Lately, I’ve been diving into the work of literacy stations.  On my campus, Kindergarten, first, and second grade teachers have really been examining the work that students are asked to do during station time. Many times, students do not know WHY they are doing literacy stations, regardless of whether or not they know HOW to do literacy stations. We are focusing on raising the quality of the work so that every minute is spent on something that will make students stronger independent readers.

Workboard Icons:

There are a million ways to represent your stations on a workboard, but consistency across grade levels will really help with management!

Update (November 29, 2012): We have been hard at work on writing about our reading. Check out the photos below of the stems teachers have come up with to help their students use the prompt cards for writing as well as talking!

Word Work TicTacToe

Most literacy stations serve one of two purposes: phonics practice or comprehension practice. We address phonics practice with these grids, which are based on a Pinterest find! :) We use Fountas and Pinnell’s Word Study program. Each week, students study one phonics rule, and they have personalized spelling lists based on their needs and the rule taught. They practice their words tin “Buddy Study” throughout the week. These grids are used like Buddy Study.

Response Prompt Cards (UPDATED October 9, 2012):

This is the heart of our literacy station makeover. We want kids engaged in more meaningful response during literacy stations, and so far, these are really helping with that! A fabulous Kindergarten teacher on my campus designed one set of these cards, and in our campus study, we raised the level of the cards for first and second grade. (Notice that the icons stay the same - logographic connections are a powerful thing!) These are intended to be printed, cut, and put on a ring.  Teachers are modeling how to use them while reading aloud, then they are going into the Independent Reading, Buddy Reading, Listening, Big Book, and Read Aloud Stations.


Kindergarten                                    First Grade                                    Second Grade









Written Response Stickers:

I made these labels to help transition kids from talking about their reading to writing about their reading in literacy stations.  The logos are the same, so you could give them to students and have them stick them at the top of a page in their notebook, then respond to the corresponding prompt in writing. These could be printed on paper and kids could glue them, but I believe in the ease of a label (and the excitement of a sticker)!

NEW! Click here to download prompt cards for 3rd-5th Grade! We don’t have literacy stations in the upper grades, but we are seeing such amazing conversations grow with these cards that we are trying them in the upper grades. I made them smaller in size, so students can easily tuck them in their book bag and use them during independent or partner reading.