Reading & Technology Centers

For the past two weeks and continuing until the end of the year, my 4th grade "Shining Stars" and "Shooting Stars" will work collaboratively in groups on technology based learning projects and in guided groups with a teacher. My students will demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products using technology. They will also practice test taking strategies to prepare for the upcoming state test.

Here's a look at my 6 centers which students attend to for 2 rotations of 30 minutes.

At center 1, the Shining Stars work in a teacher led group facilitated by Mr. Martinez, the ELL teacher and Ms. DiFulco, the Special Education teacher facilitates the second class, to revise and edit a passage. They end the center with a Proofreading test on LouisianaPass and print out their results for a grade

At center 2, this week students determined the climax of the story by analyzing the plot. Here's a look at the anchor chart I used on the left and a chart I used to model how to determine the climax using the book Stone Soup. The activities for this lesson were taken from ReadWorks.



At center 3, students work in a teacher led group to analyze different resources, use process of elimination and learn to prove their answers by giving evidence to where their answer was located. This is a test prep center to prepare for Information Resources and is led by my student teacher.

At center 4, students interact, collaborate and publish their work with peers through Edmodo. Students take a Reading quiz, poll, and respond to a focus question on their chapter book. The Shining Stars are reading James and the Giant Peach and are collaborating with a 4th grade class from Kansas and Colorado. The Shooting Stars are reading Because of Winn Dixie. I am so excited I was able to get this book club together for the students through Twitter. Thanks to @JanWells and @Jmplus for their  and their students' participation.

At center 5, students expand their vocabulary by using a variety of tools such as tag board I created from Jasztalville's Blog, play www.freerice.com, www.spellingcity.com, and creating a Word Cloud using Spelling words on www.wordle.net The Wordles students created came out great. They are hanging outside of my classroom. Sorry I forgot to take a picture!

Finally center 6, students will make a choice post on their blogs using Kidblog. Students are expected to write at least a 100 words and include a hook, transitions, and a conclusion.