Center Management Tips
Strategies for organizing, assigning, and assessing center work
Setting Up Center Areas Around the Room
Many teachers have students sit at their desks to do centers because it's more orderly or because the classroom has limited space, but some of my centers have distracting materials so I usually had my students sit at designated points in the room to complete centers. This also allows them to move around the room and sit in a new spot. I've done this in several ways. In one classroom, I had signs printed from abcteach.com identifying each of the multiple intelligences: I hung the signs around the room so students knew where to sit (by the sink, on the rug, etc.). Centers which had activities requiring more room were in open areas, those with distracting materials were in corners, etc. You can see pictures of this on the Classroom Tour '02-'03 page. The classroom I'm in now is conducive to having formal, permanent center areas, so I tried that one year. Check out the page of center area pictures to see how I set up my room for centers.
What If You Don't Have Room For Centers?
I have been emailed this question at least 50 times, so you're not alone! And I've been in that position, too. At one school, I was in a classroom about half the size of my current one, so I had students sit in groups of 6, and one group of six at a time was at centers. They all took their centers back to their seats unless the center required them to be someplace else. Centers (and workjobs) can work just as well at students' desks- all you need is a compact, easy way of storing them. Take some of the classroom tours on the site and you'll get the idea of how to maximize your space. Workstations (explained on the main Centers page) are a great solution for teachers with limited space.
Ideas for Creating Centers
Click here to see pictures of my centers. I have gotten numerous requests for printable copies of them, but unfortunately, I can't provide them. The directions for many of the centers are copyrighted, and most of the ones I made up were lost when my computer crashed a few years ago, before I was smart enough to back up my work! However, you can click here for literacy center ideas. This is an inspiring list of center ideas gathered from all over the internet and also contains links to great center sites. I have not tried all of the ideas, so please email me if you do and let me know how they worked, or send in your own creative ideas!
I encourage you to have AS FEW CENTERS AS POSSIBLE for management purposes. It is not necessary to have an overhead center, a making words center, etc. Instead, try having 3-5 workstations or center areas, and have a small variety of materials in each one. (See '3 Easy Steps' on the Centers page).
Designing Centers Based on the Multiple Intelligences
(The following was written in the 2003-2004 school year- I no longer use this system because I like to try something different each year) Many of my centers are based upon Howard Gardener's Multiple Intelligences theory, in which he explains that everyone is smart in a variety of ways, not just those traditionally valued by schools. At the beginning of the year, I give the kids a survey so they can be more aware of their learning style and strengths. After completing the survey, they graph their different strengths and write a paragraph explaining how they learn best. When they begin using centers, students practice the same skills repeatedly, but in different ways depending on what center they are in. For example, in a Bodily-Kinesthetic center, they may lay on the floor and do rubbings of their spelling words, while in a Logical Mathematical center, they may do a word join like the game Scrabble using their spelling words. I used to do only literacy centers but recently incorporated math centers, as well. Within the center for each type of intelligence, there are several choices of activities so students can never claim to be "done" with a center or complain they have already completed everything there. Numerous teachers have asked for more resources on MI for primary-aged children because the materials are so hard to find, but I recently cam across Laura Candler's File Cabinet, which is a treasure chest of info on MI and many other topics:
MI Survey MI lessons and directions Ways people are smart sorting slips Smart song MI center labels from abc teach
Organizing Centers
The two photos above show how Mrs. Rivera, who used to teach 4th grade at my school, organized centers. She had one drawer for each subject area or type of center, and switched our the materials inside about once a quarter. Each child was assigned a number and put a card with his/her number on it in the pocket so that the teacher and other children knew that someone has some materials for the drawer at his/her desk. (Sometimes she allowed them to take the whole drawer). They did all of their work in a binder, also pictured above, with one section for each type of center. The binders were collected quarterly with a grade given based on effort and completeness. Mrs. Rivera used the math center work for one math grade, reading center work for one reading grade, etc. This was a generally a boost for most kids' averages. The work was then stapled and sent home. I love this because it's so low-maintenence for the teacher and requires the kids to be responsible for their work. I would try this system with my 3rd graders (with lots of modeling and support at first) and definitely with 4th grade on up. Thanks, Mrs. Rivera!
