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Literacy Stations

Poetry Binder

Literacy Stations, Poetry August 12, 2013

One of my literacy stations this year is going to be a Poetry Station. I’m still working on my “I Can” cards that will go with each station, but I wanted to give a sneak peek to one of the ideas.  I want my students to have a chance to interact with a variety of poems.  I will be using poetry books at this station, but also wanted them to have a chance to read poems at their level.  This is where the Scholastic – Pick a Poem Book for Grades K-2 comes into play!

 
I love that the poems in this book are age-appropriate and also reading level appropriate, but I didn’t like how the poems were set up. There were so many poems on a page and it wasn’t as reader friendly for my kiddos as I wanted it to be.  So…I typed up my favorites, put them in a cute font, and added some clipart to spice them up a bit for my Poetry Station.
 

 
And, then, because I couldn’t just put them in any ordinary plain binder – I decorated my Poetry Binder and put the poems in. Now, I can add poems as we go, change them out, and they’re easily accessible for my kiddos to use during the Poetry Station.
 
 
Hope everyone had a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by my blog!



New Literacy Station Signs

Literacy Stations, TPT August 9, 2013

I’m so excited! I’ve finally finished my new Literacy Station Signs. This project has taken awhile because I changed my mind about 85 times on how I wanted them to look. Well I finally stuck with one of my 85 ideas and I love how they turned out.  These signs will be used as my management board for who is at what station. I’m also going to make a second copy of the signs to post around the room for where each station is located. Thank you to My Cute Graphics for the awesome graphics. 

These signs can be purchased in my TPT Store here. 

Here are a few close-ups of the signs.  (I backed each sign with cute scrapbook paper to add more color):

 
Here is what the finally management board looks like. The clothespins will have each students name on it so they know which station to go to.  I used ribbon to attach each sign together.  Originally I was going to use book rings, but I couldn’t find enough of the smaller size so I decided to try out ribbons. If you use book rings, it would be pretty easy to change out the stations or change the order as the year goes.
 
 
To check out the signs in my TPT store, click here.
 
 
Happy Friday everyone!
 

ABC Station Task Cards

Literacy Stations, Task Cards August 22, 2012

ABC Station is one of the first stations I introduce.  This station has a lot of simple alphabet activities, which might be a little simple for first grade, but it’s a great way to train kids on stations since the tasks are a little easier. Since this station isn’t the meatiest, I only use it through November ish.

For the letter flipbook, kids can chose four letters or the teacher can choose four letters for the week. Under the flap, the kids need to draw a picture and write a word that begins with the certain letter.
I have some high frequency and short vowel, consonant blend, and consonant digraph flashcards for the kids to practice together.

Writing Station Task Cards

Literacy Stations, Task Cards August 22, 2012

Here are my Writing Station Task Cards.  Writing Station is one of the last stations I introduce.  Since we are still working on learning about letters, lists, etc -I tend to introduce this station later in September.

For making lists, I have a variety of notepads different shapes, sizes, and designs for the kiddos to make lists on.
For card making, I provide construction paper and stationary if kids want to make their own cards. I also put in cheap card packs from the dollar bin that kids can write in.

Handwriting Station Task Cards

Literacy Stations, Task Cards August 20, 2012

Here are my next set of task cards. These task cards are for the Handwriting Station.

These wipe-off boards are my favorite. I take handwriting sheets, glue them to construction paper, and laminate them. Then, the kids can practice tracing and writing letters with a white board marker. These normally last a year or two before they need to be re-done.
I add the poem handwriting activity later in the year. I found these cute ABC poems – one for each letter- that the kids can copy and practice using their best handwriting.
More literacy station task cards to come!

Spelling Station Task Cards

Literacy Stations, Task Cards July 29, 2012

Here’s my next set of task cards. Spelling Station is up year-round so this is a station where I change out activities every so often to keep things fresh. We have 10 spelling words each week and I have them up in a pocket chart at the spelling station table.  The kiddos then can choose from the activities below…

I know these cards look kind of big in the pictures.  I’m using cardstock from one of those packets and it’s about 4 1/2 inches by 6 1/2 inches so it’s not as big as it looks.

