This video really helped me think about how I want to set up my literacy stations next year! ! I love the idea of Smart Art as one of the stations. I also think that in the second half of the year stations should have students digging deeper into their knowledge and skills so they stayed engaged. Thank you for sharing these ideas!
Hi, this is really helpful. I'm a first year teacher. This video gives me an idea of where to start and how to run smooth centers so the students are engage and distracting others.
I loved this! I thought you explained everything pretty well. I am currently working on my teaching degree and your videos give me so many great ideas to work off of when creating my own units and group ideas :) Thank you!
Thanks so much. Im going back for my 1st term block after maternity leave and your vids make me so motivated as very as gets ideas. Thanks beautiful; don't stop. xx
I watched this back in 2016, and I wasn't necessarily implementing effective centers. I am in the beginning of my 3rd year and this is the puzzle piece I needed for my classroom. Frustration at its finest! I know my 1st graders can do this and we will now. Thank you so much for the video. =)
Your videos are wonderful inspiration for me! Thank you so much for sharing, and I'm going to look up Webb's Depth of Knowledge - it sounds so good! :)
+Rabbit Child It is fantastic! I may do a video on this pretty soon and talk about daily learning targets for the classroom. It has changed my teaching.
Hi! Loved your full explanation of your smart centers. I incorporated this with my fourth grade this year. I was inspired by our 5th grade teacher, but then I found your vlog. Totally like “smart centers” better as a name. How long to you have centers for? I have them set up for 30-40 minutes.
Hi! I love the research/project model you get kinders to do around science/social studies. I teach first grade with 75+% ELLs. When exactly do you do the whole group teaching/anchor charts for students to use in order to complete their centers? Also, love that you have that 20 minute flex time for kids to work and you to do assessments :).
Thanks for sharing! I'm currently tweaking how I run my stations so it was super helpful! Just wanted to say, I tried accessing your blog using the link but it didn't work. Do you still use your blog?
Again, I am a first year teacher for 1st grade. The super centers idea ties in great with all subjects. My first question is how does your daily schedule look like when using these centers? From watching this video I'm getting the idea that daily lessons are geared toward the super centers. Second, how often are your kids alternating centers (are they using multiple centers daily?) Third, how are you timing these sessions? Thank you!
+96mattiem Hahahahahaha! I wish! Thank you for the compliment and I am so glad you enjoying the videos. I want to help and inspire and show everyone what teaching is like and how wonderful it can be. Our jobs can be stressful but it is so important to stay positive and motivated.
So all of that writing: they have to tell you four facts about something, or they have to describe a thunderstorm. I imagine that they can't do that independently a the beginning of the year, so what do you do at the beginning of the year? Even towards the end of the year, Kindergartners being able to decode that much from a text to write four facts or write a description on their own would be super hard. How do you get them to do that? I know you said you let them refer to books, videos, but as far as the sentence formation, do you give them sentence starters or sentence frames? I'm especially thinking of the lower level students and ELLs; that would be very hard for them to do on their own.
Hi! I teach high school in Scotland but i am primary school trained. I love watching your videos! I find it really interesting to watch other teachers share what they are doing! I'm sure you probably mentioned in but there was so much wonderful info that I probably missed it, so can I just check how much time you spend each day on your super centres and how often you change your super centres? Also, I love all the fonts you use in your resources, what program do you use to make them? I would love to get more creative with my resources! Thanks so much for being so inspiring!
Hi Helen! Thank you so much for watching. My students have about 45 min- 1 hour a day to work in reading workshop. During this time they have opportunities to work in their super center, read independently, read with the partner, or work on their specific reading goal for that week or month. I change my super center out almost every week. The only times I carry on my super center into the following week is during life cycle units. My students have a foldable that they will continue adding more information to during the two-week period of that super center. I hope this helps. I get all my fonts and clipart from etsy or teachers pay teachers. Thanks again for your support!!!!!
