Timesaving make-and-takes a big hit in Region 5
What is the one desire all teachers have when reflecting on their classrooms and all of the ideas they want to implement? Time! Teachers want and need time to create and implement activities that will enhance their teaching and students’ learning. What better way to reward their wishes than with a day of research-based make-and-take activities, saving teachers the precious time needed to find and create the activities on their own?
The Florida Center for Reading Research and the Texas Reading First Initiative have provided teachers with a wealth of ideas and materials for activities to use in centers in kindergarten through fifth grade. These research-based activities focus on the five components of reading (phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension) and are designed for students to practice what they are learning in a positive and cooperative way.
This fall, kindergarten and first-grade teachers in Region 5 spent a day evaluating their reading centers and sharing thoughts and ideas on how centers work best for them. Teachers saw how they could improve their schedule or create space for centers in their classrooms. After a morning of sharing and learning best practices for centers, the real fun began!
As lively music played in the background, the atmosphere of the room was like that of a school playground. Teachers were working hard making center activities, laughing, sharing stories, and making personal connections. Each teacher received all of the materials necessary to make and take 30 center activities that varied across the five components of reading. The expressions on their faces and the moments of sharing are what teaching is all about.
Region 5 is currently planning the same workshop for second- and third-grade teachers. The day after the kindergarten and first-grade workshop, Region 5 received numerous e-mails and phone calls from people who did not want to miss out on the second- and third-grade workshop.
There is no better way to ensure that teachers implement research-based activities and ideas than to give them the tools they need to be successful.