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Literacy Stations

Literacy Stations Round-Up

Literacy Stations
Blog header with literacy stations pictures

I’ve been using literacy stations as a part of my ELA block since I started teaching. I’ve used them in first, second, and third grade. Stations are a great way to keep students engaged and working on literacy activities while you are pulling small groups or working individually with students.

I have written many blog posts detailing how I run my stations and thought it would be easier if they were all in one spot. So… keep reading to find all things Literacy Stations…

Literacy Stations Blog Posts

Introduction – This introduction goes over the why and benefits of using stations in your classroom.

Set-Up – This post provides ideas for stations you can use and helps you set them up in your classroom.

Management Tips – Running stations will be easier with these management tips and ideas! Includes partner ideas, scheduling, and management board options.

Station Ideas:

LITERACY STATIONS FREEBIE

Would you like a planning template and ideas cheat sheet to help you plan your Literacy Stations? Click HERE to receive your FREE template and ideas page.

Long Pin for Literacy Stations Blog Post

How I Use Book Studies in the Classroom

Reading, Literacy Stations

Picture of girl reading a book

I have been using book studies in my classroom for as long as I have been teaching and it is a favorite time of mine and also for my students. Today I’m going to lay out how I use book studies in the classroom and why I find it to be a successful, engaging activity.

Why Do I Use Book Studies?

Book studies have many positive benefits.

  • Provides opportunities for students to practice decoding, reading fluently, and comprehending the story
  • Provides students a chance to practice writing their responses and restating the question in their answer
  • Gives an opportunity for students to work independently or with a team

Grades for Book Studies:

In my opinion, book studies can be used from first grade up.  I know you’re thinking first grade seems young and they are, but I have some students in my current class who are ready and just finished their first Nate the Great Book Study – with teacher guidance of course.  Now will all of my first graders participate in a book study this year….no. I have some students who struggle with reading and a book study would frustrate them.

When I taught second grade the last few years I had three whole class book studies (Charlotte’s Web, The Chocolate Touch, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) that we did together as a class. I also had multiple book studies going in small groups during literacy stations. The nice thing about book studies is there are books at a variety of levels.  So even if you have high readers or lower readers there will probably be a just right book for them to use during a book study.

Choosing Book Study Groups

An important thing to keep in mind when choosing which students you are putting together in a book study is who works well together (which you think about any time you put students into groups).  In addition to students who work well together, you want to also make sure you have students with similar reading levels. The goal of a book study isn’t for the higher student to help the struggling student read, but that they are similar levels and working together to read and comprehend.

You also want to consider how many students you want participating in the book study. I’ve done whole class book studies, small groups (3-4 students), partnership book studies, and independent ones.

So the biggest thing to keep in mind…

  • Who works well together
  • Behaviors
  • Reading levels

Choosing a Book

As I mentioned earlier in this blog post there are tons of books out there that fit many different reading levels.  You want to choose a book that the group , partnership, or child will be able to read independently.  You also want to choose a book that interests them. I will often pull out two-three book choices and give the group a chance to vote on which book they want to read. Choice helps with engagement and buy-in so I always try to let my students choose the book.

How do I find multiple sets of the book?

Scholastic is a great place to find multiple sets of books.  Often in the actual pamphlet/magazine thing that comes with the book orders they have options for you to order certain books in sets of 6.  This is a great way to build a little book study library of sorts.  You can also check out books from the library, shop at Good Will, buy them from Amazon, etc.

First Day

When starting a new book study with a small group I have the book and packet ready to go for day 1.  First, I go over the expectations. I explain to them that this is a special activity that they get to do and I need them to take it seriously.

Then, I hand out the books and the students make predictions about what will happen based on the cover.  We read the first chapter together out loud taking turns on each page.

After we read the first chapter we start answering the questions.  I like using these packets not only because students have to write their answer, but it also gives them practice writing in complete sentences.  I make sure students restate the question in their answer, include capitals, periods, etc.  So not only are the practicing their comprehension by answering the question, but they are also working on their written response skills.

