For years, this page was called, “Centers: Hundreds of ideas for inexpensive, easy to make, fun centers… and how to run them”. However, I’ve always asked myself, do teachers really needs hundreds of new materials to create, or do they need an effective system for managing reading instruction? The more I learn about education, I’m convinced it’s the latter, and in 2006 I changed the entire arrangement of the centers/literacy pages to reflect that perspective. If you leave this site feeling as though you have MORE WORK on your plate, I’ve done something wrong. I want this site to make your teaching easier, more efficient, and more meaningful.
Centers have become an obsession with many teachers. Maybe it’s the creative side of us, wanting an opportunity to make cute games and activities, or maybe it’s bewilderment about what students should be doing while we’re teaching reading groups. It’s a cause for concern no matter what the reason, because centers have frequently turned into something time-consuming, expensive, and difficult to manage, and children aren’t transferring the skills they are practicing during centers into authentic tasks later on. In many classrooms, centers have become an elaborate system that wastes the time of both children and teachers.
TEACHERS DO **NOT** HAVE TO SPEND HOURS CREATING CENTERS TO TEACH READING EFFECTIVELY!!
If centers are serving a meaningful purpose in your classroom, that’s wonderful. My goal is not to discourage you from using centers, but to encourage you to:
1) Question whether centers are the most effective use of both your time and your students: Ask yourself, what do centers accomplish in your classroom, and is there a more effective method that could get the same results?
2) Strive to create a reading group rotation system (which may or may not include centers) that makes teaching EASIER for you and more meaningful for students.
What benefits can centers add to your classroom???
Centers can be a time for students to practice the skills that were taught in class through activities that encompass a variety of learning styles. Centers should be an opportunity to reinforce concepts for children who do not always learn best through traditional teaching methods or who need hands-on experiences.
What role do centers often end up playing in the classroom?
Centers frequently consume hours of the teacher’s prep time and result in an expensive, chaotic, management nightmare consisting of free play or busy work in which children practice skills in isolation and never transfer them to authentic tasks.
Without centers, what are kids supposed to do while I teach reading groups?
I encourage you to read the book, “Reading Strategies” by Regie Routman. It will revolutionize the way you structure your reading time and will leave you feeling energized and read to simplify all of your instruction. Ms. Routman believes that students should spend the majority of their time in school reading, not doing activities about reading. While you’re teaching small groups, she suggests having students:
-Do independent reading (each student chooses a book on his/her reading level)
-Finish reading or re-read the book(s) you began during reading groups or explore a related/ extension text alone or with a partner
-Work on meaningful projects (generally related to shared reading experiences)
All of those methods have engaged my students as much as or more than centers have. Having children read books on the topics they are interested in and that are on their individual reading levels is ALWAYS a good use of their time. It’s also a very quiet activity, which is helpful when you’re teaching reading groups. Book-related projects can be incredibly engaging if properly designed (see the Projects page and Reading Activities page for ideas) because they are authentic and purposeful. Best of all, both reading and projects require far less prep work and management than centers do.
Centers don’t have to be for reading group time only!
If you really think centers are useful for your kids, you can still have children complete authentic reading tasks during your group rotations- simply schedule centers for another time during the day. Here are some times during which centers can be done:
-Morning Work: Mandy Gregory (www.mandygregory.com) has some awesome ideas for having kids spend their reading group time on meaningful reading tasks, and using centers for morning work. I love the idea of having children unpack, sharpen pencils, and delve right into center activities- what a motivation for kids to be on time for school and to get started working! You would never have to worry about kids being off-task because they’re bored, and you could lengthen or shorten the time each day to suit the number of tasks you need to complete (attendance, checking HW, etc.).
-Indoor Recess/ Fun Friday/ Free Time: Use centers as a reward for your students. Give them an hour every Friday afternoon as part of your regular schedule, or as part of your behavior management system in which children have to earn free time for centers. Alternatively, some teachers allow their students to earn up to 10 or 15 free minutes at the end of every day (subtracting/ adding minutes according to pre-determined behavior standards). The class could work for time to use centers at the end of the day instead of free time- that's extremely motivating for them and more beneficial.
