Running Head: EXPANDING LITERACY THROUGH LEARNING CENTERS

Expanding Literacy Through Learning Centers

Theresa Walker
Franciscan University of Steubenville

Running Head: EXPANDING LITERACY THROUGH LEARNING CENTERS

Table of Contents:
Page 3: Introduction

Page 3-5: Purpose

Page 5-10: Review of Literature

Page 10-11: Methodology

Page 11-15: Findings

Page 15-16: Recommendations

Page 17-19: Raw Materials

Page 20: References

https://magic.piktochart.com/output/13394349-untitled-infographic
https://prezi.com/jnnbkioualjl/creating-learning-centers-to-enhance-literacy/

Running Head: EXPANDING LITERACY THROUGH LEARNING CENTERS

Introduction:
Committed and devoted teachers who have a strong content knowledge, conviction,
and love for their students excel in the field of education. These teachers should give their
best to their students to provide the most effective learning environment within the
classroom. Learning centers provide the teachers with an opportunity to incorporate
hands-on exploration and interaction between their students in a safe and secure
environment. However, learning centers take precision and time in order to construct and
carry-out effective learning instruction. In their article, How Learning Centers Evolved in
a Secondary, Student-Centered Classroom, Movitz and Holmes state, combined studentcentered learning with direct instruction to create a comprehensive program where
students not only learned facts and skills but also have numerous opportunities to apply
them in authentic, student-chosen learning activities (Movitz & Holmes, p.73). This
applies to any content area, but most importantly, literacy. Therefore, it is essential that
teachers find that specific keyhole in learning in order to provide the most efficient and
adequate environment within the classroom that incorporates learning centers in an
educational way that supports both engagement and learning.
Purpose:
Grasping students attention and holding onto that focus is a key component of an
educator. There are many strategies to demonstrate and practice this component
throughout the classroom, many of which may fail or may become a prominent part of a
daily routine inside the classroom. Educators need to challenge children to open their
minds to the various learning outcomes of the provided activities. Learning centers have
been a strategy that enhances active participation of every student. However, many

Running Head: EXPANDING LITERACY THROUGH LEARNING CENTERS

studies have shown that learning centers may not work as well as predicted, or may lack
student engagement. Through research and experience I hope to answer the question: how
are learning centers expanding students literacy skills and fostering developmentally
appropriate practices for differentiated levels of learners? I want to discover effective
components of learning centers, for the best learning outcomes of each individual learner.
Through this study, my goal is to find specific ways to incorporate hands-on learning
activities in my daily routine as a teacher. I hope to accomplish this goal by focusing on
my research of learning centers and the different strategies educators use to incorporate
them within the classroom. I will also be interviewing current educators on how they are
implementing learning centers into their daily lesson plans. Through my own
experiences, I will provide information that I have witnessed inside the classroom and
what I have found to be effective and what is ineffective. By discovering the different
characteristics of learning centers, I will be able to support my question with reliable
answers as to how learning centers will enhance the students participation in active
learning.
As I continue to research and discover particular ways to implement learning centers
within my classroom, I hope to broaden my own knowledge of learning centers and ways
to apply hands-on learning activities through multiple content areas. Learning centers
foster each childs creativity and problem-solving skills. Within the learning centers, I
hope to focus on inquiry during open-ended activities that challenge the students to push
themselves to reach their maximum learning capabilities and to provide examples on how
this is attainable. Having achievable yet challenging lessons, an educator is able to
broaden the range of skills for each level of learning through various activities and

Running Head: EXPANDING LITERACY THROUGH LEARNING CENTERS

practices. Through my research, I hope to exemplify methods of various activities that are
effective for all students. My goal is to discuss the benefits of incorporating learning
centers in the classroom, to achieve literacy skills.
Review of Literature:
Reyes (2010) discusses in her article how to incorporate learning centers in a way that
will keep the children engaged, as well as how to achieve the goal that she has set for her
students. At the beginning, Reyes (2010) discusses her beginning experiences as a
teacher: Dealing with distracted students who were off task and not paying attention to
the tasks at hand. However, the students should have been completing worksheets and
practicing learning skills within the centers. Through studying her anecdotal notes, Reyes
(2010) observed that the reason her centers were not effective was because she did not
have hands-on activities or learning. She needed to find a way to incorporate these
lessons into her classroom to engage the students. What hindered her from delving deeper
into the hands-on approach was the fact that the school where she teaches centers on
developmental skills and cognitive challenges. These elements focus on student mastery
at every grade level. Therefore, Reyes (2010) needed to find a method to incorporate
these skills and hands-on approaches, yet also keep her students engaged and not
distracted. She incorporated learning center extensions. These are thematic, open-ended
activities that challenge all children to continue their learning after they complete the
fundamental learning center task (Reyes, p.95). This means that each center has a
specific assignment and once that assignment has been achieved and handed in, then that
student can move onto an extension from that particular center the student is focusing his
attention; this includes hands-on, yet challenging but achievable activities. This fosters

