Literacy Centers, Literacy Corners

Literacy Corners
I first began implementing Literacy Corners/Centers 5 years ago. Over the years they have slightly changed from year to year, as I search for that "Just Right Fit" for me and my students. This web page will give you an overview of my class' Literacy Corner/Center time. Just as there is no such thing as a "one size fits all" for our students, there is no such thing as a "one size fits all" for classroom teachers when it comes to Literacy Corners. Although we call them Literacy Corners at our school (across grade levels), they are also often commonly referred to (by teachers, other schools) as Literacy Centers, Literacy Areas, or Reading & Writing Options. Feel free to browse the ideas presented on this page and to use or modify them for your own situation.
Literacy Corner Areas: What & How	Work Boards	Literacy Corner Planning Guides
Grand Opening	Anchor Charts	Learning Logs and Recording Sheets
Aligned to Standards & Benchmarks	Clip Art, Signs, Labels	Professional Resources

Literacy Corner Areas: How and What When I first began researching the concept of Literacy Corners, I soon became aware of the many ways that Literacy Corners (centers) can be run. I was faced with making a decision as to how I'd run my Literacy Corners. The following table presents the four ways that I've approached Literacy Corners.
2003 - 2004	2004 - 2005	2005 - 2006 2006 - 2007	2007 - 2008
Random Options	Week to Week Options	10 Literacy Corner Areas	5 Literacy Corner Areas
Center file folder games and activities were created. They were then placed in large zipper baggies and attached to hangers, which were hung on a garment rack. Students randomly selected activities. They were allowed to work in partnerships or independently. Students did not have a work board or student recording sheet in which to track their activities. I pulled students or groups of students during this time.	Five different center activities were developed each week. Students were assigned an area to visit each day and stayed in that area for the entire Literacy Corner time. Group sizes ranged from 4-5. Each week, time was set aside to explain the center activities to students to ensure student success. Students were assigned to work in groups (heterogeneous groupings)and I pulled students or groups during this time.	Ten different Literacy Corner areas were created, and remained throughout the year. As activities were introduced and practiced by the class, they were then added to the appropriate Literacy Corner. Activities stayed in their respective Literacy Corner for either the entire month, season, or year. Students were assigned an area to visit at the beginning of each 10 day cycle. They visited one area per day. 1-2 students were in each area, and they were allowed to work collaboratively or independently on any of the activities that were housed in the area. I pulled students or groups of students during this time.	Because of time constraints (and because it is just plain "good teaching" to do it this way) I've tried to really integrate my literacy components this year, much more so than in years past. The reading and writing connection is very strong, and should be integrated throughout the day. Seamless transition is the goal here! During Literacy Corners, students continue to practice what they've learned during our Writers and Reader's Workshop Session Mini Lessons. I've made a few changes this year to our Literacy Corner work time. First, instead of having one 45 minute Literacy Corner block, as in years past, I have three 20-minute Literacy Corner sessions. In addition, I have whittled my Literacy Corner areas down to five areas instead of ten. Both of these changes allow my students to visit each area more than once per 10-day cycle (as in the past two years). Students have five cards from which they make their selection. They place their cards into the pocket chart work board to indicate where they will be for sessions 1, 2, and 3. We make our selections right away in the morning. I meet with my four reading groups each day. I meet with my lowest reading group for one of the 20-minute sessions every day. The other three groups meet with me every day, too, however, they rotate so that each group has a chance to meet for 20-minutes 2-3 times a week and 10-minutes 2-3 times a week.
Random Options: Reading Listening Star Words	Week to Week Options: Reading Listening & Speaking Listening Speaking Leap Pads Read the Room ABC Letters Writing Write the Room Make a Book Working With Words Word Families Word Task Baskets Pocket Chart Art Smart Listen and Make Computer Cooking Science Social Studies Games	10 Literacy Corner Areas: Pocket Chart Listening Writing Names Words ABC Letters Felt Board Magnet Board Handwriting Fine Motor Reading	5 Literacy Corner Areas: Read to Self Read to Someone Listen to Reading Work on Writing Word Work

