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Author Study
The Author Study
Work Station was designed to help students learn more about
an author and his/her works. In the back of the room I
have a plastic storage bin/drawer that has various books by
the author we are studying that month, reader's theater
pieces designed from books he/she wrote, biographies and
other resources I could find on that author. The students
also have an opportunity to learn about an author by viewing
his/her website also.
Computers The Computer
Work Station is one of the most popular work stations with
the students. At this work station, students read or listen
to books on the computer. Then, they answer questions about
the book or complete an activity related to it. Students may
also work on their keyboarding skills or another program
that could enhance the students learning.
Learning Games Our school purchased 2 sets of reading comprehension games from Lakeshore Learning. Though the games are housed in my classroom, they are used by the entire third grade team. Students can play a reading comprehension board game with others or play a file folder game.
Listening At this work station, students listen to a book on tape. If it is a novel, they must record their counter spot and page in the book. Our school had money budgeted to purchase new listening center books per grade level. I built a listening center storage area to help organize and hold the materials. We had tile put in this summer, so I purchased some little circular, foam mats from Ikea for the kids to sit at while they are at the listening work station. New this year is a junction box from Lakeshore Learning. The blue junction box can plug into a stereo and had hook ups for eight headphones with individual volume controls. I have one plugged into my cd player and it will allow me to have two listening work stations and to play either tapes or cd's in one of them! A worthwhile investment (around $20)! Listening Work Station Activity Sheet
Literacy Folders For this station, I purchased two wonderful books: Take It To Your Seat Literacy Centers for grades 2-3 and 3-4. I organized these into two sets of folders: yellow for the 2-3 folders and blue for the 3-4 folders. I keep the folders in a plastic crate. The students can take their pick of an activity from the yellow folders during the first half of the year and then from the blue folders for the second half of the year.
Newspaper and Non-Fiction The materials for this work station is also organized in a plastic drawer. I have a binder with various National Geographic World magazine articles in sheet protectors, laminated newspaper articles and activity sheets to accompany the task cards. I also have non-laminated newspaper articles to be cut out and highlighted for one of the task card activities. The task cards were copied from the book Practice with Purpose by Debbie Diller. Newspaper and Non-Fiction Activities
Poetry For this work station, I copied poems from various sources. Poems that came from magazines were put into sheet protectors. The poems and activities are kept in a labeled plastic drawer. The students can use task cards to select an activity. Worksheets designed to accompany the task cards are located in a binder inside the drawer. The task cards were copied from the book Practice with Purpose by Debbie Diller. I have also taken poetry comprehension activities and added them into this work station as another activity option. Poetry Activities
Reading Comprehension For this work station, I made copies of various multiple-choice reading comprehension activities and put these into a binder. Students have a checklist to mark off which activity they completed. Most of the activities came from materials purchased by our district. I also used articles from the various Highlights Magazines that I got for free. Some of the articles were torn out and placed into sheet protectors, while other magazines were kept together. All items are kept in a labeled plastic drawer. Another possibility for this work station is to hand out a reading comprehension activity to the students at the beginning of each new rotation cycle. The students keep the activity in their Work Station Activity Folder until they are in the Reading Comprehension Work Station. If a student finishes the activity before the time is up, then he/she can choose a Highlights Magazine to read, silent read, free write or work on any reading group assignments. Reading Comprehension Tic-Tac-Toe
Teacher Choice This is the newest addition to my Literacy Work Station Wheel. This station allows me to have the freedom to incorporate some of the other stations that I may not use on a regular basis and to change the options throughout the year. This work station is just what is says- Teacher Choice. I choose what the activity will be for the two week session.
Word Work For this work station, I have a variety of activities. I purchased alphabet noodles and used frozen food dishes to hold the noodles and allow the students to spell out their spelling words. I have a variety of magnets for students to also spell out their spelling words. I purchased a Weekly Word Sort book from Scholastic and printed off some word sorts from www.readinga-z.com and put them into small manila envelopes. These are all kept in a magazine holder for the students to have access to. I also have a bin with various foam blocks that the students can use to make sentences. I keep all of these activities on a wire rack purchased from Wal-Mart. I also purchased Boggle and Scrabble for my students to play at this work station as well!
Writing For this work station, I used a large table in my classroom and organized a variety of materials for writing. I have a variety of paper, pens, stickers, stamps, envelopes, and writing prompt.
Whisper Phones For this work station, the students use whisper phones to practice their fluency and expression while reading. I created several whisper phones from pvc piping and elbows. The students can read a book of their choice, a reader's theater piece or a short fluency passage during this time.
Graphics from www.thistlegirldesigns.com |
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