Hi I love your videos. I'm from the UK and just wondering do you have any non-readers/writers and how do you differentiate your super centers? Thanks :)
i don't have quite clear idea on how do the kids find the or know the facts? are the fact given? or research at home during home works? or is it from the children' own vocabulary? if they are going to read? how about those kids having difficulty in reading? i like to know how many activities per day you prepared? and are these activities repeated within a week?
Do you start your year with super centers? If so, what sort of things do you have included? Btw, I just discovered this channel and have been binge watching since this afternoon prepping for the new year. =-)
For me it would depend on the grade. For Kindergarten, I would start at the beginning of the year (maybe 3rd week) but it would look very different compared to the last few months. Upper elementary I would still start with building relationships and getting to know my students, then begin to scaffold and give them only a few vs 7-8 super centers at once. Is that clear as mud? :)
First want to say I LOVE your videos, they are amazing and always get excited when I see a new one pop up. I am going to be going back to university in September to do my teacher training to become a primary teacher (elementary school) in the UK. Do you have any advice for student teachers/newly qualified teachers?
Thank you so much. So excited to start my training but terrificed as well so looking for ALL the advice I can get my hand on. :D Thanks you, I love your vids your such an insperation.
What age group are you working with specifically? In South Africa our kindergarten includes learners from age 3 turning 4 and 4 turning 5...is this what you do with those age groups or is it different in the US?
I am interested in super centers for my sixth graders. Will you be using these centers teaching fourth grade as well? If so can you share how you put one together?
Hi! I will be teaching Kinder next year as my first year of teaching so I have been binge watching your videos, thank you so much for all of the great advice and ideas!! What books do you recommend for me to read to prepare for this coming year?
When do you introduce or "teach" these centers? I figure kinders still need an amount of explicit instruction especially when they are given something new, so were some of these activities explicitly explained by you that Tuesday after the Monday of building-knowledge day? Perhaps you did some whole-groups activities that Monday that the centers emulate? Or are they similar to previous activities taught earlier in the school year? Or do you just pop new centers into the drawers and kids usually know what to do from there? Sorry for all the questions.... Just curious for planning purposes. Thank you for sharing! I really dig these ideas!
+Joyce Erika Flores I introduce these on Tuesday. In the beginning my students required quite a bit of support but now that they have had so much exposure they understand what to do and I don't have to spend a ton of time front loading. Also, in the beginning to help teach the procedures I broke it down and introduced one activity a day and slowly weaned them over time.
+susanne marti that is a fantastic question! Since the majority of my centers require research and writing the center is automatically differentiated. Every student will write to their abilities. Those students that write 8-10 sentences will do that, others will use simple sentences with only 3-4 words and it may be very repetitive. My writing time is very precious and because I spend so much time building that at the beginning of the year my students understand where they are as writers and what they can do. As for other activities, I have two who struggle more than the rest, I pull them in small group and may get them started with the activity. For their writing, they may only be giving me initial sounds or one word and that is okay because that is where they are as learners. For the majority of my centers, I incorporate a ton of writing. Something else to consider is that I give my students the flexibility to work in groups and partners. They have opportunities to discuss and brainstorm ideas and that is a huge help as well. Think about you as a learner, I know that I do best when I am able to collaborate and discuss ideas with other teachers. It is the same idea for my students. I hope this helps and please let me know if you have any other questions.
hi, I just subscribed yesterday and I have loved everything I have seen so far!!! I was wondering if it is ok for you to say where do you teach? I mean which state and what type of school?
I think you would have to have a strong behavior management system in place but it is definitely doable. Try making a chart displayed in your meeting area and student can check themselves off from there and make the activities hands on. I would even do this explicitly with them for the first two months and slowly release responsibility. Give them one thing to keep track of and slowly add on from there. I hope that helps!
Do you have it so students can choose which super center they want to work on each day, or do they work on the centers in order from 1 to 5, one for each day?
They do not have to work on them in order. The only time we do that is at the beginning of the year when I am trying to teach responsibility and how to complete assignments. In November I can show them all on Monday and they are responsible for finishing by Friday in no particular order.
