Big Book Station

Now, our Big Book Station is pretty straight forward as you might imagine! It consists of an big book easel, a tall laundry basket to hold the books, a Common Core "I can" statement, writing paper with pencils and crayons, and big books. Yep, you guessed it! Our big books WERE purchased by those lovely donors of DonorsChoose.org!! It's like I said....DonorsChoose is THE BOMB!!

Before the students visit the big book station, we spend LOTS of time reading and rereading the big books as a class. Even in the whole group setting, I will call students up to point to the words as we chorally read them aloud. When the students visit, they choose a book and take turns reading it and pointing to the words with their partner. This station helps increase reading fluency and comprehension.

To add another element of choice to the station, I included clip boards with paper, pencils, and crayons. The students have the opportunity to write a response to the stories they read. Many of the students will choose to do this, especially during the third and fourth nine-weeks. I also print the sentence, "I like the part when ______________." on sentence strips and place them at the station. Students with language differences or with special needs can use this support to help them write about their opinion. The students that need the support use the sentence strips, and the students that do not need the support use their own inventive spelling.

The students feel so proud that they are able to read these books, and they love visiting this station! Thanks for stopping by for a peek into our happy, little classroom!

Classroom Library Station

Next, I'd like to show you our classroom library station or as my students call it the "book corner." As you can see, there are baskets of books. They are sorted into categories. The book baskets have labels that correspond with stickers attached to the back cover of the books. This station also contains our Common Core "I can" statement, a cushy rug, and comfy bean bag chairs (again, donated by DonorsChoose.org!!). Wait, I forgot one of the best parts! I put an old CD player in the book corner with some classical music on CD's. I placed a green sticker on the play button to signify "go" and a red sticker on the stop button to signify "stop." After choosing the CD and setting the volume, I teach the students how to start and stop the music. This provides a relaxing atmosphere in our classroom library to read and look at books!

My students absolutely love relaxing in this station! If they begin feeling stressed during the day, they will ask if they can go to the "book corner" and relax a while. The fun's not over.....more photos coming tomorrow!!

Poetry Station

Another one of my students' most favorite station is the poetry station! Our poetry station is at our SMARTBoard. For this station, I made pages of familiar poems and songs on SMARTNotebook. I used some free clip art from the internet to help students recognize words they may not be able to decode. Then, we would practice one poem a week. After the students became fairly fluent with it, I would add that page to the poem file. While at the station, students would turn the pages in the file to select a poem and take turns pointing to the words while reading it. I also provided a ring of cards containing our sight words. The students were also able to flip through the cards and use one of the SMARTBoard pens to circle our sight words in the poems.

At the end of the week, I would print the poem from SMARTNotebook and put it in the students' poetry folders. The students would take their poetry folders home over the weekend and practice reading the poems from the year to their families and friends! This station with its home link was wonderful in helping the students develop fluency! And the best part is how much they loved it!

There's still more to come! Visit again tomorrow!

iPad Station

Another station my students enjoy is the iPad station! We were able to obtain an iPad for our classroom with a grant through the University of Mount Union. After we were able to see the benefits of iPads in the classroom, the district was able to purchase a few more for our building. As you can see, I still only use one iPad for the station. That is intentional. I found a splitter at the Dollar Tree that allowed me to plug in two headphones. Working as a pair on one iPad provides invaluable opportunities for the students to work together and problem solve. They also must communicate with one another as they work.

We have found a lot of great apps! Many are free or very inexpensive. I really like apps by PocketPhonics, Grasshopper, Rantek Inc., and McGraw-Hill School Education Group! Stay tuned for more work stations tomorrow!!

Writing Station

Another station my students visit daily in pairs is our writing station. The beautiful desk that is perfect for two is from Lakeshore Learning; and yes, it was also donated by DonorsChoose.org! At our writing station I have placed a variety of writing tools, a variety of paper and blank books, and various picture dictionaries. I've also created a book with a photo of each student in our class with her/his name below so the students can reference it to write each other letters while at the writing station. The students have free choice about what they write, but we discuss as a class the importance of practicing our writing here rather than our drawing. If the students get off-task and are spending more time on their illustrations, I will simply ask them, "Is your writing or your drawing getting better right now?" It reminds them that if they want their writing to improve, they must practice it.

Unfortunately, the physical environment of our classroom does not allow us to have the writing station below our word wall. For that reason, I put seasonal and anchor charts above the writing station for the students to reference. I change them based on the needs and interests of my students. You may also be able to see that the bulletin board above the writing station is covered with fabric. I only use fabric on my bulletin boards, and it is a tip I was given by one of my cooperating teachers in college. Fabric doesn't fade, and it gives the bulletin board a very fresh, clean look!

We're not through yet! Stop by tomorrow to find out about another work station from our classroom!

A Day in the Life of Miss Jones' Class: Listening Station

This week, I want to show you a little sneak peek into my classroom and a day in the life of Miss Jones' class. Each day, my kindergarten students visit work stations. Each student has a partner, and they visit the stations in pairs. Our listening station consists of a box with a picture representing the listening station, several books, and two iPod Nanos with headphones. (Of course, the iPod Nanos and the headphones were donated from those generous folks at DonorsChoose.org!! <3) The station is mobile, and the students just take the box to an available table in the classroom. The students choose a book and listen to the read-aloud while following along.

When the station is introduced, I show the students how to use their finger to move around the circle to search for the track and give them lots of time to practice. I have taken a photo of each book and attached it to the read-aloud tracks on iTunes. This makes it extremely easy for my young students to match their book of choice with the photo on the iPod Nano. Below is a screen cast to show you how to attach your own photo ("artwork") to a track on iTunes. Hope you find it useful!

I hope you enjoyed your glimpse into our classroom! Stop back by tomorrow to see another work station we enjoy using!!