Recent years have witnessed the spread of purpose-built active learning classrooms throughout the higher education sector. While these innovative learning spaces are well-suited for a variety of active learning strategies, their lack of a single focal point means they are inconvenient spaces for lecturing. While educational developers often…

Presented are ideas for small, inexpensive, often portable "mini" learning centers covering many elementary school subjects. The minicenters are designed for containment in boxes and bags or on art easels. (SJL)

An elementary school teacher of gifted, creative, talented, and high ability students describes her efforts to individualize classroom instruction by developing learning centers and individualized learning materials. A Learning Agreement is used for personal planning of students' daily activities. Other classroom components are journal writing,…

It is suggested that a stimulating environment, rich with color, relaxed in mood, and imaginative in arrangement, will produce a favorable effect on the child's senses and hopefully create an attitude that will be favorable toward learning. (Author)

The Centers Approach allows the teacher to work with small groups of children during the reading activity. (JH)

This presentation provides a rationale for the use of activity centers in public school classrooms as well as specific strategies to adopt or to adapt to achieve the best teaching results. (Author)

In her previous books, "Literacy Work Stations and Practice with Purpose," Debbie Diller showed teachers how to productively occupy the "rest of the class" while meeting with small groups. Now Debbie turns her attention to the groups themselves and the teacher's role in small-group instruction. "Making the Most of Small Groups" grapples with…

The purpose of the study reported was to determine the best ways to manage interest centers in the elementary classroom. The study considered six techniques of assigning students to interest centers--teacher assignment, in which children were asked by their teacher to work at the center on a certain day; daily sign-up, in which children were…

A ten-step approach is presented by which two teachers can implement their own team teaching arrangement. Advantages, disadvantages, planning, scheduling, and room design are considered. (SJL)

This teacher's guide from the New York City public schools is designed to help teachers implement an all-day kindergarten program. Planning for the all-day kindergarten is developed and demonstrated through a thematic approach which integrates all curriculum areas. Six themes are presented, each of which includes both direct instruction activities…

Reports a project that used simulated master schedules as an alternative to grade-level, subject-matter, classroom-group organization of instruction in small schools. Describes a multigrade, multicourse learning center approach that decouples the course = class equation and allows small schools to offer a stronger educational program. (SB)

This guide was developed for North Carolina teachers in early childhood education and focuses on how play-based center activities in kindergarten teach literacy, mathematics, science, social studies, and the arts. Development of the guide was based on educators' experiences and their understanding of how children learn. The guide's introduction…

A classroom organization plan known as the "open concept" that includes individualized instruction, small and large group instruction, and performance contracting enhances language arts skills.

This paper provides an orientation to learning centers for middle school teachers. A description is given of the characteristics of a learning center and the kinds of student activities that can best be conducted in an area set apart for individual or small group projects. Benefits from using learning centers, are cited, such as added variety to…