Work Boards Work boards help to keep students and teacher organized! For students, they are a visual reminder of what options area available, and where they should be during the Literacy Corner Session. For teachers, they are an at-a-glance helper when trying to figure out who is where and when.
2003 - 2004	2004 - 2005	2005 - 2006 2006 - 2007	2007 - 2008
Random Options	Week to Week Options	10 Literacy Corner Areas	5 Literacy Corner Areas

I didn't have a Work Board.	The work board was located on our magnetic blackboard. Students each had a card with their picture on it, and a magnet on the back. The work board was created using colored tape. It had 5 rows and 5 columns (sorry the picture is not complete, I don't have a full scale picture of it). Once the title cards were place, I created student groups using the picture cards and place them accordingly. At the end of each day, I'd move the title cards down one row to reflect the new area students would visit the next day.	A lot of people ask me about this pocket chart. It has 10 columns going across and 7 rows going down. The top also has a long, undivided row. I folded under the unused rows for this work board. I have no idea where the pocket chart was purchased, as I inherited it. Each of the 10 Literacy Corners had an icon card. I place the 10 icon cards into the first row, and then student cards were place below to show which two students were to visit the center on that particular day. At the end of the day, we'd move the icon cards to the left one spot to reflect the new area students would visit the next day.	This is the same pocket chart as used in the previous two years, however, it is set up a bit differently. Each student has 5 pockets in one of the rows on this pocket chart. The first pocket houses the student's number card. The second pocket houses the student's name card as well as the five choice cards. And the remaining three pockets are where students place their session 1, 2, and 3 choice cards. At the end of a session, students turn over the completed session's card, as a visual reminder of where they will be for the next session. At the end of the day, all cards are returned to the name card pocket, and new choices are made the next day.

Literacy Corner Planning Guides Before allowing students to work in Literacy Corners independently, it is very important to thoroughly explain each area, establish expectations, and set up routines. I generally make it my goal to do this within the first month of school. Below you will find two "Planning Guides" for the year's 2006 - 2007 and 2007 - 2008.
2003 - 2004	2004 - 2005	2005 - 2006 2006 - 2007	2007 - 2008
Random Options	Week to Week Options	10 Literacy Corner Areas	5 Literacy Corner Areas

I didn't create/use one.	I didn't create/use one.	10 Literacy Corner Areas "In the Beginning..." Planning Guides: .doc .pdf	5 Literacy Corner Areas "In the Beginning..." Planning Guides: .doc .pdf

Grand Opening Once the "In the Beginning...." planning guides have been finished, it is time for the "GRAND OPENING". For this, I explain to the class what a "GRAND OPENING" is. It is particularly helpful if you have a new store/restaurant opening in your area, that way the connection is made. We talk about why we can't have the grand opening until all the areas have been explained and activities have been practiced (a store wouldn't open if they didn't have all the parts of the store ready, and a restaurant wouldn't open if they didn't have all their parts in order, either. Of course, a "GRAND OPENING" causes a lot of fan-fare. Balloons an streamers and ribbons are in order, and cookies and juice are a must! The children get very excited about "Grand Opening" day, as we talk about it throughout the "In the Beginning...." planning guide stage of Literacy Corners. The Grand Opening celebration has helped set the mood that Literacy Corner time is important and we can celebrate that they are now open!
2003 - 2004	2004 - 2005	2005 - 2006 2006 - 2007	2007 - 2008
Random Options	Week to Week Options	10 Literacy Corner Areas	5 Literacy Corner Areas
We didn't have one.	We didn't have one.