You can see from my class center area photos how I organize center materials. There are lots of different ways.
In an IKEA catalog, I saw hanging closet organizers on a clothes rack, and I thought, that would be perfect for centers! Two large organizers and one small one fit perfectly on a pocket chart stand and cost about $20 total. (They're also available at Target, etc. in the clothes care aisle). The spaces are big enough to hold file folders. Altogether there would be 20 compartments, so if the whole class is ever doing centers/ workjobs at the same time, any remaining children in the class can go on the computer.
Introducing Centers To Your Class
The beginning of the year is always the hardest but it will get easier if your students are trained well on how to use and clean up the materials. Many new teachers believe they should have centers up and running within the first week of school. I don't even get them out until at least the second or third week, and I introduce the centers very slowly, one at a time, modeling EVERYTHING. The kids role-play how to use the materials, solve problems, get help, put the materials away, etc. Without this foundation, centers (and consequently, reading groups), will be a time of chaos with little learning taking place. See the Introducing Centers page for very detailed guidelines on teaching students to use centers responsibly and easing children in the centers you've created at a manageable pace.
Determining Who Goes to Which Center
I have used tracking forms, spinners, and charts to do this. The tracking form system worked like this: each child had a list of all the centers and checked them off as they rotated through in order. The spinner, pictured below, has numbers on it, representing a student (each child was assigned their own number, which was used for many things in the classroom). I turned the spinner one center over during each rotation. So for example, if your number was 4, on the day shown in the photo, you would go to Nature Smart. Number 19 would go to Picture Smart, etc. Some of the centers had a lot of activities in them, so the students would go to the same center 2 days in a row. This also worked well because absent students had a chance to go to the center they would have missed. More importantly, it allowed them to complete more in-depth tasks.
It is advisable to have mixed-ability center groups. If you send your entire below-grade-level reading group to centers at once, they will struggle without having you or more proficient peers to consult when they need help. It's actually not complicated at all to have heterogenous center groups and homogeneous reading groups: see the Reading Groups page for details.
You can also have children choose their own centers. While they do need to complete each center eventually, they can do them in any order (choosing whichever center is available to them on a given day) and will mark off which ones have been completed on a WorkJob/ Center planning sheet. You can have choices within each center, so if students occasionally do the same center twice, they’ll still be able to practice new skills.
What If Kids Have Questions While They're In Centers?
If you're using mixed-ability center groups (see paragraph above), this won't be an issue, because the children can whisper to their peers.
A note about group centers: While many teachers have great results, I still don’t do these. When kids work in groups, they talk. If half a dozen kids (or more) are whispering when I’m trying to get another group of kids to focus on my reading lesson, I can’t concentrate, and neither can the kids in the group. My rule is, if I have to stop my small group to get you back on task or tell you to stop talking, your center privileges are done for the day. Math tubs are the time in my classroom for interacting and collaborative problem solving because all students are doing them at once and a low level of noise will not interrupt anyone. Like everything else on this site, that's just what works for me.
Strategies for Center/ Reading Group Transitions
It can be difficult to keep your materials straight for all those reading groups, and even harder to make sure the kids in centers aren't playing around while you're teaching a reading group. However, there are lots of things you can do to help this process run more smoothly. Click here to visit the Reading Groups page.
