Work Station Rotation Charts
	The Work Stations
	Organization and Management
	Printables and Resources

Click on an image to enlarge it. Past and present Work Station Rotation wheels and boards.
   

The large picture is a picture of my most recent Literacy Work Station Rotation Wheel. I have changed my schedule around to try some new and improved things during my Reading Workshop time. I now do my Literacy Work Stations in the afternoon between our math and social studies/science time. This allows for more "working" voices. I found that some of the activities require more "working" voices, but could be distracting during our Guided Reading time or when I met with individual students. I still only have Work Stations four days a week (unless we have a short week), so that my Word Work/Grammar Work time in the afternoon that follows Work Stations can be extended on Mondays for our Spelling Lessons. This change has been very positive for our classroom!

In the past, I ran my Literacy Work Stations during my Guided Reading time.  The students do work stations four days a week. They complete one work station a day after their DEAR reading and response time.  On the board, I have a sign that says switch time and there is a time written. At switch time, the students move from DEAR (independent reading) to their assigned work station. This system is designed for two-week cycles. Most of the activities remain the same throughout the year, but have variations. Each color on the wheel coordinates with a color on the board.

When I had the students complete two work stations a day and complete their independent reading at another time in the day, I used the rotation board with two cards representing the work station on the bottom.  At switch time, the students move into the second work station. Both systems work, but I found that I receive higher quality work if I have the students only complete one work station each day.

How to make the Work Station Rotation Wheel

Circle Template #1 (4 sections)      Circle Template #2 (8 sections)

Select a work station to learn more about it!

Management

Literacy Work Station Groups The work station groups are mixed-ability groups. The groups are not based on the student's reading group. Some students from the same reading group could be in a literacy work station group together. The groups consist of three or four students. Since I have eight work stations, I have eight work station activity groups. Ideally, I would like two or three students per group, but class sizes do not always allow for that. Reading Workshop Reflection At the end of each work station cycle (8 days, approximately 2 weeks), the students hand in a Reading Workshop Reflection sheet. At the end of each reading workshop time, the students are responsible for filling out a reflection for the work they completed that day. The students list the work station they were assigned to that day and what they did (started an activity, completed an activity, etc. If a student met with me during a guided reading group, then he/she would list that as well.  A copy of the Reading Workshop Reflection is available below. "I Can..." Lists One idea I have used to manage my Literacy Work Stations was by using "I Can..." Lists (from Practice with Purpose and Literacy Work Stations by Debbie Diller).  These lists explain the options students have when they are at a work station.  If you have limited options, then an "I Can..." List may not be appropriate for your classroom. I plan an "I Can..." List by each Work Station and I have a master list that remains in each student's Work Station Activity Folder. "I Can..." Lists are available below. Tic-Tac-Toe Boards For some of the work stations, I created a tic-tac-toe board with the activities that the students could complete. They have to complete an entire board before repeating an activity. This was to prevent the students from only doing the "most popular" activities each time.  Tic-Tac-Toe printables are available below. Work Station Activity Folders Each student has a folder designated as his/her Work Station Activity Folder. This folder contains information and check lists for the various work stations.  Also, any unfinished work can be kept in the Work Station Activity Folder.  Work Station Looks Like/Sounds Like List In the beginning of the year I take a lot of time setting up the work stations and how I want them to run.  Since the work stations are going on while I am meeting with guided reading groups, the students practice using their whisper voices.  After we have completed a full two week cycle, we have a group meeting and discuss what it should look like and sound like during work station time.  The chart is posted in the room near our Work Station Guidelines chart. Work Station Guidelines When I complete the Work Station Looks Like/Sounds Like chart, we also make a Work Station Guidelines Chart.  This basically outlines the rules and consequences for work station time. The students also determine appropriate consequences for not following any of the guidelines. Some guidelines include: use whisper voices, respect other students that are working, only do your work station, do not bother other work station groups and anything else that students come up with. Some examples of consequences are: return to your seat to complete your work station, loss of work station privilege (must silent read or free write at your desk), loss of recess time, loss of some other privilege and anything the students brainstorm.

Organization

Each work station has its own method of organization. Some work stations are housed in crates or storage bins. Others are housed on carts or in sections of my classroom. Here are pictures and mini-descriptions of some of my organizational techniques. Word Work I used a metal cart and plastic containers to store the various materials used at the Word Work Work Station. Writing I have a Writing Work Station area set up in the corner of my classroom. This area is not only used for our work station, but also for Writer's Workshop. Paper is stored in plastic drawers and other resources are stored in various plastic bins.

Author Study, Reading Comprehension, Poetry and Newspaper & Non-Fiction For these work stations, I store then on large, plastic drawers on my back counter. The students can easily take the drawers out of the compartment and bring it to a location in the room where they are working. If the work station has task cards, I copy the task cards on tag board, laminate them, cut them out and attach them onto a metal ring. If a work station has different work sheets/masters that can be used with it, I store these in a binder. In the binder I put a master copy in a sheet protector and separate the different activity sheets with dividers.

Listening I am fortunate enough to have two Listening Work Stations. One of the work stations was created by using a boom box and a junction box purchased from Lakeshore Learning. It allows me to play books on both tapes and cds. I have a wooden listening work station storage unit that holds the tape player and headphones and a boombox with hooks on the wall to hold the headphones. I use plastic magazine files to store any activity sheets and the books with cd or tape.

Literacy Folders All of the Literacy Folders are stored in a crate. Each hanging file folder has a blue or yellow tab to go with a coordinating folder. All of the 2-3 activities are kept in a yellow folder, and the 3-4 activities are kept in a blue folder. In the front of the crate, I have a check list for the students to mark off what Literacy Folder they have completed.

Learning Games Two sets of Reading Comprehension Learning Games for our Third Grade Team are stored in metal racks on my back counter. All of the File Folder Learning Games are stored in a red bin on the back counter as well.  Each File Folder Game is stored in a plastic storage bag.

Whisper Phones I store the Whisper Phones in a plastic container with a flip-top lid on my back counter.

Resources My work stations and many of the ideas for each of them were generated from a variety of books and resources. Two books that I found to be exceptionally helpful and inspiring were Practice with Purpose and Literacy Work Stations by Debbie Diller.

When I was looking for literacy ideas, I came across two fabulous books, Take To Your Seat Literacy Centers: Grades 2-3 and 3-4.  I laminated each of the pages, cut them our accordingly and created the Literacy Folders. These are great, hands-on and easy to follow activities. There are other similar books for phonics, math, science and much more! This was one of the best purchases I made!

Printables

Work Station "I can..." lists (large) Work Station "I can..." lists (small- for folders) Work Station "I can..." lists 2 (large) Work Station "I can..." lists 2 (small- for folders) Reading Workshop Reflection  Literacy Center Folders Checklist Listening Work Station Activity Sheet Reading Comprehension Tic-Tac-Toe Board Word Work Tic-Tac-Toe Board Non-Fiction & Newspaper Work Station Activity Sheet- Before, During and After Non-Fiction & Newspaper Work Station Activity Sheet- Strong Verbs Non-Fiction & Newspaper Work Station Activity Sheet- Proper Nouns Non-Fiction & Newspaper Work Station Activity Sheet- Facts and Opinions Non-Fiction & Newspaper Work Station Activity Sheet- Interviews Poetry Work Station Activity Sheet- Author's Purpose Poetry Work Station Activity Sheet- How Does The Poem Make You Feel? Poetry Work Station Activity Sheet- Connections Poetry Work Station Activity Sheet- Important Words Poetry Work Station Activity Sheet- Making Inferences Poetry Work Station Activity Sheet- Visualizing