Literacy Work Stations are AWESOME!!!

  Ok...I have stressed and stressed about how this will work for me and my teaching style but with a long reflection of how my Math Work Stations have helped my kids learn with a deeper understanding, I have taken the plunge.  I wanted to share a little about what I am doing for Literacy Work Stations and how they run in my classroom.  
Here is how I keep it organized:

So you can see this is very similar to how I organize and set up my math work stations.  You can find more about them here. My kids are very familiar with math stations so are able to follow this chart easily.  They have a different literacy partner than math partner (just so they aren't working with the same person for an hour of our day).  LWS are slightly different than Math just because there is not a container to take off a shelf.  Instead, there is a section of the classroom where the kids find the work they need (you can see that in pictures below.)  For each of the 12 stations, I have I can charts posted (most copied right out of Debbie Diller's book Literacy Work Stations).  I will give a little detail about each station:

1. Big Book: Here the students are using big books to practice their reading skills. They are able to use highlighter tape and pointers to make their reading fun!

2. Write the Room : The kids have 2 or 3 choices to walk around and write words. When they finish, they have to read the words to their partner. 

3.  Writing: at this station, the kids can choose many different writing tools to write (shape books, cards, sticker stories, flap books, etc.). They love using things other than boring writing paper. 

4. Listening: I have collected many books on cd just from using bonus points at Scholastic. The kids love being in charge of pushing buttons and following along in the story. When they finish listening, they must write about their favorite part - they cannot use the book. This encourages them to actually LISTEN to the story!

5. Stamping: I have rings of sight words where the kids practice stamping the word, reading it and writing it. 

6. Computer: Here, the kids can choose from a multitude of different websites and programs my school has access to. A few websites are: www.starfall.com, www.scootpad.com, www.abcya.com, Earobics

7. Overhead:  at this station, I'm using a lot of Deedee Wills Overhead Pack. The kids can read poems, practice handwriting, make words with letter tiles, or even make sentences with word cards. 

8. Library: This station is simply my classroom library area. The kids choose from a huge variety of books - most on their reading level and others that are themed.

9. Poetry: The students use the poems that are on posters to practice reading fluency, sight word hunts, and concept of word. 

10. Pocket Chart:  With the pocket chart, the activities are really endless. The kids can play hide n seek games with sight words or letters.  They can sequence sentences or match upper and lower case letters. 

11. BrightLink: At this station, the kids use smart notebook files to practice different literacy skills. 

12. Work Work: This station really can be endless.  My kids love using letter tiles to make cvc words. I also use this station to work on sight words and word sorting. 

So, my kiddos have really taken to these stations because they were so well versed in math stations. I am taking a slight break from these stations while I have a student teacher but will definitely be starting them with my kinders in September. 

Here are some snapshots of my kids at work:

Do you have literay stations in your room?