Grading And Assessing Center Work
I honestly spend very little time on this. My students used to complete center work in their journals so there were no papers to photocopy or grade. Occasionally I would check journals, walk around and observe students in centers, or have students reflect in their journals afterwards about what they learned or practiced. If I could tell from their practice that the students were using center time to their full advantage, I felt like that is enough. If students were playing around, I either reviewed center rules, reintroduced specific materials so their purpose and use were better understood, or revoked center privileges for a specific child or group of children for a few days. They know that I cannot allow them to waste their own time during centers, and if they insist on doing so, I have no choice but to give them alternative assignments. In recent years, I have begun requiring greater accountability for my students. I used a system with second graders in which they placed their papers in a large pocket chart (one pocket for each child). I flipped through the papers once a week or so to make sure students were on the right track, and after about a month, when all students had completed all centers, I took out the papers. I graded the ones I thought were the most indicative of students' progress and abilities, then stapled the rest together and used a stamp that says, 'Read but not corrected'.
Another way to collect center work is to have a large manila envelope (basket, folder, etc.) in each of those centers or in a designated place in the room. As students complete the work, they check off their name or number on the checklist attached to it, and slip their work inside. At the end of the week or month, anyone who has not completed a center that requires work to be turned in will have an opportunity to do so (maybe on a Friday afternoon), and when the checklist shows everyone is done, collect the envelope and grade the papers inside. This can be more effective than having kids keep all their own work in a folder or journal because it's so much more efficient to grade a whole stack of like papers at the same time.
If students choose which centers to go to, and you grade certain ones, you can keep that a mystery so they'll work equally hard on all tasks, or you can tell them ahead of time. If students know which centers will be graded, they can prioritize their time: if a graded center is not being used, they should choose that first, as it will be required for each student to complete those by the end of each month (or your set period of time). Graded centers can be change monthly, and non-graded centers approximately every other month. On the Workjob/ Centers Planning Sheet, only the first 5 are graded, and there is a place for students to check those 5 off because they are the priority and must be completed as soon as possible.
If you teach upper elementary grades, you can have the kids develop rubrics for the centers. Discuss as a class what the expectations are and determine point values for each expectations. The trainer at a Literacy workshop I took said she told her 4th graders they could get a free 100 points every week just for doing the right thing in centers. They kept all their center work in individual folders, which she looked through on a regular basis (Monday- BGL group, Tuesday- OGL group, etc.). If they had completed the work, they got 100 points. She had a big disclaimer saying that the quality of center work would affect the points earned- if the child had clearly rushed or made up answers, points were taken off. Also, if children were playing around in centers, she would start subtracting points from their 100 that they could earn for the week. To me, this seems like a very reasonable system that could be easily implemented and that children would really buy into. I'm going to try something similar this year- I'll let you know how it goes!
Are Centers/ Workjobs Appropriate For the Grade I Teach?
This is another question I am asked all the time, and before I even find out what the person teaches, I say YES! I have seen centers used effectively in classrooms from PreK-12. Workjobs, the way I do them, should be effective for any children who can read independently (2nd grade on up). Tailor the system to match your preferences and you kids' needs, and it will be effective!
Is It Worth Buying Books About Centers?
Personally, I do not buy a lot of books because they are expensive and I normally take what I need from them right away and then don't look at them again for a long time. For me, it's more cost-effective to check out what different library systems offer (I have library cards in several counties in multiple states that I travel to frequently so I can see what's new when I go). I also borrow from other teachers and get a tremendous amount of information free online. (The Links page lists some of my favorites). I'm not a big fan of those pre-made center books that you just photocopy, laminate, and cut out because there aren't many real-world applications with those and very few manipulatives other than paper, but there are some worthwhile ones, and I have some centers in my classroom that are made from those books. One of the best books for intermediate elementary teachers is by Debbie Miller and is called, "Practice With Purpose: Literacy Work Stations for Grades 3-6". Much of the center information out there is designed for younger grades and this is an excellent resource to help upper elementary teachers make the most of their students' advanced abilities and to challenge them in really fun and meaningful ways. I took a workshop in June 2006 that was based on this book and it was really useful. Debbie Diller also has a book called "Literacy Work Stations" that I have NOT read but is appropriate for younger grades and incorporates the same ideas. You can see excerpts from both books by clicking below and following the links to Amazon.com.