Anchor Charts If you haven't been introduced to Anchor Charts, yet, you are in for a real treat! Anchor Charts are created with students. They provide students with an "anchor" for times that they need help or reminders about expectations, routines, or concepts/skills.
2003 - 2004	2004 - 2005	2005 - 2006 2006 - 2007	2007 - 2008
Random Options	Week to Week Options	10 Literacy Corner Areas	5 Literacy Corner Areas
Didn't create any.	Didn't create any.	As we went through the "In the Beginning...." planning guide, I took lots of pictures each step of the way. Then we created an Anchor Chart to helps us remember the expectations and routine of Literacy Corner time. It was a nice addition to our classroom and we referred to it when necessary. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Create a “rubric” anchor chart to establish working behavior guidelines. I bring in mini cupcakes for the class, and set aside three cupcakes for the “rubric” that we create as a class. The rest are saved for snack time. To prepare for the mini lesson I do the following - - - I scrape the frosting off of the 1^st cup cake. I take the sprinkles off the 2^nd cupcake. I leave the cupcake as is for the 3^rd cupcake. I cover the three cupcakes and reveal each one - - one at a time. We talk about the differences that we see in the cupcakes. I then ask them to rank them according to GREAT, good, and not so good. We then parallel the cupcakes to how we work and learn. We decide on learning behaviors for each cupcake and create an anchor chart to reflect the behaviors. I secure the cupcakes to the anchor chart and we leave the anchor chart up all year long and refer to it often. The 1”, 5”, and 10” under refer to our voice levels. I bring out a ruler and show them how far my voice travels by putting the ruler up to my mouth so they can visualize how loud the voice is when I am talking and how far away the needs to be in order to hear my voice. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "What can I do here?" and/or "I'm done!" are all to familiar words spoken by students during Literacy Centers. To avoid the issue of students not knowing what they can do, or to avoid the problem of students making up their own tasks, I create "I Can..." posters for each Literacy Corner area. To make the posters, I printed out "I Can..." titles using WORD. I glued them to 12x18 pieces of construction paper and then laminated the posters. I then attached self-adhesive business card pockets [or pouches] to the posters. These pockets [or pouches] allow me to slide in the picture and to remove it easily when that task is not an option anymore. I then create cards for each activity by taking a digital photo or by finding pictures of the actual puzzle/book. The cards are business card sheets. They are perforated. I cut them down to the correct size after printing - - to make sure that they fit into the business card pouch - - usually trimming 1/4 of an inch off of each end (not the top and bottom though). I then laminate, and trim again. Below you will find pictures of each literacy corner (center) as well as the "I Can..." posters (September, November)... Pocket Chart Corner "I Can..." Business Card Print Outs Writing Corner "I Can..." Business Card Print Outs Magnet Board Corner "I Can..." Business Card Print Outs Fine Motor Corner "I Can..." Business Card Print Outs Names Corner "I Can..." Business Card Print Outs ABC Corner "I Can..." Business Card Print Outs Reading Corner "I Can..." Business Card Print Outs Felt Board Corner "I Can..." Business Card Print Outs Listening Corner "I Can..." Business Card Print Outs Working w/ Words Corner "I Can..." Business Card Print Outs Handwriting Literacy Corner "I Can..." Business Card Print Outs	I liked last year's Anchor Chart, however, I wanted to break each area down into smaller pieces, to help students remember the routines and expectations for each area, instead of lumping them all together on one Anchor Chart. Our literacy specialist also gave me the idea of creating "Looks Like, Sounds Like, Feels Like" charts. As always, students help to create the charts. We decided on four simple "student expectations" and one simple "teacher expectation" to add to our t-chart Anchor Chart. These descriptors help students to remember what it looks like, sounds like, and feels like to be working in ANY area during Literacy Corners (reading/writing options, centers, work stations, etc). A "How Many Minutes Can We Work For?" graph adorns each anchor chart to chart our practice sessions. Since I expect my students to work for 20 minutes independently, our goal was 20 minutes. The graph is a GREAT visual. Finally, student pictures were added to the charts, to help "drive home the point" that each student demonstrated competency during our practice sessions. In December I take down all five of the "Looks, Sounds, Feels Like" anchor charts. I keep them stored away for future use/reference (if needed). "Looks , Sounds , Feels Like" chart for Listen to Reading "Looks , Sounds , Feels Like" chart for Work on Writing "Looks , Sounds , Feels Like" chart for Word Work "Looks , Sounds , Feels Like" chart for Read to Self "Looks , Sounds , Feels Like" chart for Read to Someone Looks, Feels, Sounds Like Chart Printables (8.5 x 14) How Long are we Able to Work For Graphs (8.5 x 14) Practice Makes Perfect Links to Literature - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Some of the following charts were created in conjunction with our Reader's/Writer's Workshop mini lessons. The wonderful thing about Readers Workshop, Writers Workshop, and Literacy Corners is that they overlap and correlate nicely with one another. They are great complements to one another. In December, I take down all of these anchor charts (except the Voice Level one), and keep them for future use/reference. Voice Levels (coming) Picking "Just Right Books" (coming) Ways to Read a Book (coming) Choosing a Partner (coming) Choosing Books w/ Partner (8.5 x 14 inch) (coming) Ways to Read to Someone

