Center Kids’ Attention with Vacation Stations
Set up a Vacation Station that features Poetry Paradise.
Hi and welcome back to Attentionology for K – 5 Teachers!
Weekdays just ahead of the end of a school term can seem like they last forever, especially for K – 5 teachers and students who are counting the hours until vacation.
In this environment it can be difficult to hold students’ focus on where you need it to be.
Center kids’ attention with Vacation Stations.
The name – Vacation Stations – may sound like all play and no work.
Not so. It’s learning and fun, fun, fun, in an indoor sun.
Who says learning can’t be fun; K – 5 teachers know that education and entertainment both begin with the letter “e” for a reason.
Check out these creative options for setting up Vacation Stations:
Prepare Poetry Paradise – Set out paper and pencils on a table labeled “Poetry Paradise” and make this center part of Vacation Station Time in your classroom.
Offer a title like “Summer Song” or “Fall Festival” for students to use for personal wordplay.
Encourage kids to use words and phrases that describe the season ahead in their part of the world.
Share a short poem that I wrote about summer in the eastern region of the US.
Summer Song
Carolina days grow longer,
Birds sing the season’s song.
New wings have taken flight.
Listen, summer is knocking
At Nature’s blossoming door,
Picnics promise to delight!
Form Beach Readers’ Island – Bring in a beach umbrella and some beach towels.
Hang a cardboard cut-out sun above the umbrella and make a sign that reads “Beach Readers’ Island.”
Post it in your Reading Center or on a table in one corner of the classroom.
When you announce that it’s Vacation Station Time, invite students to choose a book and towel and find a spot to read for a while.
You may need to set a time limit on “Beach Readers’ Island” and have kids take turns there.
If there is a big demand for this Vacation Station, play along with this imaginative activity by telling the class, “We’ll have to set time limits in Beach Readers’ Island because it’s not good to be in the sun too long.”
Give this activity some extra science curriculum punch by selecting books to leave in this center that relate to the beach. For example, fifth graders may study beach erosion while they stretch out on Beach Readers’ Island.
Find other nooks in your classroom to set up other vacation stations, like…
(more…)
Barbara Cleary has been serving as a resource to hundreds of educators for more than 25 years.
An award-winning writer, producer, teacher, and trainer, Barbara’s focus is on offering easy, fun tools and tricks that support K-5 curricula and assist teachers with classroom management.
