Carol Tavares

Posted on 6/29/09

On 6/20/09, Michelle LaMere wrote:
> In April I saw April at the NYS Reading conference. She was going
> to send all the participants samples of Smart Centers, her writing
> portfolio, musical big books and guided reading info. Our
school
> has so many safe guards on incoming emails that I never received
> the info. Does anyone have a way to contact April? I would love a
> copy of the Smart Centers book and have not been able to find one.
> Any thoughts? Thanks, Michelle Grade 3
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> Hi!

Do you think these would work in kindergarten? How does one purchase
the books?

Thanks for the help.

Carol T.
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>> On 6/04/06, Kelly wrote:
>>> On 6/04/06, Pennie wrote:
>>>> Has anyone read the book Teaching with Smart Centers by
>>>> April DeCesare? I was wondering if it would be useful in
>>>> my 1st grade classroom and if it is worth the money.
>>>
>>>
>>> Our district had a whole day long training on smart
>>> centers. It is a great idea... it will take A LOT of
>>> prep... but then not a lot of up-keep. The IDEA is great if
>>> your students can be independant for close to 45 minutes.
>>> They say that you can teach any type of child to work well
>>> with smart centers because they are so engaging and that it
>>> also doesnt matter about ability level... they adapt
>>> themselves to meet the needs of the students.
>>> I personally have taken some of the ideas and adapted them
>>> to fit my 2nd grade class and my personality. I do no own
>>> the book but rather the handouts and notes that I took.
>>>
>>> The first grade teachers from my school thought that it was
>>> REALLY far fetched for their level....
>>>
>>> I guess it all depends on your class and their behavior and
>>> their level and your style.
>>>
>>> Also... time... depending on how many days you have for
>>> it... and how much time you have for it daily.
>>>
>>> I dont know if I was any help...
>>> I just kinda rambled!... SORRY! :-)
>>
>>
>> When I was in the regular classroom the past 3 years, I did use
>> Smart Centers in second, then first grades. I loved them, and
>> the kids loved them. I purchased every book that they had at
>> that time because it was easier to just copy the centers I
>> wanted during that rotation. When you use them for first
>> grade, you just have to use books that are fairly easy at the
>> beginning of the year. At that time, I would have them to read
>> the book twice since it was usually short.
>>
>> It wasn't difficult for the kids to stay on task because they
>> were "fun" but yet they were learning. Sometimes they would
>> skip the writing activity, but I usually kept on top of that.
>> I loved the part of being able to allow my higher level kids to
>> do some challenging activities that are hard to get in the
>> classroom. I usually used 45 min. for first graders and 1 hour
>> for second and third graders. Yes, it was hard to allot that
>> amount of time, but I tried to get it in twice a week. I kind
>> of used it as an incentive, too. If they didn't have their
>> home work done from the night before, then they did it during
>> the first part of Smart Centers. They would still get the
>> reading and writing in, and part of the activity, but at least
>> they got their homework done in the process. My students
>> absolutely loved them, too. I was able to pull kids out after
>> they all got to the reading part to do a guided reading
>> activity.
>>
>> Yes, it takes a while to get everything ready, but they would
>> last anywhere from 3-4 weeks. To me it's worth it to keep the
>> kids involved in learning and it was fun for them. I feel they
>> learned a lot and they were using cooperative and integrated
>> learning.
>>
>> Valerie Murbarger
>> West Salem Grade School
>> West Salem, IL
>

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