+The Lettered Classroom Great, thanks! Also, I was wondering how your rotations work. Do you ring a bell or some other signal for when it's time to do another activity like more from pair reading to independent reading and then to super centers for example. Do students decide how they want to split their time? I wasn't really clear on how you scheduled that procedure. (and thank you for always responding so quickly!)
+Natasha Roig I don't really have rotations. I make it a point to discuss voice level in my class at the beginning of the year. I set my expectations. Once I give them full responsibility of their reading block they choose how they spend their time. I do have some sweeties where I have to remind them of what they should be doing but most are excited about all the activities every week. When I call for a small group I say their names and they walk over. No bell or ringer. When we are done they leave and get back to work and I can have a couple of minutes to set up before the next group. I hope this helps!
I know you no longer teach kinder, but I hope you remember. How long where your small groups, and did you explicitly teach writing during a Writing workshop time or was it done with integration during everything else.
I do not have a rotation for my super center. I explain all the activities on Tuesday and then my students are responsible for completing all of the activities by Friday. I like to give my students choice in when they complete the task or how they complete the task. I feel as though it keeps them engaged and on task.
The super centers were incorporated over a week. They were given the center directions at the beginning of the week and they had to complete the work during work time over the course of the week.
Wonderful teacher.
The future is in your hands,the children look to you for the truth,and kindness!
And,you deliver.
❤️
This video really helped me think about how I want to set up my literacy stations next year! ! I love the idea of Smart Art as one of the stations. I also think that in the second half of the year stations should have students digging deeper into their knowledge and skills so they stayed engaged. Thank you for sharing these ideas!
Hi, this is really helpful. I'm a first year teacher. This video gives me an idea of where to start and how to run smooth centers so the students are engage and distracting others.
I loved this! I thought you explained everything pretty well. I am currently working on my teaching degree and your videos give me so many great ideas to work off of when creating my own units and group ideas :) Thank you!
Thanks so much. Im going back for my 1st term block after maternity leave and your vids make me so motivated as very as gets ideas. Thanks beautiful; don't stop. xx
I watched this back in 2016, and I wasn't necessarily implementing effective centers. I am in the beginning of my 3rd year and this is the puzzle piece I needed for my classroom. Frustration at its finest! I know my 1st graders can do this and we will now. Thank you so much for the video. =)
Love this idea!!!! Thank your for sharing in such detail.
+Marli Epperson You are very welcome.
Loved it!!! Thank you very much!
You are a great Teacher, I want to learn more from you. Thanks.
Wonderful...looking forward to learn much more from you😊
Great video with great ideas!
Your videos are wonderful inspiration for me! Thank you so much for sharing, and I'm going to look up Webb's Depth of Knowledge - it sounds so good! :)
+Rabbit Child It is fantastic! I may do a video on this pretty soon and talk about daily learning targets for the classroom. It has changed my teaching.
Hi! Loved your full explanation of your smart centers. I incorporated this with my fourth grade this year. I was inspired by our 5th grade teacher, but then I found your vlog. Totally like “smart centers” better as a name. How long to you have centers for? I have them set up for 30-40 minutes.
Hi! I love the research/project model you get kinders to do around science/social studies. I teach first grade with 75+% ELLs. When exactly do you do the whole group teaching/anchor charts for students to use in order to complete their centers? Also, love that you have that 20 minute flex time for kids to work and you to do assessments :).
Thanks for sharing! I'm currently tweaking how I run my stations so it was super helpful! Just wanted to say, I tried accessing your blog using the link but it didn't work. Do you still use your blog?
Again, I am a first year teacher for 1st grade. The super centers idea ties in great with all subjects. My first question is how does your daily schedule look like when using these centers? From watching this video I'm getting the idea that daily lessons are geared toward the super centers. Second, how often are your kids alternating centers (are they using multiple centers daily?) Third, how are you timing these sessions?
Thank you!
Love all of your videos. They are so inspiring and you make things seem realistic! Also you look like Eva Longoria in this video :)
+96mattiem Hahahahahaha! I wish! Thank you for the compliment and I am so glad you enjoying the videos. I want to help and inspire and show everyone what teaching is like and how wonderful it can be. Our jobs can be stressful but it is so important to stay positive and motivated.
