Make Your Rotations ROCK!

So who has ever stood staring off into space in their classrooms wondering how on this Earth you were going to get rotations to run more smoothly??? 

Well, I was in that very position about 4 years ago when rotations JUST WERE NOT WORKING!!! It can be so frustrating!!!! You PLAN, PLAN, and PLAN some more to make sure you have EVERY inch covered so you don't have a line of kids going, "I don't where I go next." Then, there's your line of kids AGAIN!! What happened?? I planned for what felt like a year, and it still isn't working!!! 

After shedding some buckets of tears, I shook it off and set out on finding a way to make it work! As all teachers do, we keep trying! I wanted a setup that would be self-sufficient and allow the kids to take charge! In the 4 years I've been using it, I have tweaked it according to our schedules, teaching partners (if I have one), and students. So I wanted to share what literally RUNS my room during rotations!! It has made my rotations ROCK and move so seamlessly along with keeping gray hairs off of my head!! :) 

If you are interested in using the materials with this rotation setup, check out the UPDATED Rotations Board set in my store!! :)

Now, I'm going to try to explain this as well as I can without writing a dissertation!! You may want to get a snack. ;) 

Let's get started!!!

 The Rotations Board

 The Rotations Board is the CONTROL BOARD! It is where everything my students need to get through rotations is located. It takes modeling and practicing, but I had my 2nd graders using this within the first month of school!! Now that I looped to 3rd this year, my kids were ready to go right away!! I will get into more detail below, but this setup is for 2 rotations. One rotation is with me, and the other is independent. When they are at the independent rotation, they follow the Rotations Board. I have done this with 3 rotations too when I had a teaching partner. You can read more about this way HERE. It can work in whatever way you'd like it to!! These are just examples to give you some ideas! Let's take a quick look at how the post-its are set up before we get into the nitty gritty (is that how you spell it??).

Okay, so here is a look at my daily schedule.

During Literature Circles, I have another teacher who is in there who takes two groups as well. Each literature circle is 20 minutes long. If the kids do NOT have a literature circle first, they do 1 of the Daily 5s. I will have to blog about that to share how I use that setup in my room. My literature circle groups are on the Rotations Board so they can see which teacher they are with as well as which group 1 or 2.

 During our Reading Rotations, I do not have anyone in the room with me so I have 2 groups. One group is with me, and the other group follows the independent rotation on the Rotations Board.

Description of Each Reading Rotation I Use

Comprehension Tubs: There is an explanation of these below, but they are where I have my students practice reading passages at their Lexile levels while highlighting text evidence to support their answers to the response questions. 

Computer: Our district uses a program called Successmaker that levels the students as they work. The kids love it!

Vocabulary: Students write their 5 new words for the week 2 times each using a Boogie Board or keyboard to practice typing. They also record the words on a half sheet of paper. Then they doing a making words activity. The second activity has varied throughout the year. Right now, my kids need to work more on manipulating words to aid in their reading and writing.

Reading iPad Apps: This is where they pick a reading app to practice. I have folders for each Comprehension Tub so that the apps are even differentiated. I also have a folder with Reading Games that they can chose from. Read all about the apps and how I organize them on my iPads HERE!! 

Now, let's move to the math rotations. These are set up the same way as my reading rotations minus the numbers on the post-its. 

This rotation board set will work with any schedule. It all depends on how you want to set it up! The GREATEST PART is that it's soooooooooooo SIMPLE to move kids around. Using the small post-its with their names on them saves so much time when  I need to adjust groups. It's also right there in front of you! It makes it easier to stay on top of things for myself. 

Description of Each Math Rotation I Use

Computer: Since we have 1:1s, the first 10 minutes of the independent time is for EVERYONE to go to Xtra Math to practice their facts. It's a free site that's awesome for fact practice!!! Then, if their actual rotation for that day is computer, they stay on it and go to Successmaker Math just as they do for reading.

Fact Practice: In this tub, I like to put my Solve It! games as well as other games that focus on the facts! 

Math Tub: In this tub, I normally put activities that go with the skill we're practicing that week. I've also been using the 3rd Grade Math Spiral Task Cards from Diary of a Not So Wimpy Teacher. They are AWESOME!!! 

Math iPad Apps: As with reading, this is where they pick a math app to practice. I have folders for Everyday Math apps (our program) as well as other math games. Read all about the apps and how I organize them on my iPads HERE!! 

Organization!!

