6 Tips & Tricks for Reading Center Management

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Reading center management in your classroom can feel like a lot of moving parts to juggle. So, I want to share some tips and tricks I learned for reading center management!

Getting Started

You need a really clear picture and step by step understanding of what you expect from your students during each station, so you are able to explicitly teach them these expectations.

Click on the button or the picture below to download a FREE routines and procedures planning document to help you plan out the expectations you can teach. This is your first step to effect reading center management!

FREE Expectation Planning Guide
reading centers routines
reading center management

Below are the six classroom management strategies for elementary students that help to facilitate successful reading centers with my 2nd grade students.

#1 Schedule

The foundation of reading center management is a smoothly facilitated schedule and routine. I keep a slide projected on my whiteboard that shows the center schedule for that day. An example is shown in the picture shown above. It is the same every Monday and every Tuesday, etc. but it helps students to remember what is expected of them that day. It eliminates any questions of “I thought I had __ today” they know that what is on the board does not change!

Extra tips:

  • With some of my classes, I broke this down to be one center at a time. For some students it is easier to read the chart and focus on one at a time and I just changed the slide at the in-between transition.
  • Sometime I put the students’ names in the box under their group name. I have had several 2nd graders that struggled to remember what group they are in, and this also is helpful if you switch group members for different units.

#2 Communicating Expectations

A key in reading center management is for students to know what to do at each center, because you want to promote as much independence and autonomy as possible.

  • model the correct way to walk to a center, get the supplies needed, and get started working *FOR EACH CENTER (because each one is probably slightly different)
  • have students practice and model the correct way to go to a center and get started- again for each center
  • drawers & bins should be clearly labeled for where to find and put supplies for each group
reading center management supplies

For example, these drawers are for my Buddy Reading supplies. The koalas and giraffes used a lower reading level partner plays. Monkeys and tigers used a high reading level partner plays. The labels of their group animal picture showed them where to get their plays. The drawers with 2 stickers means the plays in there are for groups of 2 students. The drawers with 3 stickers means the plays in there are for groups of 3 students. Students easily knew where to find what they needed to complete their Buddy Reading center. Now, getting them to put the plays back in the correct drawers took practice and consistent reinforcement to build that habit.

#3 Tips for Managing Behavior

  • My best secret for reading center management regarding behavior, is knowing your students. I had a student who always struggled on Mondays transitioning back from the weekend. From trial and error I learned that he was most successful using the tablets on Monday. The other days of the week he was more adjusted to work through the other centers. So, I always scheduled his group for tablets on Monday! Easy to accommodate, but made a HUGE difference!
  • I walk around every 5-7 minutes to monitor what is going on, reinforce/ redirect as needed and so students know that I am still watching the whole room even though I am sitting with my group.
  • After shared reading, before we break off into centers I pick two or three students who have been showing model behavior so far to wear the helper necklaces. We use an “ask 3 before me” policy during centers and the necklaces identify who they should ask! I love this for many reasons- it helps to reinforce leaders in our classroom, I can pick students I know will be able to help others solve whatever problem they are having, and if I see students talking I can easily determine if they are working through a problem or just chatting.
reading center management trick

#4 Voice Level

We talk a lot about the voice level for each center depending on if they are working individually or with partners and what that should sound like.

My favorite call and response is waterfall and the students respond “Shhhhh” while using their fingers to mime trickling down rain. They know this is a signal that they need to bring their voice level down. It is a quick easy way for me to communicate that correction while not missing a beat working with my small group!

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    #5 Movement Around The Room

    My reading center management regarding movement is strict because every year I seem to have wonderers that love to dilly dally from their seat to the tissue box for 15 minutes haha I can’t be the only one am I?!

    Students know that they need to get all of their supplies before they sit down. They should not get back up until it is time to clean up. I use nonverbal hand signals in my classroom to communicate common questions. These include asking to sharpen your pencil, get a drink, get a tissue, and go the bathroom. I set expectations with my class that their work is their priority. They should only be asking to go to the bathroom if it is an emergency. We do bathroom break before reading time. Students use the nonverbal signals to ask so I can easily shake my head yes or no.

    #6 Smooth Transitions

    • I give a 2 minute warning before we switch or end centers. Each center has its own expectation for what students should do when they hear that warning. Centers with a lot of supplies, the students begin to clean up at the warning sign. Centers with one worksheet to turn in, students should continue working. If students clean up early, they should wait silently at their seats.
      • I keep the turn in/ supply bins for different centers in various areas of the room. This helps students are no all walking and crowding to get to the same area at once.
    • I have a signal word to go to the next center, “switch” not too creative but it works!
    • We talk a lot about going to your new area slowly and safely. This helps demonstrate the importance of being respectful while everyone is moving at once. This takes a lot of practicing and reinforcing appropriately movement.

    I hope that these six reading center management tips and tricks help you to get start running your literacy stations the most effective way possible! Read more about my reading centers here!

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