Teaching with Chat Stations: A Low-Prep, Active Instructional Strategy

The next time you're looking for a quick and easy way to introduce a new topic or subject, consider using the Chat Stations teaching strategy!  Chat stations require very little effort on your part to set up, with the added bonus of getting your students up and moving as they learn.

This teaching strategy allows students to work in small groups, rotating around the classroom to examine photographs, objects, and/or prompting questions.  Students talk with each other about the chat station topic, documenting their ideas, responses and questions on a communal recording sheet.

After all groups have rotated through all of the chat stations, they return to their seats or carpet for a whole class discussion of their observations and questions.

What is a "chat station"?

A chat station is a photograph, illustration, object and/or a written prompt.  

When would I use chat stations?

What kinds of information do different maps give us?

I generally use chat stations on the first day of a new topic or theme.  In the example to the right, for example, I am introducing maps to my Grade 5 students.  I want them to consider that there are a wide variety of maps, each type highlighting different information.

What materials do I need to use Chat Stations?

1.  One photo, object and/or question/teacher prompt for each chat station.

2. One paper per group to record their responses as they rotate through chata stations.  You can either give students blank paper and have them divide it into enough sections so that they have one section per station, OR give them a sheet that you have already prepared for this purpose.  In the example above you can see that the page has been divided into 6 sections, ready to be filled in.  (With a large class I will have up to 12 stations, so students would respond to 6 prompts on each side of their recording sheet.)

3. Pencils

How can citizens voice their concerns?

How large should my groups be?

I usually have about 4-5 students per group, but it can depend upon how large the class is, and how many chat stations I have.

How long should groups stay at each chat station?

Three to five minutes works well.  You want enough time for students to get engaged in the topic, but not so long that they become bored and get off-task.

What topics work well with Chat Stations?

The possibilities are endless:

How might grocers use math?

• Art:  Posters/prints of different types of art, or different artwork from one artist.
• Language:  Before beginning a new novel or read-aloud, put a different quotation from the book at each station.

Math:  Place a photograph at each station, and ask students to discuss how math might be involved in that image.  For example, pictures of the fruit in a grocery store, a restaurant menu, or a bridge all have rich potential to help students consider how math is used in the world around them.

• Science:  At the beginning of a unit on space, place a true/false sentence at each station and have groups come to a consensus about their answer.
• Social Studies:  Before starting a government unit, place pictures of important people, buildings, and symbols at stations, and ask students to identify the image AND reflect on its importance to the smooth running of the country (or state/province/municipality).
  

What math can you see in this photograph?

What happens after students finish rotating through all of the centres?

I call the class back together, and spend a few minutes discussing each of the stations.  I choose a different group to offer up the first observations of each station, and then other students can piggyback on that group's ideas.  (Ahead of time I have decided what I feel the most important concepts are for each station!)

Can I assess this activity?

I keep a simple checklist with me during this activity, checking off when I've heard from each student, and noting any particularly insightful comments.  As I generally use this as a introductory activity, I consider this an opportunity for diagnostic assessment, to help me identify gaps in learning before beginning the unit.

Where can I get images to use with Chat Stations?

I find images everywhere:  newspapers, flyers, the internet, on packaging...there are endless possibilities!

How can I get started?

While you don't need anything fancy to create chat stations (some photographs, written prompts, and one blank paper & pencil per group), if you'd like a little bit more of an organized structure, click here to access the templates freebie below!.  Just print them off, fill them in, and you're good to go!

If you'd like to try some "ready-to-go" mapping and government Chat Stations, check out the stations in my  TPT store: 

Emergency Supply Plans - Help!!

Emergency Lesson Plans

We have all been there in the very early morning hours, realizing that a sudden illness or family crisis means we won't be making it to school that day.... and we also all know that it is usually more work preparing for a supply teacher than it is actually going in to work!

The trick is to have a "sub tub" or emergency supply lesson plans, prepared ahead of time so you're not trying to organize information while nursing a fever or dealing with an ER doctor.  

5 Tips for Coping with an Unexpected Illness or Emergency

1. Designate a binder, bin, or digital file to store all your materials.

Decide how you would like to store all information that a supply teacher will need for a successful day in your classroom.  Make sure that a fellow teacher, principal and a responsible student know the location of this information.