After we’ve gone through the first set of questions I will often send the kids off on their own.  I’ve done this in 2nd grade and up.  I would not do this with first grade unless you have a teaching assistant, parent volunteer, older student they could work with, or if they are super mature.  Students in second grade and up I then send off to read the next chapter with their partner or group and answer the questions.  Once they are finished with a chapter they let me know and I pull them back to meet with them and review what was read.  The nice thing about this is it frees me up to pull other groups while they’re working on the independent portion of this.  This routine continues until they are finished with the book.

Picture of I Survived Book Study

Book Study Favorites

I’ve created a few different book study resources that I have used in my classroom including: Jake Drake series, Ivy and Bean, Cam Jansen, Nate the Great, Surprises According to Humphrey and more.  To see all of my book studies in my TPT store, click HERE.

 

FREE Book Study Discussion Cards

Grab a FREE set of Book Study Discussion Cards that can be used with any fiction story. Great for discussion and can also be used for written response. Click HERE for your FREEBIE.

Literacy Stations – Teacher Time

Literacy Stations
Today as I bring my Literacy Stations blog series to a close I’m going to share some ideas for what you can do with small groups while the rest of your kiddos are at Literacy Stations.  The nice thing about Literacy Stations is all of your students will be busy with their partners or small groups working on their Literacy Stations, which will leave you free to pull small groups. Yes, this will take time to get to this point and it won’t happen Day #1 (see Classroom Management blog post), but you will get there.
Here are some ideas and things to check out to use with your small groups….
Florida Center for Reading Research:
FCRR has many great activities that you can use in your small literacy groups.  They cover all of the Big 5 areas – Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension and span multiple grade levels, which is great for differentiation. I highly recommend you check them out.
Readworks:
I absolutely love Readworks. Teacher accounts are free and there are tons of reading comprehension passages and questions on there.  They have them broken down into different skills and reading levels.  Perfect to use with students who need comprehension practice.
Book Studies:
I love using book studies during small groups.  I pick or have the kids pick chapter books and then they do a book club with their group and myself.  Great way to practice independent reading, working with a group, comprehension and writing skills. I have many book studies in my TPT Store including: Jake Drake Series, Ivy and Bean (Books 1-3), Nate the Great Goes Undercover, Nate the Great and the Lost List, Cam Jansen The Mystery of the Dinosaur Bones, Flat Stanley Framed in France, I Survived, The Great Chicago Fire, Surprises According to Humphrey, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and more coming in the future. You can find them in my TPT store…here
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Grammar Fix Its:
Another skill I work on with students during small groups is grammar. I have Grammar Fix Its in my store that cover: capitals, end marks, commas, apostrophes, verb tense, quotation marks, and high frequency spelling.  These are quick practice cards that can be worked on in a small group or a station.  You can find them in my TPT store…here….
Grammar Fix It - Capitalization & End Marks
Other Activities for Lit Groups in my TPT Store:
Synonyms and Antonyms Sort – Great practice sorting word pairs.
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Short and Long Vowel Tree Maps – Great phonics practice with short and long
Short and Long Vowel Tree Maps
Pick a Word – Spelling Changes with Plural Nouns – practice identifying the correct plural noun.
Pick a Word - Spelling Changes with Plural Nouns
Pick a Word - Spelling Changes with Endings

LITERACY STATIONS FREEBIE

Would you like a planning template and ideas cheat sheet to help you plan your Literacy Stations? Click HERE to receive your FREE template and ideas page.
Thank you for checking out my Literacy Station Blog Series. Check out past Literacy Station blog posts: Introduction Set-Up  