Now that you have a grasp (hopefully somewhat :) of how I set up my rotations, here are some ideas on how to organize everything!! 

 I got these AMAZING tubs from Costco last year! I went back 3 times to get more! I haven't seen them since, though. :( However, any tubs, baskets would work. I bought this wicker shelf at an estate sale, and it works perfectly. I set up my bins in the order that we use them in the day. I know, I'm OCD a little. ;) Of course, they are also in numerical order. I made tub labels to match the rotation cards on the board for a simple way to visually identify the correct tub. When my students go to their rotations, they take the tub out and with them to wherever they sit. All of the materials are inside the tubs so there is no need for them to go scrounging around in their desk or roaming the room for materials. These have made my life a lot easier as well! I set up each tub the same way including an objective card and materials. Here's a look at one of them.

In the tub in the photo, I'm using one of the amazing Differentiated Reading Comprehension Passages by Meet Miss Parker. These have been AWESOME in making it a breeze to differentiate for each Comprehension Tub. All of the work they finish during rotations is turned into a try in the meeting area.

PHEW!! Are you still with me??

Wow!! I can go on and on and on about this system!! I've UPDATED my Rotations Board set in my TPT store which includes EDITABLE pages to customize it the way you see fit for your room!!! Click on the picture below or HERE to check it out! :)

Thanks so much for taking the time to read through this post!!! I hope you were able to take away some ideas that you can use in your own classroom!! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask away!! You can leave a comment below, or you can email me!!

You all ROCK!!!

Reading Workshop...Rotation Style! Plus a FREEBIE!

Hey awesome bloggy friends!!! I hope you are all enjoying your Labor Day weekend if you are in the US! :) I have actually really enjoyed the weekend so far! That sounds funny, but our evaluations start in a week so I had it in my head that I was going to be working nonstop! hah You know the feeling?!? Well, I told myself this year I needed to have more of a life on Sundays than 9+ hours of school work! I can't promise that won't happen tomorrow hah, but at least, it's a week day! :)

So, we just finished our 5th week of school!! That's right! We started back on July 29th with our balanced schedule. Now, it sounds worse than it is because of that July in there, but in about a month and a half, we will enjoy a 2 WEEK FALL BREAK! :) I'm not counting or anything! hah So it all averages out in the end! So getting back to the point, we have really been working hard in getting our routines set and everything in order. One of the most important parts of our day is Reading Workshop Rotation Style!!!

Click here to see the Rotations Board Set in my TPT Store. :)

I'm going to take you back about 3 years ago when I was worn out and bored with using the basal series we had. I wanted to be more skills based exposing them to a PLETHORA (my brother's college football announcer would always use this word when he played! hah) of literature to read to use those skills and strategies. I'm one of those people that likes change! hah Not in everything, but I am usually up for slight changes and some huge changes as well! So, at the time, I had 2 EL teachers in my room for a part of reading since I had all the lower level EL students (I speak Spanish and that's our population except our Chin population has increased this year). As I was talking about trying to change things up a bit, one of the EL teachers said that she did a rotation system in Florida that was all small groups and more skill based. My eyes were WIDE OPEN!!! I was so excited and took off with it! We started doing 3 small groups based on levels and did short 20 minutes rotations that included mini-lessons with the I do, We do, You do format. I often used the Read Works website since it is an ABSOLUTELY AMAZING RESOURCE!!! It has TONS of common core aligned lessons for grades K-8 that span over a few days using the same I/We/You formats. If you haven't checked out this site, go now!! It is just full of ideas and tons of resources like nonfiction and fiction passages as well as picture book recommendations to use for the lessons!

So after having a year of testing things and getting a rhythm, I really got into my groove last year! Last year I started using binders to keep all of my materials for each specific skill behind my desk. This picture is from last year. I had to move rooms for this year so they have a little spot behind my desk area. hah 

This, alone, helped so much!! I still use Read Works periodically, but I now create and find materials that go well with teaching the skills. When I determine my goal for the skill I am teaching, then I search for GREAT picture books, passages and texts to use! We use my Reading Skills Posters and more for anchor charts that we constantly refer too! It's awesome to see the kids go to them for reference!

It has COMPLETELY changed my students into reading detectives instead of passive readers. I LOVE it!!!

