The Not So Obvious Basics Of Setting Up Independent Work Stations In Kindergarten and First-Grade

[@ms.victoriateachesmacarons7103]

Thank you! That makes stations understandable. I'm going to be ready to do stations on my first day! Yay! Thank you so much! =D

[@TeachersMakingTheBasicsFun]

I’m glad you found it helpful. Going slow with stations is a good idea. Setting the routine and the expectations and practicing both to nauseum is important when laying the foundation for the weeks to come. So go slow. If you have any questions let me know.

[@malinabril6796]

Question:Do you have the partners be the same 2 all the time or do you mix them up?

[@TeachersMakingTheBasicsFun]

I mix them up as much as possible. 😀

[@kimmyr8118]

How does small group reading work into stations in this case? If you have 12 stations, is one of them when they come to you? And how do you differentiate appropriately for reading group levels?

[@TeachersMakingTheBasicsFun]

Sometimes I’d put a card in the rotation chart that said “Teacher Time” but many times I would just say “Fred, Justin, Fran, Meg. Come see me before you go to your next station.” Then I could work on a specific skill with them. Some kids saw me everyday because of their extreme need for remediation others saw me a lot less frequently.

[@TeachersMakingTheBasicsFun]

This system allowed me to target skill deficits quickly. I did also use esgi to help me group and pull kids according to what they needed to work on.

[@sparklingshelby933]

I might have not heard it yet, but what do you do if a partner is absent? The other student just does the stations independently on their own?

[@TeachersMakingTheBasicsFun]

That’s a super good question. It depends on the kid. Many times they can, and want to, do it alone. But many times you can have a group of 3. It’s just not ideal.

[@littleprince7999]

Make a assembly vedio

[@TeachersMakingTheBasicsFun]

Like how to make all the parts for stations?

[@KhadeijahKhan]

How big a classroom should be to hold 12 stations

[@TeachersMakingTheBasicsFun]

I always had a smallish classroom. That’s why I had to set up and take down my stations each day. Or rather the students did the set up and take down because it’s part of the system.