Literacy Stations – Other Stations Ideas

Literacy Stations
Today I’m going to be sharing some ideas for other Literacy Stations I have used in the past. Most of these I’ve used when I taught first grade and they could also work for Kindergarten. Some of them can also be adapted to work for 2nd grade and up.
Boggle Station: I used this station in first grade and second grade and it was a lot of fun! Great opportunities to practice word building. I did make my own Boggle Chart with foam board and cardstock, but there are many paper options available too. Here are the I Can options for Boggle Station:
  • I can find words on the Boggle Board.
  • I can record my words on my recording sheet.
ABC Station: This station would work very well for Kindergarten and 1st Grade. I had ABC puzzles at this station and alphabet books too.
Here are a few I Can options for ABC Station:
  • I can make a letter booklet.
  • I can put sight word puzzles together.
  • I can put ABC puzzles together.
  • I can practice flashcards.
  • I can read ABC books.
  • I can create my own ABC Book.
 
 
Handwriting Station: Another great station for Kindergarten and 1st Grade. Handwriting is a skill we were constantly reviewing so having it as a station for review was perfect. For this station, I made sure we had our alphabet with proper letter form available on a page so they could see how the letters were supposed to look.  The Letter Wipe-Off boards were handwriting practice pages that I laminated. Students could trace with a white board marker and then erase when finished.  I had a list of class names at this station so kids could practice writing their friend’s names.  The poems and sentences listed below often fit our story or phonics skill for the week so they were able to work on 2 skills at once. I Can Options for Handwriting Station:
  • I can write my letters on paper with a pencil.
  • I can write my letters on a white board.
  • I can practice letter on the wipe-off boards.
  • I can write the class names on a paper or a white board.
  • I can write the poems or sentences in my best handwriting.
 
Write the Room Station: I don’t have pictures of this station, but I loved using it in 1st grade because it got the kids up and moving.
Write the Room Station Ideas:
  • I can search for words that have a certain letter in it.
  • I can search for nouns around the room.
  • I can search for short vowels, long vowels around the room.
  • I can fill out the around the room response sheet and write sentences with the words I found.
 
Listening Station: Another great station for Kinder-2nd grade.  At listening station, you could use cassette tapes or books on CD if you have access to a CD player with multiple headphone option. I’ve also had iPods in a classroom before and iPads and loaded books on CD onto them for the kids to listen to.
Listening Station I Can Options:
  • I can listen to my story.
  • I can talk with my partner about the story when we’re done.
  • I can complete my reading response (draw a picture of my favorite part, write about my favorite part give my opinion of the book, story map, cause/effect, etc).
Making Words Station: Another great station for Kinder – 2nd. I have the Making Words book and have used many of the letters and word options from there.  You could cut up some letters or have some letter tiles available at this station and see how many words the kids can make. The nice thing about this is you can fit the letters you pick to fit the spelling or phonics skill of the week.
 
Making Words Station Ideas:
  • I can take my letters out of the envelope.
  • I can move the letters around to make words.
  • I can record the words I find on my recording sheet.
  • I can use those words found to create my own sentences or story.
 
Poetry Station: Poetry station would work with any age group because you can differentiate the poetry material you provide.
Poetry Station I Can Ideas:
  • I can read the poems (poetry books at the station or binder of poems).
  • I can write my own poem.
  • I can illustrate a poem
  • I can compare and contrast two poems.
 

LITERACY STATIONS FREEBIE

Would you like a planning template and ideas cheat sheet to help you plan your Literacy Stations? Click HERE to receive your FREE template and ideas page.   Check out past Literacy Station blog posts: Introduction Set-Up

Literacy Stations – Spelling Station Ideas

Literacy Stations
Today I’m going to share some ideas for Spelling Station. This could be used for most grade levels with any list of spelling words.
Spelling Station has always been one of my favorite stations.  In second grade, I have my students complete their work in a spiral notebook that it for Literacy Station activities.  Students could complete these activities on a blank page of paper or on a white board, too.  I’ve also used many of these activities in first grade.  For this station, I do print our list of spelling words each week and put them in a sheet protector. Students take the spelling list, task cards, and their notebook and get to work!
Here are some I Can options for Spelling Station:
  • I can decorate my spelling words. (students are able to use markers and crayons and write their spelling words with block letters, bubble letters, designs, etc.)
  • I can practice my spelling words on a white board.
  • I can write my words using magnets. (This was a popular one in 1st grade)
  • I can use my words in a sentence or a story.
  • I can put my words in ABC order.
  • I can stamp my spelling words. (Another popular option in 1st grade).
  • I can write my words three times.
 