So all of that writing: they have to tell you four facts about something, or they have to describe a thunderstorm. I imagine that they can't do that independently a the beginning of the year, so what do you do at the beginning of the year? Even towards the end of the year, Kindergartners being able to decode that much from a text to write four facts or write a description on their own would be super hard. How do you get them to do that? I know you said you let them refer to books, videos, but as far as the sentence formation, do you give them sentence starters or sentence frames? I'm especially thinking of the lower level students and ELLs; that would be very hard for them to do on their own.
Hi! I teach high school in Scotland but i am primary school trained. I love watching your videos! I find it really interesting to watch other teachers share what they are doing! I'm sure you probably mentioned in but there was so much wonderful info that I probably missed it, so can I just check how much time you spend each day on your super centres and how often you change your super centres? Also, I love all the fonts you use in your resources, what program do you use to make them? I would love to get more creative with my resources! Thanks so much for being so inspiring!
Hi Helen! Thank you so much for watching. My students have about 45 min- 1 hour a day to work in reading workshop. During this time they have opportunities to work in their super center, read independently, read with the partner, or work on their specific reading goal for that week or month. I change my super center out almost every week. The only times I carry on my super center into the following week is during life cycle units. My students have a foldable that they will continue adding more information to during the two-week period of that super center. I hope this helps. I get all my fonts and clipart from etsy or teachers pay teachers. Thanks again for your support!!!!!
Hi I love your videos. I'm from the UK and just wondering do you have any non-readers/writers and how do you differentiate your super centers? Thanks :)
Me too Lisa barkley
i don't have quite clear idea on how do the kids find the or know the facts? are the fact given? or research at home during home works? or is it from the children' own vocabulary? if they are going to read? how about those kids having difficulty in reading?
i like to know how many activities per day you prepared? and are these activities repeated within a week?
🗽
Do you start your year with super centers? If so, what sort of things do you have included? Btw, I just discovered this channel and have been binge watching since this afternoon prepping for the new year. =-)
For me it would depend on the grade. For Kindergarten, I would start at the beginning of the year (maybe 3rd week) but it would look very different compared to the last few months. Upper elementary I would still start with building relationships and getting to know my students, then begin to scaffold and give them only a few vs 7-8 super centers at once. Is that clear as mud? :)
Yes. Thanks so much. I teach kindergarten so I would definitely need to start slow. Are the centers solely based around your themes?
First want to say I LOVE your videos, they are amazing and always get excited when I see a new one pop up. I am going to be going back to university in September to do my teacher training to become a primary teacher (elementary school) in the UK. Do you have any advice for student teachers/newly qualified teachers?
Matt I am setting up for a video this month on my advice and tips for first year teachers! It's coming I promise.
Thank you so much. So excited to start my training but terrificed as well so looking for ALL the advice I can get my hand on. :D Thanks you, I love your vids your such an insperation.
What age group are you working with specifically? In South Africa our kindergarten includes learners from age 3 turning 4 and 4 turning 5...is this what you do with those age groups or is it different in the US?
I am interested in super centers for my sixth graders. Will you be using these centers teaching fourth grade as well? If so can you share how you put one together?
Thank you for being so honest about how children really act during station time. Now I don't feel like a total failure!
Hi! I will be teaching Kinder next year as my first year of teaching so I have been binge watching your videos, thank you so much for all of the great advice and ideas!! What books do you recommend for me to read to prepare for this coming year?
+Allison Connally definitely read Reafing With Meaning and anything by Stephanie Harvey is amazing!
+The Lettered Classroom reading
Thank you!
When do you introduce or "teach" these centers? I figure kinders still need an amount of explicit instruction especially when they are given something new, so were some of these activities explicitly explained by you that Tuesday after the Monday of building-knowledge day? Perhaps you did some whole-groups activities that Monday that the centers emulate? Or are they similar to previous activities taught earlier in the school year? Or do you just pop new centers into the drawers and kids usually know what to do from there? Sorry for all the questions.... Just curious for planning purposes. Thank you for sharing! I really dig these ideas!