-As Part Of Your Instructional Time: I frequently use my whole class time to introduce activities that will become centers or home games. The whole class plays games at once, so I can go around to ask probing questions and challenge students' thinking. This strategy is very effective- in fact, it's the whole premise behind my Math Tubs games.
If you must do centers during reading group time
Many of you will want (or be mandated) to create literacy centers. to use while you teach guided reading. Centers CAN be fabulous hands-on learning experiences if properly designed and managed. I have used them on and off over the years, and I’ll share some of my ideas below.
Workstations: 3 steps to an EASY and purposeful reading group center system
If you're a new teacher, someone who has not really used centers in the past, or an experienced teacher who is tired of trying to keep up with complicated and time-consuming center set-ups, follow these 3 steps for creating a VERY simple system that is meaningful for kids. I've entitled it 'Workstations':
1) Set up only a handful of ‘workstations’, or even easier: don't use any center areas at all.
This is a tremendous space-saver for those who don't have room for center areas in the room. You can keep all your centers in one rolling cart (more about that below). Or, if you want to have 'areas', just pick a few. You don't need an overhead center, a making words center, etc. There's certainly nothing wrong with having lots of different center areas- but you'll have to make more materials and keep a tighter rein on your management as students try to figure out where to go and how to use the materials. Limiting the amount of workstations or centers you have enables children to work more independently, freeing you to teach.
You could have one workstation for each skill students will be practicing: Word Work, Comprehension, Spelling, Writing, etc. 4-5 stations is a good workable number.
2) Provide differentiated choices within each workstation using labeled containers.
Keep all the centers in one rolling cart, with a drawer for each center group or reading group. Students can choose any materials you have in the drawer. If you have workstations, you can have one cart for each workstation. You can change or vary the materials as you teach new skills- there will be plenty for kids to work on, and they can do the same thing more than once if they choose to for additional reinforcement. You won’t need to change the materials more often than once a month.
Advantages:
-You can rotate new items through periodically without having to add a lot at once
-Instruction is differentiated by skill level, so kids can work independently on tasks that are challenging for them but not over their heads
-Students are more motivated to complete the work because there is an element of choice
-Kids can’t be ‘done’ with the center because there are other materials to choose from
-You can include meaningful activities that take multiple days, since the child can continue working anytime s/he goes to centers
3) Have center groups that are separate from reading groups.
If all of your below-grade-level readers are in centers at the same time, they’ll have no one to help them. Choose mixed-ability center groups, taking into consideration personality and who works well together. Children in each center group can rotate through the various workstations together.
Reading groups can be flexible (pull the students who need to work on a specific skill, so groups are always different) or traditional, homogenous groups. Just have the whole class working on centers, and call each reading group to you when you are ready. They will leave their workstations while the others work, and return when you’re ready for them to go back. This also allows you to send kids back to the workstation they were in if they have finished the reading group task early or have demonstrated mastery, allowing you to continue working with those who need additional support.
Sounds good- how do I start? Resources for the 3 easy step Workstation system
There are a lot of other center resources on this site because I've done so many different things in the past. However, if you are feeling overwhelmed and want to stick with the basics I outlined above, the only other page you need to view is
Introducing Centers: Teaching children procedures for using materials responsibly. Then you can create the materials that you want, using ideas from books, other websites, or suggestions from this site. You'll just need to put whatever centers you create in your workstation drawers.
Center Management and Organizational Tips
Introducing Centers: Teaching children procedures for usng materials responsibly
Photos of my center areas set up around the room
Photos of some of my center activities
67 ideas for literacy centers and links to printable centers
Math Tubs: Partner games for practicing math skills
Workjobs: Differentiating instruction through projects in a centers-based format
