How much time should students stay in a center? How many centers should they visit each day? What if some students can't stay focused on one activity for the whole center?
These were some of the questions I had when I began teaching preschool. I came across a blog post for someone who said she used center zones in her preschool classroom.
In the Center Zones set up, students can go to any centers in the zone they are assigned. If they want to spend their entire time on one activity, they can. If they want to move to a different activity every 5 minutes, they can. What I love about this system is that it allows students to become settled into an activity and to work through it completely without keeping them constantly moving. At the same time, it sets up active children for success because they can transition to a new activity whenever they lose interest or lose focus. This is really the best system I can imagine to meet the needs of all the students in my room!
Here's how it works:
First, I identified 8 centers I wanted for my classroom. I chose blocks, dramatic play, library/reading, science, math, writing, art, and sensory table. I wanted to make sure my students had time to visit each center regularly, so I paired my centers into center zones.
Zone 1: Blocks and Dramatic Play
Zone 2: Library and Science
Zone 3: Math and Writing
Zone 4: Art and Sensory Table
I set up the two centers for each zone next to each other so that students in a zone could move back and forth between the two centers without disrupting the class. This gives them the freedom to choose their activity while providing structure.
I use this chart on my whiteboard to show students what centers they can go to. Each student's name is on a magnet making it easy to move them from center to center. In one day, students will go to 2 center zones. You can rotate these in whatever way works for you, but I have students go to the two zones on the left one day and the two zones on the right the next day.
Students work in their center zones 30-40 minutes depending on how long my mini lesson was that day. Within each center there are several activity choices, so students stay engaged, and I am able to work with students individually or in small groups without causing them to miss out on their entire time at a center.
Keeping this system predicable throughout the year gives students a sense of security. They know that if they can't play in blocks today, they will get to play there tomorrow. They know that if Math and Writing isn't their favorite center, they have art and sensory to look forward to. Because of this system, a majority of students move happily to their centers without a problem each day.
If there is something I didn't cover in this post that you'd like to learn more about, let me know!
Grab the center chart here in whatever colors work for your classroom theme!
Pin it for later!
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