LITERACY STATIONS FREEBIE

Would you like a planning template and ideas cheat sheet to help you plan your Literacy Stations? Click HERE to receive your FREE template and ideas page.   Check out past Literacy Station blog posts: Introduction Set-Up

Literacy Stations – Informational Station Ideas

Literacy Stations
Today I’m going to share some ideas for an Informational or Nonfiction Station.
These ideas I have created or compiled from research, Pinterest, blogs, etc.
Here are the I Can options for Informational Text Station:
  • I can read a nonfiction book.
  • I can look for text features in the book and fill out the text feature page (tons of options on TPT and Pinterest with different text feature pages).
  • I can write a report about a topic I read about.
  • I can write a newspaper article about a topic I read about.
  • I can write interview questions to interview someone about a topic I read about.
  • I can write 4 facts or more that I learned from the book.
If you are interested in a quick Info Text Facts Printable – check out my FREEBIE in my TPT Store…here

LITERACY STATIONS FREEBIE

Would you like a planning template and ideas cheat sheet to help you plan your Literacy Stations? Click HERE to receive your FREE template and ideas page.   Check out past Literacy Station blog posts: Introduction Set-Up

Literacy Stations – Writing Station Ideas

Literacy Stations
Today I’m going to share my ideas for Writing Station. I have used Writing Station in my first and second grade classrooms. I have also seen this station used in Kindergarten and older grades.
Writing Station will typically be a station with lots of materials. If possible, it’s great to have it at a set desk or table so all of the materials can be accessed and it’s easy to get to.  Currently I do not have a dedicated table or desk.  I house my materials in Sterilite drawers on a bookshelf.  Students come over and get out what they need. I also have a caddy that has markers, crayons, etc that they can take to their seats to use.
Here are materials that I include at my Writing Station:
Markers, crayons, stickers, blank paper, stationary/fancy paper, note cards, envelopes, postcards, letter writing paper, list paper, and comic strip paper.
This picture is from my old 1st grade classroom. I had a designated table area for Writing Station. You can see the drawers and items available for the kids to use.
Here is a table set-up in one of my second grade classrooms…
Here are the I Can ideas for Writing Station:
  • I can write a story.
  • I can write a letter or a card to a friend.
  • I can make a list.
  • I can write an opinion using the opinion prompts.
  • I can write to answer other writing prompt cards.
One of my favorite writing prompt task cards that I use at Writing Station are my Opinion Writing Prompt Cards. Students are able to write their opinion and provide the reasons for multiple prompts.
 
My kids also love the Would You Rather Opinion Writing Prompt Cards. Here they get to choose which they’d rather do and then give reasons why.
 

LITERACY STATIONS FREEBIE

Would you like a planning template and ideas cheat sheet to help you plan your Literacy Stations? Click HERE to receive your FREE template and ideas page.   Check out past Literacy Station blog posts: Introduction Set-Up

