Create a Literacy Rotation Block That Students Love!
Are you completely overwhelmed trying to plan, manage, and actually teach during your Rotation Block?
Wondering how you you can prep and organize ALL OF the materials you need each day?
I have been there! Establishing literacy centers can be a lot of work! I am a 'more is more' person, and have really struggled to keep my centers streamlined, simple, and efficient. Read on to learn how to simplify your centers prep and set up!
What are Literacy Rotations?
Simply put, Literacy Rotations are a way to organize the time and work students complete during independent or buddy work while the teacher works with small groups of students. Students can either physically move from center to center, or they can stay in one place while the work they do changes for each center rotation.
Setting up your Literacy Rotations
I'll be honest. Sometimes rotations are the best part of my day, other times they are a total dumpster fire! While I have a system that I love, each year there are some adjustments that need to be made. Some students can handle more choice, some students need more structure. It's all about what works for you and your students!
The first thing you need to think about is what do you want your rotation structure to look like? In the past I used a Daily 5 Framework, and I currently use the EL Education framework. One important thing to note: Daily 5 is not a curriculum. So many people equate it with Balanced Literacy and immediately disregard it with the current shift to Science of Reading. I used Daily 5 with Science of Reading methods for several years. The framework is the organization of your rotation block, NOT the content!
Think about what rotations are the most important for you to offer, and begin with those. Again, I am a total more is more person, but I start my year VERY simply. Even with my EL Framework, I still introduce my rotations the way that I did when I used Daily 5. You'll want to choose 3 main centers to launch your year, and spend a week introducing each one. It's a slow start, but totally worth it.
Here are some center ideas to choose from:
Listen to Reading
Tech Time
Writing
I begin my year introducing Accountable Independent Reading. I do this Daily 5 style. Students choose high interest books from our classroom library to put into their reading bags. I then add some decodables at their skill level. Want to know more about AIR? Check out this post.
We introduce Listen to Reading next. I also loop this in with AIR. In late October or November I begin introducing response sheets for AIR for books they read and books they listen to.
After that, it depends on the class.
Tech Time (Splash, SeeSaw, Teach Your Monster, IXL, or other Tech based apps. Each app is introduced on it's own day). This is a nice one to introduce early if you need independence FAST! If you are looking to start your small groups asap, this is one that most students will happily work on, allowing you some time to get groups going.
Word Work is a favorite rotation of mine. I introduce 1 activity a week, for many weeks. I offer more choices than most teachers for this rotation, because it's where my students get the most choice in their learning. I have word work drawers that contain various word work activities: word searches, roll and write, play-doh, wiki sticks, stamps, etc. Once each activity has been introduced the activities stay the same, but the skill or word list changes. Check out this post for more information!
Writing - my current curriculum has a lot of writing, but not a lot of writing instruction, or any writing choice at all. I try to keep this open ended. We use scribble journals, story starters, and book making. At the beginning of the year this rotation includes handwriting and daily edits, middle of the year we include quick writes, and near the end of the year we include longer journal writing.
Fluency - this rotation is a work in progress in my room. I follow our curriculum (EL Education) guidance on this and offer games like KAPOW!, buddy reading (this starts with stuffed animals, and moves to partners when students are ready), and fluency check-ins. SeeSaw is a great way to keep fluency independent. You can add a passage on SeeSaw and have students record themselves reading.
Managing Your Literacy Rotations
Ok. You've decided on your rotations. You have some materials. Now what?!
This depends on your comfort level, and your class!
I start my year with all students completing the same rotation for the same amount of time for the first few weeks. For example, we will ALL do AIR for 12 minutes. We will ALL do Tech Time for 12 minutes, etc. This is perfect for floating the room, troubleshooting, and reinforcing expectations. At about week 4, students begin to have more choice in their rotations with the exception of Monday's if a new rotation is introduced, in which case we all rotate together while we learn the new activity.
When I first started teaching I did Daily 5, and students used a clip to choose their round. Each student stayed at their chosen round for 15 minutes. I found that students were getting bored easily, finishing early, and goofing off.
Then I switched to a more independent choice system. This can be tricky to implement and some students need a lot more structure. You need to do what works for you and your class! I have used full choice rounds, Must Do - May Do, and I have also structured it where I choose the round but they can choose the activity.
