Learning centers that work - includes related articles

Instructor, Sept, 1995 by Joan Novelli

How to create extra-special places around your classroom. Plus: A sample center to get you started

When you think about learning centers in your classroom, do you picture pandemonium? Picture this instead:

* students deeply engaged in activities that introduce, reinforce, and extend learning in any area of the curriculum you choose;

* a cooperative atmosphere that encourages children to draw on one another's strengths to solve problems;

* a management system that puts students in charge of their own materials and work; and

* lots of opportunities for you to observe students at work, gathering information that will help you assess, evaluate, and plan individual, small-group, and whole-class instruction.

Whatever your teaching style, learning centers can bring these benefits to your classroom. In this article, you'll find effective approaches for implementing learning centers, suggestions for setting up, tips for stocking and storing materials, a starter center you can use right now, and a chance to win a science-center kit stocked with tools for every age.

WHY LEARNING CENTERS?

As Michael Opitz says in Learning Centers: Getting Them Started, Keeping Them Going (Scholastic Professional Books, 1994), "In addition to teaching core content, learning centers provide opportunities for children to learn other important skills, such as responsibility, decision-making, and self-evaluation." A selection of carefully planned activities in a center can give students a chance to work in ways they learn best - and strengthen other areas at their own pace. All of this adds up to increased self-confidence and ownership in learning - and greater student success.

But not all learning centers work the same way in every classroom. Your first step, Opitz suggests, is figuring out what role you want a center to play.

* To supplement the curriculum. In this approach, students visit one or more enrichment centers after completing other assignments.

* For free-time activities. Here, students work at centers of their choice during "free time" (which means you'll have to set up enough centers to accommodate all students during one time period).

* As a major teaching method. In this model, students work at centers designed to deliver all or part of the curriculum. You can set up these centers by subject area, by theme, by a combination of the two, or by some other plan you find works.

10 TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL CENTERS

Mary Beth Spann, author of Quick-and-Easy Learning Centers: Word Play (Scholastic Professional Books, November 1995), offers these suggestions for getting your centers off to a smooth start.

1. Begin with one center in that area of the curriculum in which you feel strongest or in an area of special interest to you and your students. Your enthusiasm will show in your setup.

2. Create a storage system. Boxes, file folders, and large envelopes are a few ways to store materials. Label containers and attach a list of contents.

3. Remember that, while curriculum drives your centers, children respond to inviting environments. A few special touches can bring out oohs and aaahs in your classroom - and bring children back again and again for more learning (for details, see Design Made Easy, right).

4. Invite students to contribute to centers. They might like to share collections related to the topic or create center signs on a computer.

5. Designate a special place to display student work.

6. Invite parent participation. You might send a letter home explaining what centers are and how children will use them. This is a good time to think ahead about center supplies parents might be able to donate. For example, in Quick-and-Easy Learning Centers: Math by Patsy Kanter (Scholastic Professional Books, 1995), Kanter suggests everyday items such as magazines, phone books, and bits of ribbon and string - materials families can contribute without cost.

7. Have a plan ready for students who complete work before it's time to move on to the next center or activity.

8. Watch students at work. Which learning center activities seem to be most engaging? What goes smoothly? What needs improving? Make adjustments as needed.

9. Be realistic. You can keep a center going strong by adding new activities and refreshing others. But offering a new round of centers each week is probably too much for both you and your students.

10. Take snapshots of your setup centers to make life a little easier the next time around!

Quick-and-Easy Starter Center: Window Watch

Here's a center you can keep fresh year-round just by posing a new investigation topic each month. It's adapted from Quick-and-Easy Centers: Science by Lynne Kepler (Scholastic Professional Books, fall 1995).

Transform a classroom window into an exciting look-and-see center that will spark science investigations all year long. From wind and weather to animal behavior, the options are wide open. (Don't have a window? Adopt one! Investigate possibilities around the school and select the most feasible location.) With a few simple setups, your window will be open for business.