I really enjoyed reading this week’s article on literacy centers. I am a firm believer that children can learn through the social interactions of their peers. Children come to school with all different cultures and backgrounds and each child’s prior knowledge is different and unique. Because of this, it’s amazing to see what children can learn from each other. Literacy centers are great because it gives students the opportunity to interact and learn from each other while completing the task at hand. It also allows teachers to focus their attention to smaller groups of students. Students who have trouble can ask their classmates for help which gives an opportunity for students to peer tutor each other and develop leadership skills.
Although the use of literacy centers has its critics I believe the pros far outweigh the cons. I found an article written by Elizabeth Stover on the Walden University Education website which talks about the benefits of literacy learning centers. She too believes student interaction can be beneficial because it allows another way for students to learn. She also points out that literacy centers not only meets a student needs by allowing students to practice skill sets but it also gives them a greater responsibility and a sense of independence.
I believe the key to monitoring literacy centers is to keep kids accountable by spot-checking the students’ work, writing feedback to journals and writing samples and having them share what they accomplished. I also liked some of the ideas that were given in class like playing soft music in the background to help control noise level. Although some may doubt the effectiveness of literacy centers, I believe with proper monitoring and guidance it can be extremely beneficial.
Stover, E. (2010) What are the benefits of classroom literacy learning centers. Retrieved from http://connected.waldenu.edu/curriculum-resources/teaching-methods/item/1310-what-are-benefits-of-classroom-literacy-learning-centers
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