I use this plastic file folder container from Staples to hold everything.  It's best to clearly label your bin or binder, and store it in a visible location in your classroom.  

If you prefer to use a digital file to hold your supply teacher information, makes sure that it is in a format that can be accessed by occasional teachers within your school board.  

2.  Plan for 3 non-consecutive days of absence!

Some illnesses and family crises take us away from our classrooms for more than one day.   Planning for at least 3 days lets you focus on your personal life, rather than spending each of those days frantically trying to prepare for a supply teacher.  Many principals now insist on a multi-day emergency folder from each of their teachers!

It’s best not to have each of the days connected to each other by skills or strands.  A 24-hour stomach flu in November, an ear infection in February, and your mother’s hospitalization in April can all be handled by your supply teacher system!

3. Place Each Lesson Plan in Its Own Folder

I like creating a master file for each of the 3 days, and then within that folder placing a file folder for each lesson plan.  Each individual file folder is labeled with the day (ie. Day 2), and the name of the lesson (ie. Math).  Inside the folder I place:

•Lesson plan

•Master of student worksheets (I also usually have the photocopies already done, but you can also leave that for your supply teacher if you feel s/he will have time to handle this task.)

•Examples of completed work.

4.  Include a "General Information" section.

Lists and Schedules

•Duty Schedule

•Class Schedule

•Class List

•Safety Plans (ie. Fire, tornado…)

•School Map

Procedures

•Washroom

•Attendance

•Lunch or Nutrition Breaks

•Library Use

•Physical Education or Daily Physical Activity (DPA) routines

•Arrival of Students

•Dismissal

•Smartboard/Projector Use

Classroom (Behaviour) Management

•Rules

•Rewards

•Consequences

Locations

•Art Supplies

•Staff Room & Staff Washroom

•DPA Supplies

5. Focus on What Matters!

Now that you have everything in place for those days that you may be unexpectedly unable to get to school….relax!  If you are ill, spend your day taking care of yourself instead of worrying about what is happening in your classroom.  A family crisis deserves your focus, so devote your time and energy on that rather than checking in with your supply teacher.  You’ve got this!!!

You may want to check out these "ready-to-go" plans in my "Coach's Corner" TPT store,  made specifically for Canadian classrooms!  

   

The World's Easiest Classroom Management Tool!!

After two weeks in my Grade 5/6 classroom, it feels like everything is coming together, and I'm starting to feel confident and even more excited about the year ahead.  These two weeks have brought many changes to my class list, as I am sure is true of many of you, and tomorrow I will welcome yet another new student to our room, bringing our total to 24 (10 Grade 5s, and 14 Grade 6s).  Instead of feeling overwhelmed by the thought of another student to familiarize with our room, I'm feeling calm.  I've got this!

My Behavior Management Toolbox
As I have for many years, I have used an old "small parts" toolbox to house my most powerful classroom management tool:  my token system.  This system takes about 5 minutes to set up each year, is a snap to use, and is easily understood (and loved by my students).  What's not to love?  I have used it at a variety of grade levels from Grade 1 to Grade 5/6, and it works for all students, but particularly for my most challenging pupils.

How It Works

• Each August I assign every student on my class list with a number, usually by alphabetical order (first names), and display a large copy of the list somewhere easily found in our classroom.  
• Each drawer in my "toolbox" is labeled clearly from 1-29 in clear Sharpie marker.  The last drawer is labeled "A" (for "all").   
• Inside each drawer are about 20 "tokens".  I've been using old Poker chips that my mom was about to donate to the Salvation Army.  I rescued them, using a Sharpie to clearly print numbers on them, and then to organize them in my toolbox.  In Drawer 1, there are 20 poker chips with "1" on them, Drawer 2 has 20 chips with "2" on them, and so on.  The "A" drawer contains 20 chips with "A" on them.  Once you've done this, you've got your behaviour toolbox ready for the rest of your career!!!
• Each student now has a drawer in the toolbox with his/her number on it, and the tokens inside the drawers are just sitting there waiting to be taken out when a student earns them.
• Beside the toolbox I have a small "Tokens" container (you can see the small green bin witting to the right of the toolbox in the photo above.
• Every time I catch a student getting right to work, following directions, kindly helping a classmate, etc., I take a "token" out of his/her drawer and drop it into the Token container.  This usually results in almost every student becoming intensely interested in their work, as they've heard the token being dropped into the container.  I rarely have to verbally remind students to get to work, as the token does that for me!!
• If the entire class is on task, I put an "A" token in the container.
• On Friday afternoons, my "Leader of the Day" closes his/her eyes, reaches into the Token container, and one by one pulls out 5 tokens.  The students to whom those tokens belong have now earned a reward of their own choosing, such as "Switch seats with another student" or "Have your name put on the school marquee". 
• If an "A" token is drawn, that entitles the entire class to a group reward, such as extra outdoor time or a "toy & tech day".  Students LOVE it when an "A" token is drawn; I've even made one of the options for a personal reward to be "Put 5 A tokens in the container for next week's draw".
• After the draw is complete, the Leader of the Day returns all tokens to their proper drawers, ready to be put into action the following week.  DONE!!