Here is what a Reading Rotation Time would look like:

1st Rotation:   Group 1 (below level) with me for 20 minutes

                       Group 2 (on level) with the EL teacher (if I didn't have her which I don't for several weeks due to EL testing, this would be an extension time for responding to literature with whichever skills we've worked on or are working on that week using familiar reads)

                        Group 3 (above level) is On Their Own with technology center time where they would reference the rotations board to see where they go for that day. (smartboard for word work, computers for Successmaker, or iPads for reading apps and word work apps)

*When 20 minutes is up, we have already closed up the lesson, and they go and "park" their cards under their understanding. :) I also chant "Clean up, Clean up, and Rotate" which they copy and start cleaning their group areas to line up for the next. We go over what this means a lot in the first weeks of school. Then they line up by their present group areas until I say "rotate."

Click here to grab this FREEBIE from my TPT Store! :)

2nd and 3rd Rotations: Each group gets to the next 2 as stated above. 

Since I am lucky to have my EL teacher as one of the rotations (I have 18 EL kids out of 24), the kids get 2-20 minute focused reading instruction along with reinforcing those skills with technology. As I said earlier, it would be a little different without her in there, but they would be at their desks as they do for their math rotations since I don't have another teacher during that time.

Pros: I have seen AMAZING growth in all of my students, not just the EL students. They are exposed to more academic language focusing on the skills and using literature to reinforce those skills. They are able to explain how to use the skills with new literature and often want to share when they connect a new text with a skill or strategy we have used. 

Cons: none. haha :) I'm biased what can I say!

I know we talk about grouping students with different levels, and I agree that's important too which is why we do our own version of the Daily 5 when they are at center time instead of a book club. This allows students to work with others at different levels giving them that chance to learn from each other.

I love having the leveled groups for the reading rotations because I can really focus in on their needs with only 6-10 kids per group! Last year, my principal made the comment that there was not one child off task during my lessons. I was super happy she noticed, but I said small groups work for me and my kids especially with 20 minute focused instruction with higher levels of movement and interaction with the literature, activities, etc. She said, but you have them trained! hah That is one of the MOST IMPORTANT parts of doing any type of small group rotations is setting up those expectations and PRACTICING, PRACTICING PRACTICING so everyone is HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY! :) 

OHH, if you are wondering where they go for each rotation, you will see I'm not too much of a fan for sitting at desks even though it does have to happen for certain times of the day. However, I try to get them up and moving as much as possible! 

I have my group come to the reading area where the classroom library is so we can sit on the floor, and I use my white board triangle organizer thingy. hah I have my caddy with all the supplies necessary, clip boards underneath with wipe off clear sheet holders, and anything else I may need that day. My student's desks are in 2 huge, long tables so my EL teacher uses an end of them for her groups where she can use the whiteboard and have some room to organize her materials. I know I said I don't like desks, but it's only 1 rotation haha, and there's no other place! :)

Now, you can see the mess on the floor haha, but underneath are all the supplies with the caddy also on the floor. This is not an actual reading group. I don't have a picture of one so this will give you an idea! :)

OK, so I just found one and had to go back and add it! hah

This is the only picture that has the other area for my EL teacher to have her groups. We were making our pizza for our How to Recipe writing activity so that's why there are English Muffins on the desks. hah The EL teacher uses the white board in the back of the room, and the desks closest to it. 

Just found another one! hah My classroom may be organized, but my computer is NOT! :)

For the Technology Centers, they either go to the Smartboard at the front of the room, the computers by my desk, or on the floor in the back with the iPads.

Smartboard where there is also a troubleshooting binder when they don't know what to do! :) We also work on what to do when something isn't working without interrupting the teachers' groups. They know they will ask the "teachers of the week" in their groups first to help, and then they will join up with another center for the rest of the time. They get really good at this after we've practiced a LOT! :)

Here's the best look at the computers! hah This year I decided to type up their usernames and passwords by girls and boys doing every other line a different color to make it more readable for them. Now, they don't come up to me saying they lost their cards with their names and passwords! The big clothespin will have the "I can" statement for the computer program and directions how to get to it.

I don't have a picture with the iPads center, but they are on the floor. 

Lastly, within the group that is on their own, I also have them paired up within that group for the centers so I know they are with another student that will work well together! This helps TREMENDOUSLY!! 

I can easily move around kids to different groups since I use post-its for each student on the rotations board!! :)

Thank you sooooo much for reading this lengthy post!!! I just LOVE our Reading Workshop: Rotation Style that I wanted to share with you all!! 

Here is a FREEBIE for all of your amazing support!! Have an inspiring week!!! :)