Running Head: EXPANDING LITERACY THROUGH LEARNING CENTERS

student creativity and problem-solving skills; through these goals, the activities and
standards are also manageable. The author also wanted to incorporate literacy through
allowing the students to verbally express his/her ideas during the different learning
centers. The study concludes that drastic changes happened and are observed throughout
the classroom: The students remain engaged and less distractions are found within the
learning centers. Reyes (2010) continued to develop learning center extensions through
the year, choosing different themes as the year progresses.
This has been one of the most beneficial articles that I have read throughout my
college career as a student. Reyes (2010) describes her own personal experience in the
classroom and the before and after effects of her experiments with the learning centers.
She knew that being an active participant within the classroom would be crucial for her
students achievement level. Through the learning center extensions, the author hoped to
encourage the children to explore more freely through inquiry, investigating, and record
findings, rather than just completing a worksheet or other formal assessments. The article
provided a table that incorporated the different learning centers and how they would be
incorporated into the classroom day to day. This article provided information that
encouraged me to think more deeply about why I want to become a teacher. Reyes (2010)
observed that her initial plan of action was not working; therefore she improved her
lessons and enhanced student learning through the learning centers, continuing to
improve her centers. Her teaching practices encourage me to work to the best of my
ability for the improvement of each student.
Powers (2010) conducted a research about learning centers and the effects that they have

on kindergarten classrooms by researching the physical and social designs of learning

Running Head: EXPANDING LITERACY THROUGH LEARNING CENTERS

centers. He also observed many different kindergarten classrooms and put together this
article to inform the reader about the similarities and the differences between preschool
learning centers and kindergarten centers. While preschool learning centers are more
associated with free play times and teachers are found to be less likely to provide explicit
instruction or have high expectations, in kindergarten Powers (2010) witnessed in his
research that kindergartners are expected to be more self-sufficient in managing their
time, staying on task, and resolving conflicts (Powers, p.3). Preschool centers begin
introducing and exposing children to the physical, social, and instructional demands of
kindergarten centers. Therefore, although preschool and kindergarten centers are
different, they all have the same goal of student achievement and preparing them for the
next grade level. There are three strategies that Powers (2010) discusses through his
article; these strategies close the gap that often exists between preschool and kindergarten
learning centers: First, Introduce learning centers with clear teacher expectations and
tasks to complete. Second, Increase the demands placed on children at the beginning of
the routine. Lastly, Implement learning center activities that require children to work
and solve problems independently (Powers, p.5). Another element that was implemented
into his article is that Powers (2010) conducted a series of studies to validate the skills
that kindergarten teachers identified as important(Powers, p.6). Twenty-two of these
skills are listed in the article with a percentage of when these skills are used. In
conclusion, learning centers are commonly used strategies in the classroom and
opportunities to prepare students both socially and academically.
As I began this article, I realized how different this was from the other articles that I
have studied. The approach that Powers (2010) used to study this topic is very hands-on

Running Head: EXPANDING LITERACY THROUGH LEARNING CENTERS

and engaging. He did most of his research by observing different classrooms and placing
his findings in the text and the charts of this article. I enjoyed how the author began with
the physical and social design of the learning centers and how this is effective for the
students. Consistency is key and many of the learning centers he observed included a
predominant focus on literacy, which included many reading exercises, letter and word
games, and manipulative activities to keep the child active and engaged. By having the
different graphs within the article provides the reader with the opportunity to visually see
the examples that the author is portraying, especially the chart on page four in displaying
the strategies for bridging the differences in learning centers between preschool and
kindergarten settings and also the chart on page two which highlights essential skills for
learning centers. This information is applicable for all elementary classrooms. As a
whole, this article provides information that is very useful and helpful for not only
preschool and kindergarten teachers, but also students as well. I think that I would use
this information in my future classroom if I were to teach kindergarten or preschool.
Movitz & Holmes (2007) discuss learning as more meaningful when teachers engage
the students in active learning, even at higher levels of education. Their article expands
on the idea of creating multi-sensory, hands-on learning centers in a high school setting.
Movitz explains her experience with creating centers in her own classroom, incorporating
language arts centers, such as reading, writing, vocabulary, and listening, in order to
achieve student success in a learning environment. Movitz describes creating her centers
as laborious to establish; however, once she established these centers the students
responded in a way that benefited both the student and the teacher. The author is able to
acquire the interests of her students and apply these interests within the centers to reach