I have the various rewards on business card-sized cardstock, and keep them in a small business card holder.  Students choose a card from the holder, write their name on the back, and I also sign it.  A student can hold on to these cards (or have me hold on to them) until he/she is ready to redeem it.

I love this system as it is so easy to set up each year; all I have to do is create a new class list so that each student has his/her own number, and I'm good to go!  This past summer I had one of my old students helping me get ready for the school year (she was getting volunteer hours for this to count towards the 40 hour requirement for high school), and she spray-painted the toolbox to match the bins I was using, so that involved one extra (but easy) step.

 A friend suggested that I upload my plan to my TPT  store, including the actual cards that I've created to put in the "Rewards" holder, so I've taken on that challenge, and the whole set is now available for you, should you be interested.  I'd love to hear from others who have their own easy-to-implement classroom management systems!

Check out the full product, with tons of behavior reward cards, here:  Behavior Management Toolbox

Bell Work to Start Each Day!

August is quickly approaching, and with it the slow realization that I actually need to start thinking about September! I'll be teaching a Grade 5/6 split for the first time in my career, and it dawned on me that I had no suitable bell work for this particular grade.   It was time to get to work!

September Grade 5/6 Bell Work

For many years I've had my students do "bell work", in the form of answering one prompt each morning while I take care of attendance, reading notes from parents, etc.  Most of the tasks are directly curriculum-related, while others are on the creative side.  I mix things up daily:  one day they might be working on a probability task, the next day on analogies, and the third day responding to a persuasive writing prompt.  I've found that this approach prevents boredom, both for me and my students!  It was time to gather my resources and get some bell work ready for my new students. 

I had already created bell work for Grades 2, 3/4, 5, and 6, so I decided to take out the Grade 5 and 6 bell work and see which prompts I felt would work well for both grades, both in terms of curriculum expectations AND interest level.  I always make September's work fairly easy, so that everyone is able to handle the tasks independently, and then increase the challenges as the year goes by.  I took the same approach as I put together a year's work of Grade 5/6 bell work.

Each month's bell work fits on one double-sided sheet of paper; I usually print on coloured paper just to make it stand out more inside a student's desk, should it come loose from his/her notebook.  I copy ALL 10 months the month before school starts, and file them by month.  I keep the original sheets in page protectors within the file folders as well.

When students enter the classroom on the very first morning of the school year, I have them find their desk and put their backpacks, lunches, etc under it.  I have already put a lined bell work notebook on their desks, along with the September bell work sheet, two sharpened pencils and an eraser.  I ask them to write the date at the top of the first blank page of their notebooks, and put a "1" to the left of the margin at the left hand side of the page.  (Sometimes I'm even organized enough to have this displayed on the Smartboard as well!)  I then have them read the first prompt and answer in their notebooks.  I want them to know from the very first minute of the year that work will be the priority in our class.  Only once I've taken up the work will I start dealing with the nuts and bolts of how we will run our classroom!  From then on students know that this is how every day will start, and I don't need to remind them what to do (well, maybe sometimes:)!  

If you'd like to try this bell work in your own classroom, click the image to the left and download this freebie from my store!  I'd love to hear how it works for you.

This bell work is also available as a PDF/Google Slides bundle.  This makes it easy to have students with IEP accommodations working on the same tasks as the rest of the class.  It is also perfect for distance learning!

Check out all my Canadian Grade 2 - Grade 5/6 Bell Work resources by clicking here!

American versions of the same resources are also available.  Click here to peek at them!