Let’s take reading, for example. Reading is broken down into 5 areas: phonological awareness, fluency, vocabulary, spelling, and comprehension. If you address all five of these areas every day in every lesson, can you imagine the growth your students would achieve? Many classrooms neglect these because they assume that students have already learned it, focusing solely on the grade level skill. I can tell you from experience, this is rarely the case. If you can design activities that hone in on these specific areas, you will be amazed at what your students will achieve. Your stations should reflect activities in these areas. For example: One station can be for vocabulary practice and spelling, while another is solely designed for phonological awareness and fluency. Students engage in meaningful and quick activities that reinforce these essential skills. The best part of this approach is the activities can be tailored specifically for each group of students in your class. Homogeneous grouping can provide you with a means for enabling students to engage in the activities that are appropriate for them.
Say you have the typical mix of students: some low, most average, a few high-performers. With homogeneous grouping you can ensure that the activities at each center are tailored for that particular group. Your low group may need practice with sounding out single-syllable words, while your high group may need to work with multi-syllabic words with prefixes and suffixes. All of this can be accomplished with one center. It takes more creative planning initially, but in the long run it not only saves you more time in the end, it also can produce significant results.
I know this is a lot to take in, especially if you’re new to the concept, but stations really are worth the effort and time. You can incorporate activities that meet students with IEPs while still having time with guided practice to teach the grade level content. As students rotate through stations, they are engaged, giving you less interruptions while you’re working with your small groups. If you meet the three principles stated above, you’re stations are sure to be a hit with your students.
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