As teachers, we have many resources for teaching students who are struggling with various concepts, but what do we do for the students who already know what we are teaching? What do we do for those who grasp concepts quickly? It's our obligation to make sure ALL of our students are learning. That's why I have created this blog...to share resources to help teachers challenge their advanced learners.

Friday, August 24, 2012

Enrichment Centers

Enrichment centers are designed to offer students a variety of learning alternatives as an adjunct to a common unit of instruction. These centers are typically used after the presentation of important materials or concepts and are designed to provide students with opportunities to enrich and enhance their appreciation and understanding of the topics through individual experiences in the center. For example, after you have presented a lesson on the life cycle of plants, you might assign individual students to a center with the following components:
  • Construction of a terrarium using soil, several plants, rocks, etc.
  • Observing several plants under the microscope
  • Designing an individual observation kit for use in the field
  • Preparation of several foods using different types of common plants
  • Exploring various news articles on plants in our daily lives
  • Creative writing on the uses and misuses of plants in modern society
  • Watching a filmstrip on the ecological implications of acid rain on plant life
  • Painting a mural on the stages of plant growth
Enrichment centers require you to be aware of your students' learning styles as well as their knowledge about a topic. The enrichment center can provide individual students with varied activities or combination of activities that differ from those pursued by other students. As such, the center becomes an individualized approach to the promotion of the topic.  To find out more, visit TeacherVision.

 

Ms. Jasztal has created a system of centers for enrichment.  Even though she does not have her actual centers on her blog, she has given several ideas how to create centers for the math-minded, science/nature-minded, art-minded, music-minded, literary-minded, public relations-minded, and world-minded.  Here are some more learning center ideas:


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