Breaking the
Reading Code:
Reading and
Language Arts
Objective:
After the session, you are expected
to be able to identify means to
provide language experiences to
support children’s emerging
literacy skills and abilities.
Print Rich Environment
What Is a Learning Center?
• A learning center is a collection of materials,
resources, and/or activities designed to review,
reinforce, or extend a particular skill or concept
previously taught.
• Learning centers wean students away from teacher
direction and facilitate student ownership of learning.
Tomlinson, 1999
How Can We Use Learning Centers
to Support Differentiation?
• DIFFERENCES AMONG STUDENTS • GROUPING
• Academic Differences – Avoid the one-size-fits-all
– Developmental readiness – Use a variety of criteria to arrange
– Prior knowledge students
– Reading level – Use contracts and centers to deliver
and manage small group learning
• Cognitive Differences
– Develop activities around the
– Thinking skills interests of of students
– Learning rate – Provide opportunities for students
• Social and Emotional Differences to pursue their own questions
– Interests – Provide opportunities for students
– Learning styles to present their work to small
groups of peers
– Motivation
Purcell, 2002
Why Use Learning Centers?
• To enable learners to work in various groups,
same and mixed ability.
• To encourage active participation among all
learners.
• To enable learners to make decisions, follow
directions, work independently, and self monitor.
• To give students an opportunity to learn
responsibility and organization.
• To facilitate individualized learning.
Learning Centers vs. Stations
Instructional
Independent
Connected to level/teacher-
learning/child-initiated
curriculum directed
Not required to
Various types of Required to
participate in order to
grouping participate in
learn core content
Accommodates stations in order to
Not necessarily learn core content
for various
connected to each
learning Connected to each
other
needs/levels other
Flexible tasks
Structured tasks
Types of Centers
• Curriculum-Based (e.g., reading, writing, math,
art, science/social studies, listening)
• Based on Theme/Unit (e.g., additional center
or thread through out)
• Self-Directed/Student Choice
• Focused on Multiple Intelligences
Common Forms of Grouping
• Cooperative grouping
– 4-5 students
– Mixed ability
• Be strategic with group make-up
• Set some time to teach students to
work cooperatively, don’t assume
students know how to work together
Common Forms of Grouping
• Ability or Tiered
– No set amount of students
– Leveled grouping by a specific skill
– Avoid always using the same focus to make up
group
– Avoid labeling groups with labels that can
indicate order (e.g. 1,2,3 or a,b,c)
When to Use Centers
• As part of station teaching
• During guided reading/“small group explicit
instruction”
• When other tasks are completed/choice
time
• When using alternative teaching/working
with small, needs-based groups
• When conducting individual student
assessments/conducting running records
Organizing the Classroom
Areas for small group work
Places for student-to-student interaction
Balance between quiet and not-so-quiet areas
Signs and labels
Materials/supplies/equipment organized for
students’ use
Places to display student work
Maintenance and clean-up system
Traffic flow
Importance of Labeling
Signs for centers should be placed at the eye
level of children.
When center materials are clearly labeled in a
way that makes sense to the children:
◦ The materials become a method for teaching the
printed form of words, and
◦ Children are more likely to be able to put the
materials away when the containers and their
spaces are clearly marked (e.g., Outline, matching
colors).
What If We Have Limited Space?
Ziplock Bags
Gift Bags
Five-Drawer Chest
Lunch Boxes
Magnetic Boards
Magazine Holders/Cereal Boxes
Pizza Boxes
Developmentally Appropriate
Practices during work period
pencil, crayons or markers
are always made available
as well as paper of many
shapes, sizes
classroom materials are
labelled
books, magazines or written
materials prominently displayed
[Link]
Children will decipher the purpose of whatever written materials they see and can adopt,
stimulate their imagination and inspire creativity.
Developmentally Appropriate Practices
during work period
Provide children to read something
they have written or tell story about their
drawing.
[Link]
Other children as well as the teacher
do ask questions or offer constructive
comments about what was
presented. This is reporting for those
older children, when they describe
work they have done, finished tasks
or accomplished project.
Developmentally Appropriate
Practices during work period
Acknowledge children’s emotions with simple
non-evaluative statement, e.g. “You really wanted
the pink ribbon.” “You were hoping to set next to
Carlo.”
When adults underscore children emotions verbally,
they exhibit sensitivity and caring in a way children
can understand.
Acknowledgement makes children feel
heard and accepted. Although such
statement do not necessarily resolve the
dilemma.
It serves as a foundation for eventual problem solving,
and provides some comfort to children for whom no
other satisfactory solution is possible at the time.
Developmentally Appropriate
Practices during work period
In storytelling – choose stories
related to children’s interest and in their
life to make sure they can connect; tell
both familiar and new stories; practice
the story beforehand;
use dramatic voice; maintain eye
contact with individual children by
continually scanning the group; change
the speed, pitch and volume of your
voice to correspond to the meaning of
the story and the character in the story;
articulate each word clearly;
use dramatic pauses to build suspense or facilitate transitions between events in the
story and provide an opportunity for children to participate in the story by making sounds
or appropriate gestures or having them say repeated phrases in chorus (such as “I’ll huff
and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down”)
Developmentally Appropriate
Practices during work period
Show-and-tell in many classroom is a
common practice. It is seen as a means for
children to develop both listening and
speaking skills
In contrast some express concern that
children may become bored by sitting
for long periods or may feel coerced
into speaking before the whole class.
There is also a worry that children develop
[Link]
competitive feelings in the process or feel left out if
they think they have nothing worth while to share.
Model and Practice Expectations
Rotating from center to center/how to read schedule
Recognizing signals (e.g. Clean-up, noise level)
Being a good group leader/group member
Help procedures/signaling the teacher w/out
disruption
Handling a problem (e.g. Paint spills, broken pencil)
Final Thoughts
Start small. Learn how many centers you and
your class can handle comfortably. Change some
things, some of the time.
Aim for a mixture of choice and expectation to
assure students experience the activities and social
interactions they need.
Put a storage system in place from the onset.
Pack center supplies, activities, list of ancillary
materials (e.g., children’s literature), center
evaluation, and a snapshot for future use.