Running Head: EXPANDING LITERACY THROUGH LEARNING CENTERS

the ability levels and needs of her students through a variety of differentiated activities.
Learning centers are capable of providing students the skills for cooperating with their
peers for positive social interaction and multiple opportunities to build social skills.
Movitz also is able to assess her students within the learner centers by using formal and
informal assessments by analyzing student participation, monitoring, and self-evaluating.
The teacher also receives and provides feedback of the strengths and weaknesses within
the centers and the activities. Movitz & Holmes (2007) explain how learning centers
help students activate prior knowledge, build independent learning skills, make
connections with the literature, and make choices from among a variety of activities
(Movitz & Holmes, p.69).
While creating learning centers, teachers have the tedious task of incorporating
meaningful lessons into individual and cooperative projects and activities to actively
engage students in learning. A learning center is an environment for students to
experience how facts and skills are related to broader goals and concepts. This article
interests me in a variety of ways because, although high-school is not the age range that I
will be teaching, instruction on learning centers in a secondary, student-centered
classroom enabled me to see the importance and the benefits that each student can obtain
from these centers. Movitz & Holmes (2007) combined student-centered learning with
direct instruction to create a comprehensive program where students not only learned
facts and skills but also had numerous opportunities to apply them in authentic, studentchosen learning activities (Movitz & Holmes, p.73). I think that having a studentcentered environment is essential for the learning outcome of each individual. These
centers are thus able to provide excitement and eagerness for students to learn and

Running Head: EXPANDING LITERACY THROUGH LEARNING CENTERS

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assume responsibility in order to reach their own particular goals and also the goals and
expectations of the teacher. Movitz (2007) explains that she is still collecting information
to build a collection of student-developed centers in order to provide more efficient and
effective learning within her classroom, so that her students can achieve and establish
common knowledge and new experiences.
Methodology:
Throughout the research of online sources, in the classroom observation, and
interviewing current teachers, this study has constructed ideas of how learning centers
can be efficiently carried out and how poorly prepared learning centers can be enhanced
in order to meet every childs needs in any level of learning. While efficiently being
carried out, learning centers have been seen to expand students literacy skills through
centers focusing on reading, writing, and comprehension. Throughout researching online
sources, facts have been highlighted within the literature reviews that were prominent and
helpful to this study. These articles reveal truths behind learning centers from analysts
that have observed and who have had first-hand experiences with this type of classroom
design.
Another approach that had been used was in-class observation. This observation was
achieved through many experiences dealing with learning centers in the classroom. The
study consisted of relating what was learned through the literature reviews and was
directly displayed through a physical design in the classroom. The study observed three
different classrooms which all displayed a variety of learning centers in various ways.
Through this study, it has been clarified which characteristics of learning centers need
more improvement and how the teacher achieves the highest level of learning within her

Running Head: EXPANDING LITERACY THROUGH LEARNING CENTERS

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students through centers.

Interviewing current elementary teachers was accomplished during this study and this
methodology provided useful and beneficial details relating to this research project. Three
teachers were interviewed and were asked questions relating to learning centers.
Discussions were also talked about relating to the teachers ability to establish learning
centers in order to enhance learning, specifically literacy. Each teacher provided their
own experiences and implemented clear evidence on how to improve learning centers in
order to reach children of various levels of learning and to engage each child in an
interacting and fun way.
By pulling together all the resources that were found, this study is able to provide the
reader with an understanding of what learning centers are and how they are created. This
study provides an answer as to why learning centers are established, and what a teacher
can do to improve these centers within the classroom. Learning centers help maintain
time and integrate hands-on exploratory experiences. Together with this information, this
research will offer an answer to how teachers can implement centers into the classroom
and incorporate intention teaching to improve literacy in the whole child.
Findings:
The findings of this study that are stated within this research project were constructed
upon a variety of resources. Learning centers are being re-discovered and are focused on
students independent learning. In their article Ford & Optiz (2002) state that designing
centers with the literacy curriculum in mind is an excellent way to ensure that children
are exposed to literacy and reading (Ford & Optiz, p.712). This takes time and effort
from the teacher to establish centers; however, once completed in an effective way, the

