Designing Literacy Stations
to Promote Literate Students
I have read and understand the UTA Academic Honesty clause as follows. “Academic dishonesty is a completely unacceptable mode of conduct and will not be tolerated in any form at The University of Texas at Arlington. All persons involved in academic dishonesty will be disciplined in accordance with University regulations and procedures. Discipline may include suspension or expulsion from the University. “Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, collusion, the submission for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole or in part to another person, taking an examination for another person, any act designed to give unfair advantage to a student or the attempt to commit such acts.” (Regents’ Rules and Regulations, Part One, Chapter VI, Section 3, Subsection 3.2., Subdivision 3.22).”
Further, I declare that the work being submitted for this assignment is my original work (e.g., not copied from another student or copied from another source) and has not been submitted for another class.
“Signature” (Typed name): Katherine Rose Henderson
Date: May 12, 2016
"If we want our students to be excited about literacy, they need to have teachers who love coming to work, who are literacy learners themselves, and who find ways to make curriculum relevant to children's lives."
I am a currently completing my fifth year as an educator in Mesquite Independent School District and my fourth year in first grade. I hold a certification in early childhood through sixth grade education as well as English as a second language. I have a passion for teaching young children how to read! My future aspirations are to be a reading specialist and work with first year teachers and new teacher candidates.
In their book entitled Reading Essentials: The Specifics You Need to Teach Reading Well, Routman (2003) states, "Success breeds more success; repeated failure leads to the feeling 'I can't do this.' Often, students just give up" (p. 15). As educators, and reading specialist, we need to help students feel more moments of success. More importantly, we need to create learning experiences where students can have these moments independent of the teacher. The purpose for this handout is to educate teachers, reading specialist, and parents on ways to promote engaging and meaningful literacy experiences.
In this handout, teachers will gain further insight into literacy station best practices. Using the research and tips provided, teachers can create a plan for implementation in their own classrooms. Finally, teachers can share resources with parents in order to continue learning experiences outside of the classroom.
Tip #1: Consider your groups
Based on recent research, there are different ways in which students can be grouped for literacy stations. Researchers indicate that heterogeneous grouping is beneficial; however, teachers need to be mindful of huge gaps in ability level. Shell, et. al. (2010) explains that teachers should "consider the range of abilities within each group to avoid making the spread to wide". The reason for this, is often students who are higher level thinkers become frustrated with those who are not. Another idea mentioned by researchers is allowing choice in partners during literacy stations. Many who studied choice found that students were more motivated when they were able to choose their partner. In addition, Kracl (2012) stated, "The students knew if they did not work well together, they would not be able to continue as partners" (p. 38). Thus, student behaviors were not only improved with choice, but students were more engaged. Finally, consider long term partnerships. While it is important to change things up every once in a while Maurer (2010) states, "children were grouped together each day at the literacy centers, allowing for a strong peer bond to develop" (p. 356). These bonds were important for students in achieving literacy success.
Tip #2: Provide ample time
Photo Source: Lakeshore Learning Website
Tip #3: Hold students accountable
Tip #4: Gradually add new stations
At the beginning of the school year, or implementation process, it is important to explicitly teach one or two stations. According to Kracl (2012),
"fewer stations or centers are easier for both the teachers and students to handle... as the year progresses, adding a few stations, can add variety to reading block time" (p. 31). As she stated, when students show understanding of literacy stations already available, the teacher can then begin to add new ones. After all, we want students to understand the purpose behind each activity, and create a meaningful time in our day. In addition to the implementation process, it is crucial that teachers consistently update the materials in each station to keep students engaged. This can look like changing the type of writing students create in the writing center, the activities in word work station, or even the seating arrangement in the library.
Photo Source: Personal
Tip #5: Keep it current!
Tip #6: Model what you want to see
When implementing literacy stations, it is critical for teachers to use mini lessons as an effective tool for modeling expectations and procedures. In addition to teaching students the skills being addressed in a station, Kracl (2012) discovered "the mini-lesson is also the time to explicitly model what is expected of students" (p. 34). One way to model expectations is showing them exactly how items should be stored, used, and shared. Allow one student to model the incorrect way, and another the correct way. This not only serves as a visual for students, it also holds them accountable for their behavior during this time. According to Kracl (2012) "the emphasis in literacy work stations is on teacher modeling and student taking responsibility for their own learning" (pp. 31-32). Essentially, the effort you produce during the implementation of literacy stations, will set the ground work for the rest of the year. It is crucial for teachers to create and share the expectations so there are fewer distractions and interruptions during the small group time.
Photo Source: Personal
Tip #7: Make a schedule
Photo Source: Personal
Tip #8: Offer choice
Tip #9: Choose the right time
Photo Source: Personal
Tip #10: Seek advice!!!
Five things to share with parents!
Parent tip #1
Parent tip #2
Parent tip #3
Parent tip #4
Parent tip #5
Webliography
Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR)
The Florida Center for Reading Research website is a wonderful resource for educators. It is full of visual models that show how the essential components of reading work together to help develop overall reading success. In addition to these professional tools, there is a link for educators with resources that can be used during guided reading. The resources include activities for phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. In the professional handout tips I discussed the importance of modeling activities prior to implementing them in literacy stations. Teachers can use the printable activities first in guided reading groups, and then later add them into the word work or pocket chart stations.
