3. High School Students Surveyed
49%
18%
Found classes Schoolwork too
boring hard or boring
(Kortering and Braziel, 2002)
4. What do students say?
• Make things more exciting
• Make boring classes more fun
• Provide more hands-on activities
• Provide more individualized help for specific
learning needs
• Use experiments rather than so much bookwork
• Explain things better, break it down, teach
students rather than books
5. Small-group
Practice and review
instruction
Dialogue with
students about Adjust difficulty of
process and tasks
content
(Swanson, 1999)
6. What are learning centers?
• Any area that defines a specific focus or
affords an unique learning opportunity
(Cosgrove, 1992)
• Divide a room in a way that allows
students to make choices, move
freely, grow in areas of need, and work
together
• NOT busy work, tests, or mindless play
7. Learners who “got” the content
and are ready to move on to
much higher levels of content
Learners for whom the
presentation, pace, and practice
the teacher is using is “just right”
Learners who need a little bit
more practice with new content
Learners who need a lot more
practice with new content
(King-Sears, 2007)
8. • Students can be more actively engaged in learning
• Students have the opportunity to practice new skills
• Students can increase proficiency in acquired skills
• Students can apply knowledge and skills to new situations
(King-Sears, 2007)
12. Learning Center Quick Tips
How many centers? Start small! You can add more once students are
comfortable and you are proficient at managing them.
What content should be the focus? Content you’ve already taught or are currently teaching.
Students should be able to practice, explore, build on, and
review content.
How do I avoid setting up new Establish generic centers where the content and level is
centers every week? the change.
How do I ensure students know Procedures! Practice them until you and students are sure
what to do? and clear!
How do I monitor student You can use self-check or self-graphing items.
progress?
13. Differentiated Learning Center Activities
Outcome: Students read or listen to information and
then write or type responses to questions about the
information.
Materials: Books, Laptops, Discovery Streaming videos,
Viewing guide or form with varied levels of questions
about the information
Differentiation:
•Students complete fill-in-the-blank responses
•Students respond to a prompt and write an essay
response
•Students complete an outline as they are listening
14. Differentiated Learning Center Activities
Outcome: Students use the Pythagorean theorem to
draw designs that match specified measurements.
Differentiation:
•Students are given the Pythagorean theorem so they do
not have to know it from memory. These students use
simplistic measurements such as graph paper boxes,
then progress to inches and centimeters.
•Students are given color coded key information or terms
to help them as they complete the activity.
•Students are given activities that can be self-corrected
such as answer cards with diagrams and measurements.
19. Certain students need Students will utilize Quizlet
more practice with new to practice vocabulary.
vocabulary.
Students will work at the
writing center using story
One group knows the starters and open ended
content, but needs time questions to complete a
for application. blog post.
Students will practice
I need a review activity placing the vocabulary by
for vocabulary. the corresponding picture
or definition on the graphic
organizer.
20. WHAT KIND OF ACTIVITIES CAN
OCCUR AT LEARNING CENTERS?
21.
22. Varied and Diverse Activities
• Illustrations
• Color-coded tasks
Visual
Auditory
• Verbal directions
• Step-by-step directions
25. What to do How to do it When to do it
How & where What to do with
Where they
to find the completed
should do it
materials activity
How to What they
evaluate their should do when
success they’ve finished
26. Other considerations
How will students be assessed?
Ensure that students have been introduced to material .
Leave directions at the center, even if they’ve previously been
given verbally.
Activities should be meaningful, not busy work.
27. Example Activities
Language Arts Social Studies Mathematics
• Language/lit study • Small group instruction • Small group instruction
• Read Aloud • Read, listen, watch • Draw pictures to
• Silent Reading • Practice vocabulary represent math problems
• Journal Writing • Timeline creation • Math fact practice
• Composing • Compare and contrast • Describe problem solving
• Small group instruction steps in writing
• Use newspaper ad to
determine…
• Arrange objects to show
the fractional parts…
31. Example 90 minute math course with learning centers
Plan for amount of time per Learning Learning Center Learning Center Learning
designated instructional task
Center A B C Center D
1:10 to 1:15 (5 minutes) Whole Class: listens to the advance organizer for the day, completes warm-up independently, check warm-
Opener, warm-up up
1:15 to 1:35 (20 minutes) Assign Learning Centers: Demonstration has occurred the previous day; today’s demonstration is the 3 rd
Direct Instruction, Whole group Pythagorean theorem for the class. Vocabulary has been introduced and used. Assign groupings per
learning center: ___ goes to LC-A first; ___goes to LC-B first; ___ goes to LC-C first; ___ goes to LC-D first
1:35 to 1:37 (2 minutes) Students Move to the Appropriate Learning Center for Them. Two minutes maximum for transition; this
Transition to learning center includes gathering materials, moving, and beginning work.
