Teachers who incorporate learning centers will tell you that it is a great learning strategy for many reasons. Some of these reasons include: 1) Increase student self-motivation and empower self-monitoring 2) Ability for teacher to integrate small group or individual attention 3) Individualization of instruction and meaningful learning activities leading to mastery.
Setting up and organizing centers on a regular basis can be a time consuming and daunting project! Here are some resources that can help ease the task of providing engaging, meaningful, and kid-friendly academic centers throughout your school year. The following centers resources are available at evan-moor.com in a variety of grade levels or grade ranges.
Take It To Your Seat Series (available as Early Learning Centers, Math Centers, Language Centers, Literacy Centers, Writing Centers, Vocabulary Centers, Geography Centers, Science Centers): Full-color centers that are easy to assemble and prepare for a student to take to his/her seat for independent practice. Also available in e-book format. These centers work well as an individual or partner activity, and don’t require a dedicated space in the classroom, because students complete at their seats with everything they need organized in a folder.
“Daily” Centers Classroom Resource Kits (Daily Language Review Centers, Daily Math Practice, Daily Reading Comprehension): Students will practice and master important skills with 36 motivating centers throughout the school year. Students will quickly become familiar with this center format, and be able to complete ongoing centers all school year long.
Some of my favorite moments as a teacher occurred while I was in the middle of small group or individual instruction, surrounded by the background hum of as students were engaged in learning centers. Best wishes to you as you plan your centers for the new school year!
Marti Beeck started her career in education as a parent volunteer in her three children’s classrooms. Her many years of teaching experience, including adult school, intervention, and the primary classroom, was inspired by her background in brain-based learning. After working for four years as an editor in educational publishing, Marti currently works as a freelance writer and content developer.
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