Reading Centers

Reading is one of my favorite things to teach in first grade.  I love the 90 minute reading block that we have everyday and I love how independent the students are during this time.  One of the things that helps reading run so smoothly is that the students have a strong understanding of the routine and the centers.  Another thing that I love about the centers that I use is that it takes about 2 minutes to set each one up.  I absolutely adore all of the cute centers that people use in their classrooms, but where do they find the time to prep all of those centers?  I wanted to take the time today to tell you about three of the centers that we use at the beginning of the year that the students are able to complete independently and that are easy for teachers to prepare.

Chalkboard Center
Yep, all of our first grade classrooms have a chalkboard.  We have all the upgrades in our rooms: whiteboards, document cameras, projectors, desktops, wireless internet, laptops for each teacher...and a chalkboard.  For the first two years I was there I never knew what to do with it, so I just covered it with paper and used it as another bulletin board.  Then, I decided to use it as a center - and it has been my students' favorite center every year since!  You would not need a chalkboard to use this center - just any magnetic surface (or even a small pocket chart would work).

I use the chalkboard center as a phonics/spelling center.  If the phonics/spelling skill for the week is short a, that is what the students will work on at the center.  In the demographic that I work with, many of the students do not practice their spelling words at home.  This center gives the students practice reading the words, spelling the words, writing the words and discovering patterns between the words.

At the center the students need four things:
1) the pictures
2) the words
3) magnetic letters
4) chalk (or any writing material that would work for the board you are using)

The students put up the pictures, put the matching word next to each picture, spell the word using magnetic letters and then write each word using chalk.  Here is what the finished product looks like:

Isn't it precious?
The students love this center!

I also have an accountability sheet that they complete afterwards.  I put it in a sheet protector and the students use a dry erase marker to fill it out - this just helps me save paper.

Here is what the center looked like when he was all finished:

 

You can grab this center by clicking on the link at the end of this post.

Right now I only have it made for short vowels and blends, but I will update it as I finish the others!

Writing Center 

At the beginning of the year many of our students struggle with writing a sentence.  Because of that, it makes it hard to have a successful writing center where students can work independently for 20-25 minutes.  So for the first few weeks of writing center I use it as a handwriting practice center.  

 The students love this center and it helps with their handwriting!  They trace the word three times and then write it by themselves in the box.  Then, they trace a sentence that uses the word and write it independently in the box.  The words on these pages are all high frequency words from our reading series.  This center is the same every week, all that changes are the words and the sentences.

I let the students use one marker for this center - it helps them stay interested, it helps them to slow down and it helps them see what they are writing.

You can grab these centers (for free!) by clicking on the link below:

Pocket Chart Center

I love this center!  It really helps the students listen to the patterns in the words.  I use this center as a review center - so if we worked on short a last week, that is what the students will be working with at the pocket chart center this week.  

Here is how it works:

The students put up the header cards.  Then, they sort the pictures under the corresponding header.  For their accountability sheet (which I also put in a sheet protector), they have to use what they know about the patterns to spell the words and use three of the words in a sentence.

Of course I forgot to take a picture of this center...so here it is on my living room floor:

Click on the picture below to grab the pack with the chalkboard center and pocket chart center.  

Again, at this point I only have the short vowels and blends made, but I will update it when I finish the others.

What centers do you use in your classroom that your students love?  I would love to hear about them!

Beginning of the Year Procedures

I made it through the first few weeks of school and lived to tell about it (:  I feel like all I have done is teach procedures.  As exhausting as it can be, teaching and practicing the procedures is what helps the year run smoothly.  I thought I would share a few of the things that we spent our first few weeks doing.

#1 - Our Classroom Promise
I feel that building a community in the classroom is crucial!  We spend the first day talking about the classroom promise and we discuss each part, what it means and what it will look like in our classroom.  Then, the students create their faces as their "signature" on the promise.  I hang this on the wall and we say it together every.single.day for the first few months.  I also refer back to certain parts constantly (this is who we are even when no one is watching....or when someone asks us to stop, we do!).

I can't take credit for this - my cooperating teacher when I student taught had it and then a coworker from a few years ago tweaked it so that it would rhyme.  The kids (and myself) love it!  Click on the picture below for a downloadable copy.

#2 - Building a Culture of Readers
Our school was a reward school for the second year in a row.  That means that we are in the top 5% of the state!  We have come such a long way in the past five years and I am blessed to work with such hard-working, incredible people.  One of the things that we do at the beginning of every year is a have a Reading Kick-Off.  People from the community came to support us.  We had the superintendent, the director of elementary schools, our state representative, high school cheerleaders, a step team and a drum line come and perform for us and every grade level creates a reading cheer.  It is so much fun and the kids always have a blast.  This year our "motto" is Set Your Goal and Aim High.  This was on the stage during our Reading Kick-Off - but then it was moved inside so we could take class pictures with it:

We took millions of class pictures with this :)  I am going to use them at the end of the year when we write about the goals that we reached!