Running Head: EXPANDING LITERACY THROUGH LEARNING CENTERS

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student benefits from this method of learning. Many times teachers incorporate centers
and make improvements as time elapse. In her article, Reyes (2010) discusses that her
students were off task and never seemed engaged throughout the centers. She needed to
find a method to incorporate literacy skills and hands-on approaches, yet also keep her
students engaged and not distracted. She incorporated learning center extensions. These
extensions are thematic, open-ended activities that challenge all children to continue
their learning after they complete the fundamental learning center task (Reyes, p.95).
This approach to learning centers gives the teacher the time needed to fulfill this method
of instruction. Genisio & Drecktrah (1999) discuss in their article that engagement,
choice, experimentation, risk taking, opportunity, and the use of language are all
components of emergent literacy development in early childhood students and through
learning centers. This instruction can be incorporated within learning centers. Powers
(2010) took a different approach to discovering learning centers. While he believes that
instruction is extremely essential, his article focuses more on the design and social
interaction of the students. There are three strategies that Powers (2010) discusses
through his article: First, Introduce learning centers with clear teacher expectations and
tasks to complete. Second, Increase the demands placed on children at the beginning of
the routine. Lastly, Implement learning center activities that require children to work
and solve problems independently (Powers, p.5). By incorporating these elements into
learning centers, the student can benefit from the fruits that come from these elements
that are infused into literacy. In their article, Movitz & Holmes (2007) discuss their
approach to learning centers in the high-school setting. This article was important to this
study because it shows how learning centers are not specifically just for elementary

Running Head: EXPANDING LITERACY THROUGH LEARNING CENTERS

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students, but can be incorporated to reach all levels of differentiated learners to develop
and foster skills, especially with literacy. Movitz & Holmes (2007) explain how learning
centers help students activate prior knowledge, build independent learning skills, make
connections with the literature, and make choices from among a variety of activities
(Movitz & Holmes, p.69). The articles that were used within this study found that
teachers need to provide the time that is necessary to generate these literacy centers.
Teachers also need to provide hands-on activities and lessons throughout each center,
allowing for social and independent time for each student to thrive and strive for a greater
knowledge in literacy.
After researching these articles, it was examined that the research needed to enhance
and to move towards actual life interactions within the classroom. The study consisted of
visits to three classrooms of various ages and grades. The first classroom was a second
grade classroom. Within this classroom the teacher developed writing centers that each
student rotated around during the designated time. Although the concept behind the
centers was to improve literacy, the task was not fulfilled in an intentional way. The
students were distracted and did the minimal amount of work in order to move on and did
not comprehend the tools that they were given. After observation, it was discovered that
the teacher needed to be more present within the centers. The teacher needed to use her
scaffolding abilities that she has been given in order for the students to achieve and
comprehend the instruction that was being portrayed. The second classroom that was
observed within this study was a kindergarten classroom. This classroom was filled with
learners of various levels of reading. Taking all things into consideration, the teacher was
able to incorporate centers that closed the achievement gap between the students, push

Running Head: EXPANDING LITERACY THROUGH LEARNING CENTERS

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them academically, and provided the necessary scaffolding. This enabled each student to
be able to exceed in their learning throughout the course of the year. Many visits to this
classroom were needed in order to provide the necessary research needed. However,
while the research for this classroom was concluded, it was found that the teacher
enhanced each childs learning of literacy through these centers by interacting with each
student and by providing a variety of strategies to help the students succeed in their
fullest potential. These strategies included various graphic organizers and activities that
the students were able to use hands-on materials. The last classroom was a fifth grade
language arts classroom. The teacher centered all the students focus on how to achieve
the greatest level of learning. However, this teacher was able to include various strategies,
gave an ample amount of time to her students, and provided necessary learning
instruction, yet she did not integrate a feedback system into her centers. Therefore, after
discussing this topic with the teacher, a reflection sheet was constructed. The students
were able to use this reflection template to reflect on their own learning, yet also gave the
teacher the opportunity to analyze the students progress and make changes to meet each
childs needs.
The last part of the study focuses on interviewing current teachers. Many of the
questions that were asked during this part of the research integrated developmentally
appropriate skills and literacy practices. The main design that these teachers used within
their classroom were learning centers. These teachers use learning centers as a way of
incorporating differentiated instruction within their classroom to meet each child at their
level of ability. During the interview process, each teacher was asked to answer a series
of questions taken from an interview template. This template is attached at the end of this

