I had a great comment posted and I thought I would share it and then answer the questions for all of you who have questions about Literacy Work Stations: (You can also click on any of the “tags” at the bottom of each post that designate where I file each posting.  Look for Literacy Work Stations and it will bring up everything I’ve posted on that topic)

Kristen,
Do you change the activities at your Literacy stations weekly or daily? Can you give me some ideas as to what you have the children do at those stations-I know some are self explain. like listening, leap pads, etc. but what do they do at the others? Just getting some ideas to maybe change how I do things in my room. Also wondering if this is guided reading time or is it a time where you introduce a new concept to the kids you meet with? Sorry to keep asking questions but you seem to have a very organized day and at times I feel like I am pressed for time to get everything in. Do you have an assistant in your room during literacy and discovery station time? What about students who need extra review or help with letter recognition and letter sounds–do you have an AIS provider?

Wondering if you have any ideas or activities for Arctic and snowmen theme?

Thanks again for your time, I greatly appreciate it!

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Q: Do you change the activities at your Literacy stations weekly or daily?

A: I change the activities in my LWS (Literacy Work Stations) once a month or every other month depending upon where the children are at with that activity.  If they are not on task, I know it it time for something new and exciting!  It would be WAY to much for the children any for me to change them daily or weekly and since we have 14 different stations, we can go at least a month before everyone has had 2-3 times at each station.

Q: Can you give me some ideas as to what you have the children do at those stations-I know some are self explain. like listening, leap pads, etc. but what do they do at the others?

A: Writing Work Station-the children use various posters, environmental print, and a variety of writing materials to practice letter formation, copying words and letters, and writing to the best of their ability.

Big Book Work Station: The children use the Big Books that we have read during the past 2 months.  I choose key words from the story and write them on index cards.  The children use these cards when they are reading the story and use highlighter tape to find them in the books.  I also have pointers (pencils with fancy erasers) that the children use when they read to each other.

Drama Work Station-I have props or make props for each of the big book stories we share duirng our Shared Reading time.  The children use these to act out the story and work on oral retelling and sequencing.  Some are props that are their size (apron, bar of soap, stuffed pig, duck and cow for Mrs. Wishy Washy) and some are flannel board or flannel glove sized for a smaller retelling.

Library Work Station-the students find sight words and other words they know while visiting our classroom library.  They will often tell a story by looking at the pictures or read our class books to their partner.  I have several stuffed animals here and they also will read to them.

Name Work Station-you can see the boxes in this post:    Name Work Station Boxes The children practice writing their friends names and matching magnetic letters to outlines.  I have seen them all increase in their ability to write letters and recognize their friends names.

Over head Work Station-I have several pencil boxes filled with magnetic letters and several transparencies with various letter sequencing/word making activities that the children use.  They love to make words, their names, friends names, and word family names on the overhead.  You can see pictures by clicking on the last link at the bottom of this post.

ABC Work Station-I have alphabet stamps, letter cards and various other activities for the children to use.  My main objective is that the children become familiar with the letters and have the ability to sequence them in the correct order.

Work with the Teacher Station-I have two of these stations, one with me and one with my assistant.  We use a Intervention called, “My Sidewalks” and take the children through the activities in their books.  My assistant works with the same children every day until they are able to test out of that level, then we move them up.  I work with rotating groups–I see 3 children everyday for a total of 15 a week.  I am showing my students how to blend letters to make words and to identify beginning, medial, and ending sounds in words.  We play games, look at picture cards, use letter tiles, etc. It all came with our My Sidewalks kit.

Pocket Chart Station-I put a new rhyme or song in the pocket chart each week and choose letters, words, or rhyming tasks for the children to complete while there.  The rhyme or song corresponds to our big book and theme for the week.  The children can use pointers to read or sing the words.

Computer Work Station-The children use a variety of websites that I have bookmarked on the computers (www.earobics.com, http://www.starfall.com, http://www.sesameworkshop.org, and many more)

Q: Also wondering if this is guided reading time or is it a time where you introduce a new concept to the kids you meet with?

A: I use my Work With the teacher station for some guided reading.  We are fortunate to have many sets of readers for children that are science and social studies themed.  I would usually pull children during science time and do some guided reading with them then, just because it ties in a little better at that time.  We also have a Scholastic News that we use for guided reading weekly and those are usually science or seasonally themed as well.

Q: Do you have an assistant in your room during literacy and discovery station time? What about students who need extra review or help with letter recognition and letter sounds–do you have an AIS provider?

A: I am very lucky to have an assistant all day.  She comes in at 8:30, and so for the first 30 minutes I am alone, but she is there the rest of the day.  During LWS she has a group and so do I (our district provided training for our assistants to run our My Sidewalks groups for us).  She generally works with those children who need a little extra help, and works with them on a daily basis.  I do more “maintaince” with my other children–helping them at whatever level they are at.  She also takes care of lunch and recess and discovery time for me, which frees me up to do assessments or work with individual children, or to get things prepared for later in the day.

I hope this answers your questions!  I would start by getting a copy of Debbie Diller’s Literacy Work Stations book and read that.  I would have been lost without it!  Jessican Mecham also has a large part of her site devoted to LWS and can share her organizational ideas as well as a variety of grade levels.

Pictures of my LWS:

https://kpoindexter.wordpress.com/2008/09/18/updated-literacy-work-stations/

https://kpoindexter.wordpress.com/2008/08/29/new-pictures/

https://kpoindexter.wordpress.com/2008/11/05/updates-on-literacy-work-stations/

Kristen 🙂