#3 - Teaching Center Procedures
A few years ago we were expected to begin small reading groups and centers on the Monday of the first week!  It was terrible.  The kids didn't have the time to build up the stamina and they didn't fully understand what to do at each center - so basically it was a mess!  Luckily, I have AMAZING administrators and they listened to our concerns.  Now, we have the first two weeks of school to teach center procedures and build reading stamina.  And let me tell you, it is so much better.

We set up a schedule for what to teach each day during our 90 minute reading block.  Here is what it looks like:

Day 1 - Library Center

Day 2 - Library Center

Day 3 - Computer Center

Day 4 - Pocket Chart Center

Day 5 - Chalkboard Center

Day 6 - Writing Center

Day 7 - Listening Center

Day 8 - Rotation Procedures

Day 9 - 10 minute rotations

Day 10 - 12 minute rotations

Day 11 - 15 minute rotations

Day 12 - 18 minute rotations

Day 13 - 18 minute rotations

Day 14 - 20 minute rotations

Here is how the first few days go:

On day 1, we teach procedures for the library center (how to treat the books, how to properly sort the books, etc.) and we practice reading for 3 minutes.  Yep, a whole 3 minutes.  Afterwards, we create an expectation chart together:

I don't have a picture of the library one, so here is writing!

After we have created the expectation chart, I have students model examples and non-examples for the center (they love this part!).  Then, we brainstorm what we will do at library center and what we will not do at library center.  The students pick one of each and record it on this page (which we will later turn it a center expectation book):

Yay! First day of center procedures is done (:

We do this same thing every time that we teach each center, and it helps the students really understand how to do the centers.  The second day we practice for 5 minutes, then days 3 - 7 we practice for 8 minutes.  We eventually build our way up to 20 minutes!

I post our expectation charts at each center to remind the students of how they should be acting.

#4 - Books, Book and More Books!
My donorschoose project was funded! (If you have never been on this website, you should really check it out!  You create a project for what your class needs and people all over the country can donate).  We received 75 books through this project!

Then, my coworker wrote a grant and got $3,000 to spend and we bought more books!  They should be arriving any day now.  We are so blessed!

Hopefully I can get ahead this weekend and get better about posting what we are doing in my room.  How have your first days been?
 

Nerd Alert!

I have even more organizational ideas to share with you!  My co-workers make fun of me for how organized I am, but it makes everything run smoothly during the school day so it makes it all worth it!

Organization Idea #1: I think hope that I figured out a way to organize my centers, so I wanted to share (:
At each center I have a tub:

(You can see the tub on the bottom left)

Since I am putting a reading center, math center and writing center at each location, I had to figure out how to store all of the different materials in a way that the students would understand.  My solution?  Sheet protectors!!

Yay!!  Here is what it would look like during center time:

If a student is going to the Chalkboard Center (Center #3), they would walk over and open the bin located at that center.  The student would then pull out the sheet protector that corresponds with the subject we are doing (reading, math or writing).  There are labels on the bottom of the sheet protector to help students find the one they need quickly:

Also, the picture on all of the reading directions is the same, the math picture is the same and the writing picture is the same.



The directions are on the front of the sheet protector:

And the worksheet/materials for the center are located behind the directions (so the students would just flip the sheet protector over).

I am so excited!!  I hope this works well.  I know I will probably have to change out the sheet protectors every so often, but they are very inexpensive!



Organization Idea #2:  I carry a notebook around with me everywhere I go.  But it may not be the same notebook.  I just grab whatever notebook is closest so I have something to write in.  Also, the notes are all jumbled.  So there are many times that I forget to do something because I didn't bring home the right notebook or I overlooked the note I wrote about it.  Not this year!

I went to Wal-Mart and bought a notebook that is specifically for my notes:

Then, I used the Post-It clear tabs and printed on them (similar to what I did for my math journals here).  Now, when I add notes to my notebook, I can put them in the correct area!

My tabs are: To Do, To Make, To Buy, Important Dates & Other.

So when I need to remember what exactly it was I was supposed to buy, I can just turn to that section!  When I buy it, I will just cross it out.  

I am so excited to start using it!  I also bought another notebook that I will use specifically for planning notes -- and they match (:

I hope these tips help you!  I would love to hear about any organizational strategies that help your year run smoothly!