Learning Centres- Tips For Success
How Can I Prepare for Success?
Keep
it simple to get started! Start with one centre and build slowly as you
gain confidence and a sense of what activities work best.
|
"Remember it's better to do a good job with
only a few centres than to overextend yourself and provide a less
meaningful experience for both you and the students."
Teacher Gr. 6/7 |
Start
with a subject you feel most comfortable. Using your curriculum guide, plan
the activities and experiences which will enhance your goals. Write out
your instructions clearly. Be specific. Where will they work? How will they
work? What materials will they need?
|
"Initially constant modeling and
role playing are required, and for a while, it does take longer to
get everything done." Regie Routman, 1994
|
Take time to introduce the Centres and practice the procedures. At the beginning,
do not plan activities which require teacher involvement such as small group
work or conferencing - leave this time open for monitoring and reinforcing
student behavior - this is crucial to setting the stage for success. As
Centre time becomes an established pattern, then alternate teacher activities
may be added.
|
"Every moment invested in teaching routines is time well spent, because it will save hours of instructional time later." Fountas and Pinnell, 1996 Video
Clip |
Begin slowly and gradually increase the requirements.
|
Week 1 - Make your goal for students to simply understand
the schedule and rotation. Activities should be easy and familiar,
allowing students to gain an understanding of the Centre approach. |
Plan and rehearse your management system - how will students organize and
record their progress? Assesment
Rehearse movement
through centres.
Practice helping procedures
- model how you want students to handle questions or problems and role play.
Promote cooperative learning with strategies such as "Ask 3 before
me."
Evaluation and sharing
time - 5 minutes for evaluating the success of the group or individual personal
reflection on the student’s work. 5 - 10 minutes of sharing to bring
reinforcement and positive closure to activity time.
Work
smarter not harder - develop a centre and keep
it going all year long simply changing the activities to suit the instructional
needs and interests of the students, classroom themes etc. Make activities
that are self checking and do not require a hand-in sheet to be corrected.
Solicit
parent help in the younger grades to work at centres with games where rules
may be an issue.
Teach "Who goes first?" strategies, consensus skills and majority
rules through discussion and role play.
How Can I Manage Early Finishers or Never Finishers?
The "early finishers" and the "never finishers"
are a fact of life regardless of whether you use the Learning Centre strategy
or not.
Set a standard procedure
for early finishers - silent reading from a basket of books in the younger
grades or personal reading material in the older grades.
Set high expectations
for all students in your classroom but be flexible in adjusting activities
for students who have difficulty finishing their work.
Designate a catch-up
period each week, in which any missed centres or incomplete activities can
be finished. Allowing for some activities to be required and some activities
to be optional, provides additional activities for early finishers.
For students with attention difficulties, provide a cubicle work space with
fewer distractions.
 |
Best Practices: Pieces of the Puzzle Copyright 2003 Regina Public Schools and Saskatchewan Learning |
 |