Introduction

Literacy centers offer the motivation and flexibility necessary to meet the diverse needs of today's students.  When managed and planned effectively, literacy centers give students the opportunity to make choices about their learning.  Centers also provide opportunities for social collaboration, allow student participation on a variety of levels, and integrate success into each student's reading experiences.  Centers provide a classroom structure that allows classroom teachers to assess students regularly while the class is engaged in meaningful and purposeful literacy activities.  Literacy centers have become an important tool for Michigan educators as they integrate literacy activities and a comprehensive assessment system.

Literacy Assessment in the State if Michigan

The Michigan Literacy Language Profile (MLPP) is one component of the Governor John Engler's Reading Plan for Michigan, drafted in October 1999.  The MLPP is a series of assessment tools developed by the Michigan Department of Education/Early Literacy Committee.  This committee was comprised of parents, teachers, and teacher educators.  The goal of the Reading Plan is to ensure that all children become independent readers by the end of third grade.  The MLPP is designed to be used by classroom teachers and has three overarching objectives:  (1) provide teachers with a comprehensive assessment plan for preschool-grade three children, (2) provide teachers with assessment feedback to design learning plans for individual children, and (3) communicate student literacy development to parents and other teachers.

The MLPP contains eleven different tools for assessing literacy development of early learners.  The tools are divided into “milestone” assessments, typically used for all students, and “digging deeper” assessments, used for gaining additional information about individual learners.  The MLPP was designed and adapted from the Observation Survey, an assessment system developed by Marie M. Clay and used in Reading Recovery; the MLPP also includes assessments of literacy attitudes, oral language, and reading comprehension. In addition, the MLPP requires that teachers-in-training receive a minimum of 35 hours of training.  MLPP materials are available only through the training process. To view the entire Reading Plan for Michigan (Executive Overview), visit this web address: http://www.state.mi.us/mde/ready/.

Integrating Literacy Centers and a Comprehensive Literacy Assessment System

As the MLPP is implemented throughout the state of Michigan, classroom teachers are analyzing and modifying their classroom structures to maximize the benefits of this assessment system and the important information it provides.  Teachers are balancing the time they have available to engage in the quality performance tasks provided by the MLPP, and they are organizing their classrooms to allow for this assessment time. Literacy centers have emerged as an important strategy that keeps students involved in meaningful literacy activities.  They also allow teachers to observe students, engage in direct instruction with small groups, and meet with students on a regular basis to monitor reading progress and confer about their evolving reading skills and behaviors.

Holdaway (1979) outlines four distinct reading processes in his discussion of learning theory.  The first process is the observation of reading behavior, such as experiencing a teacher read-aloud or watching an adult read.  The second process is collaboration with an individual in a classroom. This could be the teacher, a peer, or other educators working in the classroom setting.  The third process is practicing literacy behaviors where a child independently practices what has been learned.  Practice allows learners to evaluate their work, make corrections, and increase their literacy skills.  The fourth process is performance; learners share what they have learned in a variety of formats. Literacy centers provide ideal ways of reinforcing both collaboration and practice as students engage in the reading process.

What is a Literacy Center?

A literacy center is a physical area designed for specific learning purposes.  It has the appropriate materials to enable learners to explore and work independently in a variety of configurations (individually, with partners, in small groups).  Successful literacy centers have a number of characteristics.  The centers reflect a planned physical environment that is conducive to learning and motivates students to read and write.  In addition, center activities should allow for open-ended inquiry and engage students in the tasks as active learners.  The most successful centers are those that provide students choice in their activities, have explicit and on-going routines, and maintain a strong connection between center tasks and the classroom literacy program.  Participating in literacy centers should provide students with the collaboration and practice necessary to orchestrate their ever-expanding knowledge of literacy.

Getting Started with Literacy Centers

The ideas for possible literacy centers are endless, and staff sharing of ideas and activities is an essential part of the development of literacy centers.  Time can be set aside at faculty meetings for teachers to share and demonstrate center ideas.  A great way to see centers in action is to have staff visit other rooms during center time.  Centers can be permanent and last for an entire school year; they may be temporary and connected to a current theme, holiday, or classroom activity.  Here are some ideas teachers have used for literacy centers:

ABC Center	Word Study Center
Listening Center	Art Center
Writing Center	Independent/Buddy Reading
Drama	Poetry
Computer	Overhead Projector
Games	Reading Response Journals
Literature Circle/Book Club	Pocket Chart
Building/Manipulatives	Science/Social Studies Center
Music Center	Math Center
Felt Board	Author Study Activities
Handwriting Center	Reading Around the Room/School

Implementation at the Early Elementary Level (Grades K-2)

It is essential to establish a routine for student participation in literacy centers and to practice this with children.  A workboard can be helpful to visually organize centers for both students and teachers.  It is important to practice and discuss behavioral expectations such as how to move from center to center, appropriate noise level, and how to handle conflicts that may arise.  As each center is introduced, teachers should provide the necessary modeling and demonstration of center tasks as well as student practice and discussion of the literacy activities.  Literacy centers are successful when learners know the specific tasks that are expected in the center for any given period of time (day, week, on-going).  When planning the physical environment, classrooms should have an organized system for storing folders, journals, and any other materials that children will use regularly.

