How to Make Social Studies Learning Centers
Learning centers are a great way to incorporate various learning styles into any given unit of study. For the visual learner include readings or videos, and for the auditory learner have tapes of the readings. Include tactile activities requiring the student to make something with materials you provide. It is always nice to have some sort of presentation required for those actors in the classroom. This is also an opportunity for cooperative learning. Just because you are creating centers does not mean the students can not work in pairs or groups.
Things You'll Need
- Activity outline for each center
- Written instructions for each center
- Grading rubric
- Readings
- Outline maps
- Short videos
- Tapes of the readings
- Vocabulary lists
- Art materials
Instructions
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Begin with a unit of study that naturally separates into clearly defined sections. For example, create centers comparing and contrasting the individual Native American tribes that are included in your curriculum. These would naturally lend themselves to individual centers. Once you have your unit, decide on the number of centers and the specific topic for each.
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Decide what you want your students to learn. The activities have to teach the students about the center topic as students perform them. If your centers are on colonial settlements such as Plymouth, Jamestown, New Amsterdam, St. Augustine or Quebec, learning outcomes might involve knowing their food, shelter, clothing, jobs, transportation and leisure activities. The activities must be appropriate to your topics and your curriculum.
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Gather appropriate materials for your centers. If you decide on readings, collect the books from the library and mark the sections to be read. Prepare video clips to show on a TV/VCR or computer. Create, or select from your ancillary materials, activities that help the students reach the learning goals you have set for each center. Always find or create hands-on activities for the tactile learners.
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Create detailed instructions for your centers and each center activity. Producing meticulous instructions for each center is well worth the time it takes. Clearly explain to the students what to do and how to do it.
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Develop a specific grading rubric for your centers. By doing this, students know what each center and activity is worth. They know what the risk is for incomplete or missing work. Make a grading rubric for each center as a daily grade. Create a rubric for averaging the centers together as a test grade. Give copies of these to each student before the class begins any work on the centers.
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Decide how you want to set up your centers. Turning the whole classroom into centers for a week can work very well, but you know your children and how they react to situations. Placing centers in the back and sides of the room may work better for your students. You must judge accordingly and determine a setup that works for you.
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Determine your time frame. Timing is critical for learning centers. You must allot enough time for the students to finish each center.
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Tips & Warnings
Not all units lend themselves easily to centers, and some take quite a bit of work to set up.
The most difficult part of learning centers is the instructions. If you do not give clear directions, what should be an enjoyable guided lesson becomes a disaster.
Grading rubrics are a great incentive to getting the work completed.
Center setup can help to foster the attitude you want from your students. If you set up haphazard centers, you will get haphazard work.
Use teacher-created groups or pairs the first time.
Take a day to introduce the whole learning center lesson and to give general instructions.
Go over the grading before the centers start.
Everything is adjustable to age and grade level.
Good classroom management is a must or things get out of hand very quickly.
Make multiple copies of any printed materials. Some always walk away.
Make-up time for absent students must be taken into consideration. Don't do this close to the end of a grading period.