Running Head: EXPANDING LITERACY THROUGH LEARNING CENTERS

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study. The first teacher that was interviewed created learning centers to enhance reading
and writing. She also allowed the students the ability to practice being independent
readers. She is a first grade teacher and has two children in her classroom that have
learning disabilities. At first glance, this task of incorporating learning centers seemed
daunting. However, by adapting the instruction within the centers to focus on each
student, she provided time within each center to meet one-on-one with the students to
analyze each childs progress in each center. She incorporating silent reading time,
partnered reading, and group reading within the reading center. She established a writing
center where she would provide different strategies for each period of the year. The
teachers that were interviewed also stated that each center is tentative and very prone to
change. Therefore, adaptions and changes are constantly taking place and being
improved. This is extremely essential within learning centers so as to always provide
adaptions to meet each student. After tedious questioning of the teachers and making
connections between learning centers and literacy skills, the study came to a close.
Recommendations:
This study has conducted many research techniques in order to grasp how to expand
literacy and foster developmentally appropriate practices through learning centers.
Although many teachers are diligently working towards each childs development and
academics, there are also many teachers who are not conscious of how to improve their
learning centers or learning instruction. Within this study, feedback was a very useful tool
in making provisions in the classroom. Student and colleague feedback are both essential
and important in enhancing learning. Another essential tool is time. Movitz describes
creating her centers as laborious to establish; however, once she established these centers

Running Head: EXPANDING LITERACY THROUGH LEARNING CENTERS

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the students responded in a way that benefited both the student and the teacher. Therefore,
this study proves that without sufficient time spent on learning centers, can be detrimental
to the student and can be a waste of effort and time if not carried out sufficiently.
Learning centers foster each childs creativity and problem-solving skills. Therefore,
hands-on, interactive lessons that focus on students creativity and problem-solving skills
and are most essential for the development of every individual of various levels of
learning. Teachers should always focus their attention to using centers in order to engage
students in learning, promote development of the whole child, and integrate multiple
subject matters so that learning happens in a meaningful context, especially literacy.
Teachers should assess their students understanding and knowledge through informal and
formal assessment practices, and through these components the teacher is able to foster a
love of learning. Combining these tools and using them towards the achievement of each
individual student, learning centers can effectively and efficiently enhance development
of literacy and other learning instruction.

Running Head: EXPANDING LITERACY THROUGH LEARNING CENTERS

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Raw Material:
Interview Template:
Teachers Name:________________________
Grade being Taught:____________
How Many Years Incorporating Learning Centers:________
Interview Question Guide:
1. Why did you start using learning centers?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. In your opinion, what is most important to consider while creating learning centers?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. How many centers do you have in your classroom and what content areas do you use
within the different centers?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

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4. What adaptions have you made since first using learning centers?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
5. How do you incorporate literacy into your learning centers?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
6. What are some strategies that you use within the centers to provide hands-on learning
for the students?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
7. How have learning centers changed your outlook on teacher in a beneficial and
effective way?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

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Weekly Literacy Learning Center Self-Reflection

Name:_________________________________
Date:__________________________________
Describe one literacy center activity that you thought was super helpful and
beneficial?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Describe one literacy center activity that you thought was NOT helpful or
beneficial?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
What can the teacher do in order to improve this center?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Overall, is this learning center helpful to you? Why/Why not?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

Running Head: EXPANDING LITERACY THROUGH LEARNING CENTERS

References:
Ford, M., & Optiz, M. (2002). Using centers to engage children during guided reading
time: Intensifying learning experiences away from the teacher. International Reading
Association, 55(8), 710-717.

Reyes, C. (2010). A teachers case for learning centers. National Association for the
Education of Young Children, 94-98.

Massey, S. (2012). From the reading rug to the play center: Enhancing vocabulary and
comprehensive language skills. Early Childhood Education Journal, 41, 125-131.

Genisio, M., & Drecktrah, M. (1999). Emergent literacy in an early childhood

classroom: Center learning to support the child with special needs. Early Childhood
Education Journal. 26(4), 225-231.

Powers, M. (2010). Preparing children for kindergarten: Learning centers. Early

Childhood School Readiness Series.

Movitz, A., & Holmes, K. (2007). How learning centers evolved in a secondary,
student-centered classroom. National Council of Teachers of English. 96(3), (68-73).

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