The basics of my system stay the same though. I don't want to do a ton of extra prep (really, who does?!). In our curriculum students are in microphases, so I could have students working at several different levels. If I'm doing specific activities every day, that's a LOT of different prep, with a lot of students at different places.
I will outline the specifics of this in a future blog post - but the general overview looks like this:
Bins
Each Microphase group gets their own bin. In their bin they each have a plastic envelope with their name. The envelope contains their current word list, their red must do folder, and their blue writing folder.
Each bin also contains mesh pouches. These pouches contain literacy games and activities at their microphase level. Everything in the bin is at or near their microphase level.
The Red Must Do folder contains worksheets and activities at their microphase. I fill these once a week when I change out the word list. I empty their finished work (on one side of their folder) and add in the new work. If there is unfinished work, it remains in their folder.
UPDATE! I began implementing packets as must do work. These are SO easy to differentiate - activities in the packets are repetitive by design so you aren't teaching new activities each week! Students get the packet on Monday, keep it in their red folder, and complete 1-2 pages a day. Learn more about these packets HERE
The Blue Writing Folder contains writing activities. I fill this once a month. I usually add seasonal writing activities, and writing activities specific to skills they know or are working on. Students can also pull materials from our writing center for their writing folder.
Pouches. The Pouches contain games and hands on activities. I change half the pouches every 2-3 weeks. Pouches are pretty close to their current microphase skill. I might have digraphs in there for students working on digraphs, but also keep CVC activities for review. For my higher microphase students I might have CVCE with Long A as a current microphase, but also throw in CVCE with Long O, because I know that's coming up before I'll change out the bins but that this group will be able to understand and complete the work.
The beauty of the bins is that it reduces my prep time and offers students choices that fit their individual needs.
Drawers
The drawers house our word work, AIR sheets, and writing materials. Each drawer is labeled with the rotation and the center. Students are free to choose from any of these, regardless of microphase.
Most word work bins contain materials that they use their own microphase word list for: play-doh, wikisticks, stamps, tablets, magnets, etc.
Some drawers do contain skills that are not at their microphase. These are word searches, or HFW activities. These activities are always current whole group skills, or review whole group skills.
Our writing center is a current work in progress. Right now it holds blank writing sheets, seasonal story starters, and scribble journals. I will be adding a book making center. Each student gets specific writing activities in their writing folders that are more catered to their level - like mix it fix its, skill based sentences, etc.
Last year and this year I have done a Must Do May Do system. There are always 2 Must Do's (our red folder is almost always the first one!) Then there are 3 May Do choices - I put these on the board with pictures for visual reminders. When I do this system there is no timer set. I call students as I need them, and students move between rotations as they finish at their own pace.
Small Groups
Ok. You're on a roll! You've decided on your framework. You've prepped your materials. You know how you're going to manage rotations. You're ready to meet with groups! Right! Right?
Ah, small groups. How? When? Why?!
There's a lot to say about Small Groups! The overview here is that you want to meet students where they are at, to provide remediation, reinforcement, or enrichment. Especially in lower grades, kids are ALL over the place when it comes to skills in reading!
Need Help Planning Your Small Groups? Check Out This Post!
Not sure how to set up your Small Group Space? Check out this Post!
I wait several weeks before meeting with groups. If I try to meet with groups too early, it never goes well. Rotations need to be running smoothly for groups to run smoothly. At about the 3 week mark I may start taking 1-2 students at a time to do some light work. Introduce a new bin game, read a decodable together. This way if we are interrupted it's not too big of a deal, I can reinforce expectations immediately, and students can see me working at a back table and get used to working independently.
I often set a Student Expert for activities. That way when students have questions they can go to the 'expert' before me. It takes a lot of practice for students to check in with a peer before me!
It is usually nearly 6 weeks (early to mid October) before I have rotations and small groups fully up and running. Go Slow to Go Fast!
I used to meet with groups for 15 minutes each, but our new schedule and curriculum doesn't allow for quite as much time. You can adjust the timing to fit your needs. Maybe you meet with one group everyday, but only for 10 minutes. Another group you see 3 times a week for 15 minutes. There are no hard and fast rules here, it's all about what fits your style and your students the best.
Keep It Simple!
This is by far the hardest one for me. I love to complicate things endlessly!
The way I run my rotations may be a bit much for some people, but it has worked well for me and my students! I will definitely address each of these areas in more detail soon, so stay tuned! In the meantime, if you are anxious to get going, I have some materials below that may help you!