1:37 to 2:00 (23 minutes) Small Group Instruction Complete the Match the Draw your own
Learning center activities with Teacher Problems… measurements…. triangle…
2:00 to 2:02 (2 minutes) Students Move to Their Next Learning Center.
Transition to learning center
2:02 to 2:25 (23 minutes) Small Group Instruction Complete the Match the Draw your own
Learning center activities with Teacher Problems… measurements…. triangle…
2:25 to 2:27 (2 minutes) Students Return to Their Desks
Transition to desks
2:27 to 2:40 (13 minutes) •Students respond in writing to three brief problems to provide teacher with formative feedback.
Closure and mini-assessment •Assign homework.
•Provide review.
33. • Tables and storage
Traffic Flow • How many people?
Availability
• Doors, windows, desks • Equipment
• Materials
Space People
Classroom Floor Plan Sites:
http://classroom.4teachers.org/
http://teacher.scholastic.com/tools/class_setup/
35. Did I clearly state the objective of the center?
Are the materials properly prepared?
Are the activities interesting and do they stimulate curiosity and problem solving?
Are the directions easy to follow?
Are the activities adaptable to different needs?
Are the activities self-checking?
Do students know what to do before, during, and after their time at the center?
Are self-control, resourcefulness, independence, & good work habits nurtured?
36. References
Sloane, M. W. (2000). Make the most of learning centers. Dimensions of
Early Childhood, Winter, 16-20.
King-Sears, M. E. (2007). Designing and delivering learning center
instruction. Intervention in School and Clinic,42(3), 137-147.
Cosgrove, M. S. (1992). Inside learning centers.
Editor's Notes
What’s the one thing you always need more of as a teacher? There’s not enough to cover all the content and curriculum we need to cover, but according to students there are classroom tasks where students feel they already know the content OR where they don’t understand but instruction moves on anyway.
In a survey of high school students with learning disabilities, 49% found a particular class/classes boring and 18% found schoolwork too hard or boring.
Students were asked about changes that would help them stay in school or how teachers could help them learn
We know some students need more time to learn and practice, and others are ready for more. Regardless of instructional model, these are the components that can be powerful. So as teachers, how do fit in all the instructional components?
One way to make everything fit is to design and implement learning centers. When designing these, we should think about these four groups of students that are seen in diverse classrooms.
Well designed learning centers provide students with these opportunities to do these things. To achieve all of this…educators have to be highly organized!
To achieve all of this…educators have to be highly organized! Educators have to know: what they want students to learn (learning outcomes), how students can practice what is taught, what student’s learning levels are
Can start by making a list. What outcomes are you not meeting that you feel students need more practice on?
Turn the statements from the list into actual learning center activities into actual activities. Consider learning centers as mini-lessons with the goal of students being able to independently practice and apply information. They should be an extension of your instruction.
Activities should be expansive enough to provide for auditory, visual, and kinesthetic practice. Materials can be set up anywhere, as long as students know where they are and how to access them.
The basic things students need to know about using learning centers.
1.Assessment: built in grading process or formative (take notes, no grades)2. In instruction, be explicit in letting students know “you’ll practice this later”3. Checklists, picture, or audio directions help increase student independence4. Meaningful activities can be developed from lessons teachers have already taught but students need more practice with.
Teachers should be circulating, assisting, and reinforcing students. As long as students know procedures, teachers also make themselves a learning center.
Your classroom is already overcrowded! So where do you put centers?
When evaluating the effectiveness of the center, consider these questions