+Joyce Erika Flores I introduce these on Tuesday. In the beginning my students required quite a bit of support but now that they have had so much exposure they understand what to do and I don't have to spend a ton of time front loading. Also, in the beginning to help teach the procedures I broke it down and introduced one activity a day and slowly weaned them over time.
Hi,
when you do the super centers, do all children go through these centers? How do you differentiate?
Thank for your answers, I like your videos!
+susanne marti that is a fantastic question! Since the majority of my centers require research and writing the center is automatically differentiated. Every student will write to their abilities. Those students that write 8-10 sentences will do that, others will use simple sentences with only 3-4 words and it may be very repetitive. My writing time is very precious and because I spend so much time building that at the beginning of the year my students understand where they are as writers and what they can do. As for other activities, I have two who struggle more than the rest, I pull them in small group and may get them started with the activity. For their writing, they may only be giving me initial sounds or one word and that is okay because that is where they are as learners. For the majority of my centers, I incorporate a ton of writing. Something else to consider is that I give my students the flexibility to work in groups and partners. They have opportunities to discuss and brainstorm ideas and that is a huge help as well. Think about you as a learner, I know that I do best when I am able to collaborate and discuss ideas with other teachers. It is the same idea for my students. I hope this helps and please let me know if you have any other questions.
hi, I just subscribed yesterday and I have loved everything I have seen so far!!! I was wondering if it is ok for you to say where do you teach? I mean which state and what type of school?
+EverChanging Essence I am in Alabama. I teach kindergarten.
Can you do a video on your Math centers? I saw your CHAMP poster in another video and I'm interested to see how you do it.
+Stephanie SweetBabyThings Yes! I will do one soon.
Awesome, thanks for sharing!! Do you use Wonders as well? If you do is this during Wonders or at a separate time?
What are wonders?
+The Lettered Classroom Wonders is our core English Language Arts program mandated in our state by McGraw-Hill.
Do you feel that with modifications this idea would work in pre-k?
I think you would have to have a strong behavior management system in place but it is definitely doable. Try making a chart displayed in your meeting area and student can check themselves off from there and make the activities hands on. I would even do this explicitly with them for the first two months and slowly release responsibility. Give them one thing to keep track of and slowly add on from there. I hope that helps!
Do you have it so students can choose which super center they want to work on each day, or do they work on the centers in order from 1 to 5, one for each day?
They do not have to work on them in order. The only time we do that is at the beginning of the year when I am trying to teach responsibility and how to complete assignments. In November I can show them all on Monday and they are responsible for finishing by Friday in no particular order.
+The Lettered Classroom Great, thanks! Also, I was wondering how your rotations work. Do you ring a bell or some other signal for when it's time to do another activity like more from pair reading to independent reading and then to super centers for example. Do students decide how they want to split their time? I wasn't really clear on how you scheduled that procedure. (and thank you for always responding so quickly!)
+Natasha Roig I don't really have rotations. I make it a point to discuss voice level in my class at the beginning of the year. I set my expectations. Once I give them full responsibility of their reading block they choose how they spend their time. I do have some sweeties where I have to remind them of what they should be doing but most are excited about all the activities every week. When I call for a small group I say their names and they walk over. No bell or ringer. When we are done they leave and get back to work and I can have a couple of minutes to set up before the next group. I hope this helps!
I know you no longer teach kinder, but I hope you remember. How long where your small groups, and did you explicitly teach writing during a Writing workshop time or was it done with integration during everything else.
Could you explain the rotation?
I do not have a rotation for my super center. I explain all the activities on Tuesday and then my students are responsible for completing all of the activities by Friday. I like to give my students choice in when they complete the task or how they complete the task. I feel as though it keeps them engaged and on task.
Do you come up with 4 super centers per day?
The super centers were incorporated over a week. They were given the center directions at the beginning of the week and they had to complete the work during work time over the course of the week.
HAH WEATHER NOT