ORGANIZED TEACHING

Organized Teaching: Center Activities

 

NOTE: This page is outdated, I will update it with the "NEW" information during the 2008-2009 school year.  Please visit my "Reading and Writing Options" pages if you wish to see how I run "center" time now.  I'll update the "organizing centers" pages as time permits.  For now, the links below will NOT work.  Thanks.

Do I organize by skill or by area?  Well, that is a very good question.  I guess you have to do what makes sense for you.  That, for me, means that I organize them by area.  You see, my Literacy Corners (centers) pretty much all have activities that focus on the same skills, so to organize them by skill wouldn't make much sense for my classroom.  Instead, I organize my activities and materials by area.  I have 10 Literacy Corners (centers) and not every activity is out at the same time, so I need a two storage facilities - - (1) to store activities when they are not being used at the moment, both during the year and summer months, and (2) to store activities that are being used by students at the moment.  

Now, my room has a great, wonderful, fantastic wall of shelves, but they aren't really ideal for student use, so I naturally store my "non used" activities on those.  Each Literacy Corner has 1 (or 2) shelves.  I like this system because each month or every so often when I need to add additional activities or store old activities, I can easily find what I'm looking for.  

For activities and materials that are being used by students, I we use portable carrying cases so that activities/materials can be brought to the Literacy Corner, because not every Literacy Corner has space near it to house/store activities.  Besides, my book bin shelves (white shelves) can house laundry baskets underneath them, making it very easy for students to pull the needed basket and carry it to their Literacy Corner. 

What	Pictures	Explanations
ABC		Students sit at a table, or work on the floor near the table when working with ABC activities.  The activities are stored in rolling bin carts, hardware drawer units, and book bins next to the table.  In addition, some activities are also stored in laundry tubs that are clearly labeled and housed on the white shelving units that hold the book bins - - students carry the tubs to their work area.  Everything is clearly labeled for easy identification.  The "I Can..." poster is on the wall and serves as a reminder to students what activities are available at the moment.  To view how each activity is stored and organized, visit my ABC Literacy Corner page.
Words		Students sit at a table when working with Working with Words activities.  The activities are stored in laundry tubs that are clearly labeled and housed on the white shelving units that hold the book bins - - students carry the tubs to their work area.  Everything is clearly labeled for easy identification.  The "I Can..." poster is on the wall and serves as a reminder to students what activities are available at the moment.   To view how each activity is stored and organized, visit my Working with Words Literacy Corner page.
Felt Board		Students work at the felt board next to the Felt Board center table when working with Felt Board activities.  The activities are stored in laundry tubs that are clearly labeled and housed on the white shelving units that hold the book bins - - students carry the tubs to their work area.  Everything is clearly labeled for easy identification.  The "I Can..." poster is on the wall and serves as a reminder to students what activities are available at the moment.  To view how each activity is stored and organized, visit my Felt Board Literacy Corner page.
Listening		Students sit at a table when working with Listening Center activities.  The activities are stored in laundry tubs that are clearly labeled and housed on the white shelving units that hold the book bins - - students carry the tubs to their work area.  Everything is clearly labeled for easy identification.  The "I Can..." poster is on the wall and serves as a reminder to students what activities are available at the moment.  To view how each activity is stored and organized, visit my Listening Center Literacy Corner page.
Writing		Students sit at a table, when working with Writing activities.  The activities and supplies for the writing center are are stored in pull out drawer units that are clearly labeled and housed on the writing center cart that is next to the writing center table.  Everything is clearly labeled for easy identification.  The "I Can..." poster is on the wall and serves as a reminder to students what activities are available at the moment.  To view how each activity is stored and organized, visit my Writing Literacy Corner page.
Magnet Board		Students work at the Expanded Royal Reading and Writing Center Easel when working with Magnet Board activities.  The activities are stored in laundry tubs that are clearly labeled and housed on the white shelving units that hold the book bins - - students carry the tubs to their work area.  Everything is clearly labeled for easy identification.  The "I Can..." poster is on the wall and serves as a reminder to students what activities are available at the moment.  To view how each activity is stored and organized, visit my Magnet Board Literacy Corner page.
Pocket Chart		Students sit at a table, or work on the floor near the table when working with Pocket Chart activities.  The activities are stored in pull out drawers that are clearly labeled and housed on the white shelving units that hold the pocket chart letter cards (yellow hardware drawer units).  Sentence strip poems are stored on hooks next to the area.  Everything is clearly labeled for easy identification.  The "I Can..." poster is on the wall and serves as a reminder to students what activities are available at the moment.  To view how each activity is stored and organized, visit my Pocket Chart Literacy Corner page.
Fine Motor		Students sit at a table when working with Fine Motor activities.  The activities are stored in laundry tubs that are clearly labeled and housed on the white shelving units that hold the book bins - - students carry the tubs to their work area.  Everything is clearly labeled for easy identification.  The "I Can..." poster is on the wall and serves as a reminder to students what activities are available at the moment.  To view how each activity is stored and organized, visit my Fine Motor Literacy Corner page.
Names		Students sit at a table when working with Names activities.  The activities are stored in laundry tubs that are clearly labeled and housed on the white shelving units that hold the book bins - - students carry the tubs to their work area.  Everything is clearly labeled for easy identification.  The "I Can..." poster is on the wall and serves as a reminder to students what activities are available at the moment.  To view how each activity is stored and organized, visit my Names Literacy Corner page.
Reading		Students sit in the reading corner area when working with Reading activities.  The materials for the reading corner are stored in book bins (on white shelves surrounding the whole group meeting area, in little baskets that are stored on white shelving in the reading corner center, in a Big Book rack which holds our shared reading charts and big books, and on white shelves that store our class books.  Everything is clearly labeled for easy identification.  The "I Can..." poster is on the wall and serves as a reminder to students what activities are available at the moment.  To view how each activity is stored and organized, visit my Reading Literacy Corner page.