Literacy Centers-Courtney S

After searching for different websites about literacy centers I discovered two websites that I found helpful. I really like the idea of using literacy centers but I wasn’t sure how they actually worked and what activities would be useful for them until I found these websites! The first website: http://www.ourschoolfamily.com/Literacy%20Centers.htm was useful because it provided examples of the different centers. The website was organized and had pictures of each idea that it provided. Underneath the pictures was an explanation of what the center was like and what the students do. Also, a cool feature of the website was that they included links underneath certain pictures of center ideas that would relate. The one thing about the website is that it isn’t very detailed about how to implement the ideas. It does provide good examples of activities to use in the centers.
The next website: http://www.busyteacherscafe.com/literacy_stations/management.htm i found even more helpful. It tells you how long each group should stay at the different centers and how many times they should rotate (3). I liked how the website didn’t just show one teacher’s way of managing and implementing the centers. There were several pictures of different teacher’s ideas of how to manage the centers. I liked a combination of a bunch of them. One showed a little “mailbox” next to the groups to put Popsicle sticks with the students name in it to show which group each student is in. I like this because I would want to mix up my groups often. Popsicle sticks might not be the best solution in case students mix them up, but it gives me the idea of how to organize my groups. Also there are links of different resources like examples of literacy center assignments, station signs and a page that gives an over view of the literacy center ideas. Also, there are links to other sites. There are some links for student center activities for different grades, mini lessons, rotation schedules and many other very useful things! One thing I really like is that she also posts books about literacy centers. There is even a link to Amazon.com to buy them along with the price of the books! This website is very organized and provides a lot of good examples I can use to create my literacy centers in my future classroom!