Station (Center) materials for reading, math, science, and social studies

A Project by Suqiong Fritz

I am Suqiong Fritz. I teach 5th grade at Copper View Elementary School in Sahuarita Unified School District. This is my 13th year of teaching.

My project was to use a variety of interactive and motivating materials in stations to engage students to work cooperatively and to enhance students’ knowledge for grade-level concepts.

  1. Why did you choose to start this project with your students?

I chose to start this project with my students because I would like to have various materials for different subjects in stations to help increase students’ active participation in cooperative learning groups. Students were motivated to read and analyze colorful and high-interested texts. This project had helped enhance students’ hands-on, collaborative learning in groups and promote meaningful discussion among students. Students had become more efficient problem solvers and were able to explain their reasoning using higher-order thinking skills. I also implemented these interactive materials to differentiate instruction, such as to enrich and reteach students’ learning based on their individual needs.

Students sitting at a table playing a game.

  1. What did you enjoy about this project?

I enjoyed this project in the following ways. First, students had different opportunities to work and interact with others in stations. They helped support each other’s learning, building a positive, cooperative learning community in the classroom. Also, this project motivated students to learn with interactive, high-interested contents, promoting students as life-long learners. Furthermore, I liked a variety of materials for different subjects to teach students various critical skills and knowledge in order to help them develop and strengthen their abilities. Finally, I enjoyed this project because I could use these already-made resources to do intervention as well as enrichment with my students as needed.

Students sitting on the floor around a game.

  1. How did this project enrich or impact the student learning experience?

This project impacted the student learning experience by promoting students to interact with others in small cooperative learning groups, which helped enhance their interpersonal skills and utilize their higher-order thinking skills while explaining their reasoning. Students were encouraged to take leadership role in stations to help each other and work collaboratively. In addition, this project enriched students’ learning experience and knowledge because students were highly motivated to learn from these hands-on, high-interested materials for different subjects and challenged them to think critically and systematically.

Students working together.