I get a ton of questions from tired, frustrated teachers on how to keep students accountable during small group teaching. You feel like you spend more time redirecting than paying attention to the three to four students in front of you. If you don’t have a well organized system, this will be you every time. Here’s a little sneak peek into how I get my students to complete work each day during small group rotations!
Is This You?
You know teaching in small groups is a must. It gives you an opportunity to work in smaller groups on skills that need more attention. But you have around 18 other kids in the room that need guidance too. You find yourself getting up several times during your small group time to redirect students. Students come up to your table asking what to do next. It’s seriously a hot mess.
Don’t let this be you again….
Start with a System
I’m not saying my system is perfect, but I spend less time redirecting and more time teaching to my small groups. It gets better every week.
My Literacy Center Rotation System is something that works for me and my students. It provides each student with their own, personalized schedule. My students never have to ask me where they go to next.
This system is easy to edit as your groups change throughout the year. The center names are broad enough to fit all levels of classrooms. And your students will feel so grown up following a schedule of their own!
Keep Centers Easy to Follow
There is a lot of confusion on what you put into your centers. Do you put something that can be graded? What if they don’t know what to do when they get to that center?
Yes, I put activities in my centers that can be graded. All of my centers that are in my TpT and MJCS stores include the activity and a response sheet. Sometimes I use the response sheet to see where they are. I use the response sheets to help plan my small groups. And I can also use them as a quick assessment. Your goal is to use the data to help guide your instruction. What better way than use an activity they do on their own!
I have the same centers each week. All I do is change the activity in the every Monday morning. Centers range from phonics, writing, spelling, and reading response. If the activity is new, I spend a few minutes after my whole group lesson to go over it.
Each activity includes an “I Can” statement to guide my students in what the goal of the activity is.
Don’t Wait!
Don’t wait for the start of another school year to implement this system. If you need a change, don’t wait! You can implement this system any time during the year! Don’t ask “how do you keep your students accountable” again!
To see a closer look at my Literacy Rotation System, click the link below!
