Re: Centers for Middle school reading

I've used centers for years with reading classes from 7th
through 12th grade. How you set them up depends on how much
time you have. I teach in a block schedule and what I
usually do is have 6 stations/centers. The students spend 20
minutes at each station, completing half of them one day and
half the next. My stations usually went something like this:
1. Vocabulary--this could include prefix/suffixes, word
sorts, word maps, synonym paragraphs, or games like boggle,
scrabble, etc.
2. Independent Practice--of whatever strategy/skill we were
working on at that time, using examples either from their
independent reading book or from short passages I provided
3. Computer--this could be using FCAT Explorer (Florida
standardized test prep.), Quizlet (If you don't know what
this is, go to www.quizlet.com; you'll love it), doing a
webquest, etc. (Yes, I have four student computers in my
class.)
4. Book Share--discussing different books, planning book
talks, creating visuals or illustrations based on books
they're reading, creating podcasts or Power Points, etc.
5. OPEN--maybe another vocabulary station or another
independent practice station. Maybe an assignment based on a
story/selection we're currently reading.
6. Meet with the teacher--individually or in small groups to
discuss what each is reading or to work on skills they are
having difficulty with
On 10/15/08, Pamala Kukoyi wrote:
> Help !!! I'm teaching in a school that requires I use
> centers once a week in my reading classes, I need some
> help.