Keep the Rest of the Class Reading & Writing... While You Teach Small Groups (Grades 3-6)

Rating:
Summary: Good for Teachers Experienced with Using Centers
Review: I purchased this book because I thought it would give me some fresh ideas on how to set up and manage centers while I worked with small groups. Well, the author only spends about 4 pages on center set-up and management, and it's a pretty broad overview with fuzzy details. I would not recommend this book for a teacher who has never done centers before, because it is not very helpful in the "how-to" department. On the other hand, it is packed full of great ideas for activities related to literacy that can be used in your centers. Most of them are of the worksheet variety, and many are made for specific book titles, but all of the ideas can be adapted for your own curriculum. The menu idea itself is great and very flexible, and I like the author's use of long-term projects to solve the "I'm done, what can I do now?" problem. This is a great book for teachers who already use centers and need some new activity ideas.

Rating:
Summary: Good for Teachers Experienced with Using Centers
Review: I purchased this book because I thought it would give me some fresh ideas on how to set up and manage centers while I worked with small groups. Well, the author only spends about 4 pages on center set-up and management, and it's a pretty broad overview with fuzzy details. I would not recommend this book for a teacher who has never done centers before, because it is not very helpful in the "how-to" department. On the other hand, it is packed full of great ideas for activities related to literacy that can be used in your centers. Most of them are of the worksheet variety, and many are made for specific book titles, but all of the ideas can be adapted for your own curriculum. The menu idea itself is great and very flexible, and I like the author's use of long-term projects to solve the "I'm done, what can I do now?" problem. This is a great book for teachers who already use centers and need some new activity ideas.

Rating:
Summary: Helpful book
Review: This was a helpful book for the ever present problem of keeping the rest of the class busy (but not with "busy work") while you work with a small group. Even if you are not reading some of the titles listed by the author, the framework for creating your own activities is very helpful.