Photo Source: Personal
Literacy station Pinterest board
Pinterest is a well know website which provides viewers ideas and guidelines for specific subject areas. In this Pinterest board, the creator is focusing specifically on literacy station organization, activities, and overall atmosphere. Teachers can use this website to gain ideas for classroom organization, seating areas, station scheduling, printable materials and labels, as well as resources to buy which will make activities more engaging. Many of these resources are beneficial for parents as well. Parents can utilize given visuals and printable activities to create literacy learning experiences at home.
Photo Source: Pinterest website (about section)
KizPhonics
KizPhonics is a website that is beneficial for both teachers and parents. Activities are categorized by grade level and specific resource type. Among the resources are printable activities, powerpoint lessons/instructions, videos, games, and downloadable iPad apps. Activities can be included in whole or small group lessons as well as at home learning experiences. In addition to learning purposes, students can have access to games and apps in literacy stations. These activities will promote engagement as well as repeated learning experiences to help ensure mastery.
Photo Source: KizPhonics website
Tumble Book
With the help of Tumble Book, students have access to hundreds of books, which can be read independently or aloud. An important element to students learning to read fluently, is to having them listen to fluent readers read aloud to them. The books on this website are engaging for students because the stories are animated and come to life. Students can search for books based on genre, author, series, or even AR reading level. This is also a great resource for parents to have at home in cases where access to books is limited.
Photo Source: Tumble Book website
Annotated Bibliography
In this study, researchers sought to determine whether extending the amount of time engaged in literacy programs would benefit students in overall reading gains. This study focused on five lessons, which were designed to address phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. In addition, students were given opportunities to practice skills in other literacy activities provided by the Daily 5 program. A summative Dibels Oral Reading Fluency (DORF) assessment was used to gather data both before and after program implementation. After analyzing pre and post assessments, researchers found that all four students involved in the study made significant gains. Thus, their original hypothesis was correct in stating that more time and different literacy programs would increase overall reading abilities.
This study used an ethnographic methodology and gathered data through observations in peer dialogue. Using recorded conversations from literacy stations and other observation notes, Maurer (2010) was able to transcribe the peer dialogue to gather data. She noted, since the classroom teacher had clearly established and purposeful grouping of students, the students were able to dialogue effectively and help one another when struggles arose. In addition, the teacher kept student groupings the same over longer periods of time so students were able to form relationships and trust. It was stated that higher levels of thinking were used because students had to understand different points of view and ideas. In the conclusion of this journal, research showed that out of 79 first grade English language arts standards in the state of Ohio, 47 were addressed on a regular basis in literacy stations.
In this study, researchers sought to study what students should be doing while the teacher is working in small reading groups. Using two first grade teachers, with different teaching methods, researchers found that interruptions remained an issue for each teacher; however, one teacher had significantly more. Each teacher received professional development on literacy stations via Debbie Diller's (2003) book Literacy work stations: Making centers work. Researchers found, despite similar trainings, one teacher effectively modeled student expectations, while the other gave students work to do. The modeling proved to be a more effective model because this teacher had fewer interruptions to small group reading time.
References
Byrnes, J. P. (2000). Using instructional time effectively. In L. Baker, M. J. Dreher, J.T. Guthrie (Eds.). Engaging young readers: Promoting achievement and motivation. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Camahalan, F., & Wyraz, A. (2015). Using additional literacy time and variety of reading programs. Reading Improvement, 51(1), 19-26.
Diller, D. (2003). Literacy work stations: Making centers work. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.
Diller, D. (2006). Launching literacy work stations: Mini lessons for managing and sustaining independent work, K-3. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.
Dow, R. S., & Baer, G. T. (2013). Self-paced phonics: A text for educators (Fifth ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Gregory, G., & Chapman, C. (2007). Differentiated instructional strategies: One size doesn't fit all. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Kracl, C. (2012). Managing small group instruction through the implementation of literacy work stations. International Journal of Psychology: A Biopsychosocial Approach, (10), 27-46.
Maurer, C. (2010). Meeting academic standards through peer dialogue at literacy stations. Language Arts, 87(5), 353-362.
Reutzel, D. R. (2007). Organizing effective literacy instruction: Differentiating instruction to meet the needs of all children. In L. Gambrell, L. Morrow, and M. Pressley (Eds.), Best practices in literacy instruction (Third ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Routman, R. (2003). Reading essentials: The specifics you need to teach reading well. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Serafini, F. (2015). Reading workshop 2.0: Supporting readers in the digital age. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Shell, D. F., Brooks, D. W., Trainin, G., Wilson, K. M., Kauffman, D. F., Herr, L. M. (2010). The unified learning model: How motivational, cognitive, and neurobiological sciences inform best teaching practices. New York: Springer.
Turner, J. C. (1995). The influence of classroom contexts on young children’s motivation for literacy. Reading Research Quarterly, 30, 410–441.
Wigfield, A. (2000). Facilitating children’s reading motivation. In L. Baker, M. J., Dreher, J.T. Guthrie (Eds.) Engaging young readers: Promoting achievement and motivation. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Worthy, J., Maloch, B., Pursley, B., Hungerford-Kresser, H., Hampton, A., Jordan, M., & Semingson, P. (2015). What are the rest of the students doing? Literacy work stations in two first-grade classrooms. Language Arts, 92(3), 173-186.