Literacy Stations – Vocabulary Station Ideas

Literacy Stations
Today I’m sharing some ideas of what I include in my Vocabulary Station. I have had a Vocabulary Station in my 2nd grade classroom, but haven’t used one in earlier grades yet.  These ideas would be great for 2nd-4th grade students.
When I have used Vocabulary Station, I often use it with our reading vocabulary words. Each week we have a different story and each story has it’s own set of 8-10 vocabulary words. I have these words posted in the classroom and we go over them throughout the week.  At Vocabulary Station, students may complete the I Can activities using those words.  You could also have students use these activities with vocabulary words from math, science, social studies, etc.
Here are the I Can options for Vocabulary Station:
  • I can create and play a memory game (Matching Game) with my words and definitions.
  • I can write a story using my vocabulary words.
  • I can find synonyms and antonyms for the vocabulary words.
  • I can create a crossword puzzle using vocabulary words and definitions.
  • I can create a vocabulary flip book.
Memory/Matching Game – Here is the I Can card for this activity…
Vocabulary Flip Book…
On the front of the flip book/flap book, students pick 4 vocabulary words to use and write one on each flap.
On the inside, under each flap, students use the word in a sentence.  You could also have students write the definition.
On the back, students draw a picture to represent each word.
 

LITERACY STATIONS FREEBIE

Would you like a planning template and ideas cheat sheet to help you plan your Literacy Stations? Click HERE to receive your FREE template and ideas page. Check out past Literacy Station blog posts: Introduction Set-Up

Literacy Stations – Reading Response Station Ideas

Literacy Stations
Today I’m going to share the tasks that are included in my Reading Response Station. I did not use Reading Response Station in first grade, however it’s worked really well in 2nd grade and up. I think younger kids could use it, the tasks would just need to be differentiated.
For Reading Response Station, students write their responses in a spiral notebook.  They can write about a book they are currently reading or a past book.  I’ve found these ideas online over the years and compiled them into one list. So, I cannot take credit for the ideas – just know they are a compilation of research online for reading response ideas. Here are the I can options:
  • I can write a diary entry from the perspective of one of the character’s in my book.
  • I can write a letter to the author telling them what I like and didn’t like in their book.
  • I can write a newspaper article about an event in the book.
  • I can write a new ending to a book that I have read.
  • I can write interview questions to interview a character in my book.
  • I can write my opinion of my book or one of the characters.
 

LITERACY STATIONS FREEBIE

Would you like a planning template and ideas cheat sheet to help you plan your Literacy Stations? Click HERE to receive your FREE template and ideas page.   Check out past Literacy Station blog posts: Introduction Set-Up

Literacy Stations – Fluency Station Ideas

Literacy Stations
Today I’m sharing some ideas for Fluency Station with you. Fluency Station is one of my favorite stations and the kids enjoy it too.  It gives them lots of practice with all of the fluency skills – speed, accuracy, expression, etc.
For a Fluency Station, I highly recommend checking out the Florida Center for Reading Research. They have tons of great activities that can go in a station that are perfect for hitting all of the reading areas including fluency. They are also broken down by grade levels and make it very easy to differentiate.  Some of the activities in my Fluency Station are from FCRR.
Here are the I Can options for Fluency Station:
  • I can read a book out loud to myself using the whisper phone.
  • I can practice the phrase cards (from FCRR).
  • I can practice the build-a-story cards (from FCRR).
  • I can read the reading expression cards (pictured below).
  • I can read the jump rope rhyme cards (pictured below).
My task cards for this station have photos of the activities and items to add a visual to the card.
Here’s one example…
Whisper phones are a must have for Fluency Station. I got mine from Lakeshore Learning. I’m sure other teacher stores sell them and I have also seen some people make them out of PVC pipes.
The jump rope rhyme cards are fun for students to practice at fluency station. They are often familiar rhymes or songs that they have heard, which gives them a chance to focus on speed and expression. I just took some jump rope rhymes and nursey rhymes – typed them up – and printed them on cardstock.  Students can read the card to their partner or read it out loud to themselves using the whisper phone.
The Reading Expression Cards are great for students to practice different characters and trying out different types of expression when reading.  Students pretend they are the character and read the card with the emotion/feeling presented. They really get into this one and it’s fun to see the actors and actresses come out!
 
 

LITERACY STATIONS FREEBIE

Would you like a planning template and ideas cheat sheet to help you plan your Literacy Stations? Click HERE to receive your FREE template and ideas page.   Check out past Literacy Station blog posts: Introduction Set-Up