Station Rotation

By Samantha Casey

I am a fourth-grade teacher at a Catholic School where blended learning is primarily used for instruction. There are many ways that I incorporate the station rotation model in my classroom. I will start off by discussing how I use this model for Language Arts instruction. I have thirty students in my class and I have divided my class into three groups based on ability levels. Of course, these groups were created with the flexibility of changing the entire year depending on student growth.I use station rotation three times a week during language arts instruction. Eachgroup spends either fifteen to twenty minutes at each station. The first station isalways an independent study station using the iPads. I use a language artsapplication called HMH readers that is provided by my school’s language artsprogram. Each student is given a different symbol of which books they are allowedto read (square, triangle, or circle). Each symbol represents a different reading level.Once the students have been given their reading assignment they are able to use theiPad to access their story. They can read their story with or without headphones. I usually leave it up to them to decide. After they have completed reading their story,they are to complete a series of reading activities in their composition books. The activities are on different reading strategies based on the story they read. The next station is a guided station. The students are guided by my paraeducator on different reading activities that relate to the weekly story. Some of the activities they do in this group  story maps, vocabulary graphic organizers, and vocabulary stories.The last station is my small group, which is different based on each level of the students. For my high group, I usually provide challenging activities that are based on the reading. They are usually questions that involve higher order thinking. For my average group, I usually review the story with them providing questions that are based on the story. For my lower group, I use the differentiated instruction book that provides similar stories to the weekly story using the same vocabulary words.We usually read the story together and discuss the vocabulary and questions indepth. I usually stick to these groups each week during language arts stationrotation.

Samantha Casey is a fourth-grade teacher in Santa Clara, CA. She has used elements of blended learning for two years.