It’s the beginning of a new school year, and it is time to set up literacy stations that will allow students to work independently. One of my favorite routines and procedures to teach in the first 20 days of school is my literacy stations.
Expectations
First, I introduce each station using the T charts to write the expectations for what students do and what the teacher does in each station. Here is an example:
We review this chart every day before practicing the station. Then, either I or a student model how to correctly work at the station. As the student models, I ask my class which expectations the model student is following. I may prompt them by asking them, “Is Student A working the whole time?” I check off all the expectations the student met.
Next, I ask another student to intentionally model the wrong way to work at the station. After the student wrongly models it, I ask the class which expectation the student did not meet while modeling the station and I cross these out.
Then, I ask the student to model the station again but to make sure he/she does it correctly. As the student models how to do it correctly, I ask my students to name which expectations the model student is following. I then change the X mark for a check mark.
By doing this, students get a chance to see the correct way to work on at each station. I then print the chart, and hang around the classroom so students can reference to it as they work independently.
After setting expectations, I introduce my students how to rotate through the stations using this Literacy Station Rotations Chart for ActivInspire Promethean Boards.
Pick Your Station
In years past, I introduced literacy stations following the Daily 5 routines, as they were the right fit for my classroom. After I introduced the reading, writing and any of the other 3 stations, I showed students how to take turns choosing their station.
Students added their number or name to the chart. This allowed students to have a choice on the tasks they wanted to work on first. I love the flexibility that this digital literacy chart provides as stations can be blocked off (by drawing a rectangle) to limit the number of students in each station.
Assigned Stations
Last year, my school district adopted a new curriculum and I needed to adapt my stations to align with the new curriculum. I use the 3 and 4 rotation charts to assigned the work they needed to complete during the day. These charts allowed me to be flexible and change the stations as needed.
Want to use this digital literacy station chart in your classroom too? Check it out in my TPT store. Don’t forget to pin this blog for ideas on how to use this rotation chart.
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