Stamping spelling words is an activity I use at the beginning of the year and usually stop around the end of 2nd quarter. The kids enjoy it, but as the progress through the year I liked to add in more challenging activities.
This is an all-year activity and one I start right away when introducing Spelling Station.
Decorating spelling words is one of my favorite activities.  The kids can take the spelling words and jazz them up while writing them using rainbow colors, squiggly lines, adding dots to the letters, etc. This is a fun one and the kids always enjoy being able to show some creativity while practicing their spelling.
This is one of the changes I make after second quarter when I put the stamps away.  The kids also enjoy using the magnets to spell their words.

 I add this station idea mid-year too.  This is a great way to differentiate for those higher students who don’t really need to practice the words a billion times.  Instead of just writing the words, they have to use them in sentences or in a story. 

This is another mid-year station. We start talking about ABC order and alphabetizing at the beginning of the year, but it definitely takes some time for the kiddos to pick it up. I add this station in 3rd or 4th quarter.

Library Station Task Cards

Literacy Stations, Task Cards July 26, 2012

Here are my Library Station Task Cards. For library station, I often offer all of these options from the get-go.  Library tends to be the easiest station and the kids love having a chance to pick their own book and read together.

At library station, I have our two class “pets” (really stuffed animals).  To fit in with my Suns theme, we have a stuffed gorilla named Steve Nash and since I went to ASU we have a Sparky stuffed animal too. The kiddos love taking turns reading to them.

Smart Board Station Task Cards

Literacy Stations, Smart Board, Task Cards July 24, 2012

Here is my next set of Literacy Station Task Cards.  As I mentioned in a previous post, these will be laminated, hole punched, and put on a ring. Each set of task cards will be hanging by the station so that the kiddos know what they are able to do at each station. 

There is an activity on the Smart Board where kids can stamp their spelling words. I put their weekly spelling words in a sheet protector next to the Smart Board and the kids can take turns using the Smart Board to stamp the words.

I left this task card vague because I change the additional Smart Board activities every few weeks.  The stamping the spelling words activitiy is always an option, but I like to change things up so the kids don’t get bored with the rest of the activities. I have found a ton of great Smart Board Activities on Smart Board Exchange and through our district.  Kids can work on activities that focus on alphabetizing, specific sound/spellings, Harcourt stories, poetry, writing sentences, etc.

Listening Station Task Cards

Literacy Stations, Task Cards July 17, 2012

Another great idea from Pinterest! One day while searching Pinterest, I found a teacher who had made task cards for literacy stations. I loved the idea. I used to do “I Can” statements on a piece of paper and then as stations changed I would re-print. The great thing about the task cards is I can make a task card for each possible activity at the station and change them out.  I still need to laminate the cards and then put a binder ring on them. I plan to hang them by the station so that kids can always check on what they can do at each station.  I just love how easy it will be to change the cards out!

Here are the cards for Listening Station –

Sorry for the horrible lighting and shadows in these pictures.

Boggle Board

Boggle Board, Literacy Stations May 19, 2012

This past weekend, I decided to make another great idea that I found on Pinterest.  While searching Pinterest one day, I found many options for how to use and play the game “Boggle” in your classroom.  Since I teach first grade, I wasn’t sure how this would work with my kiddos so before I invested time in making something we played the game as a class on just a piece of paper.  They loved it! They couldn’t get enough and kept asking when we could play again. 

So, this weekend I decided to make a large version that could even be used as a literacy station.  At JoAnn’s, I bought a foam board, border, scrapbook paper, and die-cut letters.  I had some left-over “Stick-em Clips” from the beginning of the year and then set to work making the board.  See a picture of the finished project below. I’m so excited to have the kids try this out tomorrow!