

After several months, some of our work mats are a little battered.  I just cut the nameplate off, attach it to a new piece of construction paper, and laminate it again.

We have a high transiency rate at my school, so the class list that I have today will probably look much different on the first day of school.  While I want  to be oh-so-prepared and label everything, I am hesitant to do so because half of the labels will need to be changed by the second day of school.  I waffle between writing names on items before or after laminating.

If I laminate before, I have to make frequent changes.  If I laminate after names have been added, the names eventually rub off.  For the last couple of years, I have just waited to introduce the work mats until the second week of school.  Then my class roll is a little more stable. 

So what's your take on labeling and laminating?  Before or after?


~Nikki

12

Getting Literacy Stations Up and Running

I am linking up with Mrs. Reed at Flying into First Grade 
to share literacy station ideas!
1. The grade you teach
This will be my 14th year of teaching first grade.  (Plus a couple of years in 3rd grade eons ago:)
 
2. When do you start your literacy centers?

Literacy Centers take 6 weeks to get fully up and running.  (When not thwarted by admin and forced to start too early.)

I start by  giving the class sets of manipulatives to 'play' with - blocks, legos, puzzles, play dough, etc.  We talk about appropriate ways to use classroom materials and how to respect the materials and each other.  Once everyone has that down (this takes about 3-4 days), I pull a group to teach the first station and guide them as they practice it while the rest of the class works with the manipulatives.  The next rotation, I take a different group and repeat.  

Once one station has been introduced to everyone, I pull a group of kids and teach them the second station, while another group works in the first station , and the rest of the kids are at their tables with manipulatives.  Is that too confusing!?  This pattern continues until all stations have been introduced and practiced.  I usually introduce 2 stations each week, although that's probably rushing it a little. 

Jan Richardson spells it out so nicely in her book.



3. Advice for teaching students the procedures in centers:

Modeling and practice!  Show the students what you expect from a station and allow them guided practice with the teacher's supervision.  If they practice in the station without any guidance, they will probably move away from the expectations and form bad habits.  

Once everyone has gotten a chance to experience a station (and this may take a few days), bring the kids together as a group to discuss it.  What does  productive work in this station look like?  What does it sound like?  What does it feel like?  These are great to put on an anchor chart for the kids to have up as a reference.

It also helps to create a list of what kids can do in that station.  We make "I Can" charts for each station which lists exactly which activities are allowed or expected in that station.  If it is not on the "I Can" chart - you can't do it : )
I never assume they know what to do.  I make sure I teach every procedure I need them to follow.

This year I would love to try to include photos of what a tidy station looks like and photos of kids working well in a station!


4. Share a tip about literacy centers in your classroom:
 I really like to make the rotation part of Literacy Stations simple enough that I don't have to do anything during transitions and I don't have to change a bunch of cards around on a chart each day, so I use a wheel system.  The kids know exactly what to do and where to go so the transition is quick and smooth (usually!)  You can read more about how I use the wheel HERE.




Good literacy stations really determine whether or not the teacher will be able to effectively teach small group guided reading without interruption.  And we certainly don't want our kids doing busywork during that time, either, so it's worth it to put in the time up front and get those stations running smoothly!

Thanks, Mrs. Reed for a great linky idea!  I'm looking forward to reading what everyone has to say!

~Nikki
3

Monday Made It #1

This is my FIRST Monday Made It!  I'm finally getting a few projects completed now that the first day of school is sneaking up and staring me down.
One of my goals is to add a few more soft, homey touches to my classroom to create a more inviting environment.  This week I brought home a few baskets and tubs to brighten them up with ribbon.  It is such a simple fix but I hope it will have a big impact.

This was my inspiration:

And this is what I did for my classroom:

I also took a few pieces of scrapbook paper, a bread crumbs container, and some clothespins to make a few organizational items.  This was my inspiration:

And this is what I did for my classroom:




 Now I have a few binders to work on before summer slips away!  Have a great Monday:)

~Nikki
13

Tracking Reading Strategies

When teaching small group guided lessons, I move through 18+ students in an hour on at least 3 different books a day and as many as 10 separate lesson plans a week.  It is easy to jumble up all those kids and strategies in my head and not have a good grasp of who knows what.

I really like the lesson plan templates we use in my school (Jan Richardson), but the form didn't serve my OCD needs for charting the kids' strategy use.  So I created a chart and inserted it into the lesson plan template.  Each time I see a student use a strategy, I check it on the chart.  Also, each time I prompt a student to try a strategy , I mark that as well.  When I look back over the plans, I can quickly see which strategies are being used well and which ones I need to address again.  I t really helps me keep track of my students' progress and gives me great info for planning new lessons.

Here is the chart in a couple of editable forms so you can copy and paste it into your guided reading form, put in whatever strategies you teach, and add kids' names.  Or you can just create a quick little chart when you make your lesson plan - easy peasy:)


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