Groups are purposefully selected based on an identified need (assessment data, classroom participation, heritage speakers, etc)
Other students are working on independent or collaborative work, or working at other centers
Why use a teacher-led center?
Target varying needs of your students
Provide needed support (reinforce for low students/enrich for advanced students)
High levels of student on-task time
Effective way to differentiate
Allow teacher to quickly assess understanding, reteach, and answer questions for individual students
Students have more opportunities to respond and engage
Teacher is more likely to notice if a student is struggling, or if a student is capable of more difficult work
When use a teacher-led center?
Can vary based on goal - introduce material at beginning of unit, reinforce material during unit, review material at end of unit
Could be during typical center rotation model, or while rest of class is doing independent/partner/group work
Ideas for Teacher-Led Skill Centers
Listening
Pause video/audio and prompt students or ask questions - teach them how to listen in TL
Pause video/audio and ask students to restate/summarize or make predictions
Analyze different speaking samples and together as a group use a rubric to assess proficiency level
Reading
Close reading - code text, identify specific types of words or ideas
Read a text together, using comprehension strategies
Shared retelling
Problem-solution
Five-finger retell
Personajes, escenario, problema, eventos, final
Quién, qué, primero, después, al final
Discuss characters’ feelings
Keyword summary
Compare/contrast ideas, characters, settings, etc
Use the five senses to discuss elements of the story (sight, hear, smell, touch, taste)
Discuss central themes together as a small group
Somebody - Wants - But - So (Alguien - Quería - Pero - Así que - Entonces)
Speaking
Practice talking about a picture - could provide different levels of support depending on group (graphic organizers, sentence starters, full sentence examples, brainstormed list of vocab)
Play a game - great way to make sure students stay in TL (conversation Jenga, Apples to Apples, board games, card games)
Group discussion or debate - could tier topic or level of support
Writing
Intro and practice using transition and connecting words with advanced group
Teach an advanced grammar structure to advanced group
Sentence building (stretching a sentence to include a who, what, where, when, why)
Story writing: Identifying main character's, problem, resolution, scene
Practice mechanics of writing sentences with struggling group - target specific needs (kids who always leave out verbs, kids who always mess up adjective agreement, etc) - could use sentence strips or manipulatives
Grammar/Vocab
Introduce enrichment vocab related to unit for advanced group
Review/practice a unit concept with struggling students
Introduce grammatical structure in small group
Direct, guided practice with grammar points that some students need more work on. Extension/challenge for students who are ready to move on. NOT a worksheet, but actual practice creating sentences using grammar concept
Concept attainment of vocabulary or structure - look at a text (story, infographic) and guide students to identify vocabulary or rules/patterns
Goal-Setting
Discuss proficiency levels and how to move through them
Analyze different speaking samples or writing assignments, and together as a group use the rubric to assess proficiency level