Learning Centers

Teaching in Small Groups
Learning Centers

When teaching history some students can get distracted or bored when the teacher stands in front of the class as lectures. Even if the teacher is doing all the talking/teaching, students can get uninterested in the content. In order to avoid boredom teachers can use Learning Centers to help keep the students engaged. Learning Centers can be used for almost all subject areas, and are very helpful for students to get a better understanding of the content through experience. During learning centers students are rotating between 4 or 5 different stations, where at each station the students are doing an activity to practice a previous lesson or introduce a new one. Learning centers are very beneficial for the students if there is an assessment (formal or informal). It is important for the teacher to know if the students are benefiting from the centers and learning something. An appropriate assessment for learning centers would be a discussion, or a written summary of what they learned.




During class we all brought something for a learning center. I brought a vocabulary game called BANG!. BANG! was set up by having cards cut out with social study terms printed on them and then put into a can (I used a Pringles can). The students would pick out a card and say the definition, and if they got it right they would keep the card, if they got it wrong they would have put the card back. The one who ended up with the most cards won! Some other people brought in an art activity with some writing, games and quizzes. It was a lot of fun! I think Learning Centers are great way for students to learn and have fun.