Recording Sheets and Literacy Logs How do I keep track of who's been where and what they are doing at each corner? Where's the accountability? That's where Learning Logs come into play. Learning Logs can also be named "Travel Logs" "Literacy Logs" "Response Logs" etc. Learning Logs are notebooks (spiral, composition, etc) where students record their thinking and learning. This might take place during Literacy Corners (and usually does), or after Literacy Corners (where they summarize what they did during Literacy Corners). When are Literacy Logs Used? Kindergarten Teacher Models at first, during January and February. Then students begin keeping a Learning Log in March. First and Second Teacher Models at first, during September. Then students begin keeping a Learning Log in October until school lets out. If students haven't had exposure to the concept of using a Literacy Log, it might be helpful to model for two months instead of one. We gather at the sharing carpet (meeting area), and sit at the edge of the carpet. I have an enlarged version of the response sheet on the easel. We take three "shares" and as the students share, I record their share. For Kindergarten - - this models how a learning log response can/should/could look like. The students KNOW that they will soon [around February] be responsible for doing this on their own - - writing a sentence about what they did/learned at their Literacy Corner - - or recording their learning during Literacy Corner time. I would model both types of responses. So, you ask, "Well what do they record in the logs?" - - Following, are a few ideas: Click Here (2005-2007) or Click Here (2007-2008)
2003 - 2004	2004 - 2005	2005 - 2006 2006 - 2007	2007 - 2008
Random Options	Week to Week Options	10 Literacy Corner Areas	5 Literacy Corner Areas
None!	None!	Version #1 .pdf Version #2 .pdf Version #3 - student .pdf Version #3 - teacher .pdf	At a Glance DAILY Choice Recording Sheet: Teacher At a Glance WEEKLY Choice Recording Sheet: Teacher At a Glance DAILY Choice Recording Sheet: Student At a Glance MONTHLY Choice Recording Sheet: Student

Aligned to Standards and Benchmarks We or course understand that there must always be a reason for why we have students working with Literacy Corner activities. And it always helps to have those reasons handy when parents, teachers, or administrators ask why "Jack is playing with felt board characters" or why "Jill is listening to a story."
2003 - 2004	2004 - 2005	2005 - 2006 2006 - 2007	2007 - 2008
Random Options	Week to Week Options	10 Literacy Corner Areas	5 Literacy Corner Areas
None Available.	None Available.	.doc .pdf

Clip Art, Signs, and Labels
2003 - 2004	2004 - 2005	2005 - 2006 2006 - 2007	2007 - 2008
Random Options	Week to Week Options	10 Literacy Corner Areas	5 Literacy Corner Areas
None available.	4 x 6 Index Cards .pdf [prints on copy paper, then cut to size]	Shipping Labels Avery #8163 .doc Address Labels Avery #8160 .doc Return Address Labels Avery #8167 .doc 4 x 6 Index Cards .doc .pdf 8.5 x 11 Copy Paper .doc .pdf	Shipping Labels Avery #8163 .doc Address Labels Avery #8160 .doc Business Cards Avery #5371 .doc

Professional Resources

I have found the following resources useful when researching, planning, and implementing Literacy Corners.

Apprenticeship in Literacy
by Linda Dorn

Shaping Literate Minds
by Linda Dorn

Scaffolding Young Writers
by Linda Dorn

Teaching for Deep Comprehension
by Linda Dorn

Literacy Work Stations
by Debbie Diller

Making the Most of Small Groups
by Debbie Diller

hat are the Other Kids Doing?
by Donna Marriott

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