Implementation at the Later Elementary Level (Grades 3-5)

Literacy center activities can last for longer periods of time at this level.  For example, activities in the writing center can follow a process writing format as students work through drafts, edits, proofreading, and publishing. Centers can also allow for more independent study as students investigate topics of interest through a variety of resources.  A literacy center at this level is the ideal place to extend and expand student literacy by promoting participation in a literature circle or a class book club. The Book Club model developed by Raphael, Pardo, Highfield, and McMahon (1997) provides a framework that can be easily integrated into literacy centers.  This framework includes Book Club discussion groups, reading, writing, a community sharing session, and direct instruction from the teacher.

Integrating Technology

Literacy centers are the perfect place in which to integrate technology.  A computer area makes a great center as students access CD-ROM storybooks, Internet sites, and literacy games that help to reinforce important literacy skills while enhancing technology skills.  Reading and publishing student work are ideal center activities.  Tape recorders and overhead projectors are important and useful literacy center tools.

Summary

Literacy centers provide both a positive physical and social context for learning.  The integration of centers in the classroom literacy program supports improvement in reading comprehension, language, and writing development.  In addition, the structure and design of centers allow for the voluntary participation in cooperative literacy activities by all children as well as increased appreciation for reading and writing. Participating in meaningful and purposeful literacy activities on a regular basis should have positive effects on the entire assessment system.  Monitoring student success on performance indicators, performance tasks, and measures of perception will provide data on student literacy achievement.  In addition, teacher observation of center behaviors can provide important information about student independence, interdependence, and cooperative skills.

For more detailed information regarding literacy centers, see these exemplary resources:

The Literacy Center by Lesley Mandel Morrow, Stenhouse Publishers, 1997. In this comprehensive resource, Morrow gives a solid research foundation for the use of literacy centers in the classroom.  The resource section of this book provides information about the organization, management, and assessment of literacy centers, and the instructional techniques that promote cooperative and collaborative learning settings.  The Literacy Center is available through Stenhouse Publishers, http://www.stenhouse.com/.

Guided Reading--Good First Teaching for All Children (Grades K-2) by Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell, Heinemann, 1996.  This book provides detailed descriptions of classroom management techniques for literacy centers such as workboards and includes workboard icons.  Guided Reading is available through Heinemann Publishing, http://www.heinemann.com/.

Guiding Readers and Writers Grades 3-6:  Teaching Comprehension, Genre, and Content Literacy by Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell, Heinemann, 2001.  This companion volume to Guided Reading (K-2) extends the instruction, assessment, and management of literacy centers to the later elementary grades.  This resource also focuses on teaching comprehension, genre, and content literacy.  Guiding Readers and Writers is available through Heinemann Publishing, http://www.heinemann.com/.

Book Club:  A Literature-Based Curriculum by Taffy Raphael, Laura Pardo, Kathy Highfield, and Susan McMahon, Small Planet Communications, 1997.  This resource is particularly helpful to later elementary educators who want to integrate content areas and affective development with literacy instruction.  Many of the activities included in the Book Club model can be used as literacy center activities.  In addition, the web site includes a free on-line discussion group for students involved in the Book Club program.  For more information, contact Small Planet Communications at http://www.smplanet.com/.

References

Daniels, H., & Bizar, M. (1998). Methods that matter:  Six structures for best practice classrooms.  York, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.

Daniels, H., Hyde, A., & Zemelman, S. (1998). Best practice: New standards for teaching and learning in America's schools. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Fountas, I., & Pinnell, G. (1996). Guided reading: Good first teaching for all children (grades K-2). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Fountas, I., & Pinnell, G. (2000).  Guiding readers and writers grades 3-6: Teaching comprehension, genre, and content literacy.  Portsmouth, NH:  Heinemann.

Fountas, I., & Pinnell, G. (1998). Word matters: Teaching phonics and spelling in the reading/writing classroom. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Fountas, I., Pinnell, G., & McCarrier, A. (2000). Interactive writing: How language and literacy come together, K-2. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Hiebert, E., Pearson, P., Taylor, B., Richardson, V., & Paris, S.  (1998). CIERA/Collection of Monographs. Every child a reader:  Applying reading research to the classroom.

Holdaway, D. (1979). Foundations of literacy. New York: Ashton Scholastic.

Michigan Literacy Progress Profile (MLPP). (2000). Lansing, MI: Michigan Department of Education.

Morrow, L. (1997). Literacy center: Context for reading and writing. York, ME:  Stenhouse Publishers.

Raphael, T., & Hiebert, E. (1996). Creating an integrated approach to literacy instruction. New York: Harcourt Brace College Publishers.

Raphael, T., Pardo, L., Highfield, K., & McMahon, S. (1997). Book club: A literature-based curriculum. Littleton, MA: Small Planet Communications.

Reading and writing grade by grade: Primary literacy standards for kindergarten through third grade. (1999). National Center on Education and the Economy and the University of Pittsburgh.

Routman, R.  (2000). Conversations:  Strategies for teaching, learning, and evaluating.  Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society.  Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.