Station Teaching
I have been teaching for eleven years now and I have always used station teaching once a week. I used to use it more often but at present I use stations once a week for English and maths.
Station teaching is a teaching method where the class is divided into small groups, and each group rotates through a series of “stations” or learning activities. These activities are designed to address different aspects of the content being taught. Each station might focus on a different skill or concept, depending on your group. This approach provides the opportunity for more differentiation and lets students work at their own pace. I find for the very able children I can have extra, more challenging work, or it acts as a fun way for them to revise concepts taught that week. It then gives me the opportunity to sit and work with children who might need more help, and to re-teach concepts they may have struggled with. I usually use whole class instruction for English and maths Monday to Thursday, using Sounds like Phonics for English and Planet Maths for maths. Obviously the new maths curriculum allows great scope for active, playful learning in maths and ties in nicely with the concept of station teaching too. I find the children really enjoy the change from the English and maths lessons on a Friday when I do station teaching.
Why use station teaching?
I would use station teaching with any class right up to 6th. I particularly enjoy it in the early years though. I really like how station teaching allows me to differentiate quite easily, once I have everything set up and properly in place. It allows children to work at their own pace and to have fun!
Engagement and Active Learning
The simple act of moving from one station to another in itself is useful and provides a movement break for children. Each station having a different type of activity helps with concentration and attendance to task too. For example, one station might focus on sound recognition through a matching game, while another could involve students practicing writing words with that sound in sand or with playdough. This variety keeps their minds engaged and helps them retain the material.
Collaborative Learning
Another benefit of station teaching is the opportunity for students to collaborate with each other. Working in small groups encourages teamwork, communication, and social skills. They learn how to share materials, take turns, help each other, and problem-solve together, all very valuable skills which are a by product of the learning taking place.
One of the best things about station teaching is that it allows for more one to one time with the kids in the class. As I move from station to station I can clearly see who needs help with a certain area and I can then use the time to work 1:1 with them while the rest of the class work through the stations. I also just find the variety of it really nice on a Friday when the children are tired and need a change. I love a relaxed Friday where we do our morning slides in the morning while I sip my tea, followed by maths stations, then after break it’s English stations and art, then after lunch another fun lesson like drama or science, something hands on. It’s a nice break while still learning after a full on week. Needless to say this is just my approach and what works well for me.
Sample Stations:
- Station 1: Sound Work
At this station, students practice working on the sounds they learned that week and weeks prior. It could be a roll and read game or a snakes and ladders game based on the sounds covered. - Station 2: Reading Comprehension
At this station, students might listen to a story and then answer questions about the text, using pictures or simple sentences to show their understanding. - Station 3: Writing and Handwriting Practice
Here, students practice writing letters, words, or short sentences. This could be done through tracing, copying, or writing from memory. The goal is to strengthen fine motor skills and improve letter formation. You could also have a play dough station or threading for children who need more help with fine motor skills. - Station 4: Teacher Station
In this station, I help children who may have struggled with some aspects of the stations and re-teach topics.
Now as much as I enjoy using station teaching, some important things need to be in place first! You need to teach the children how station teaching works. This might take a while but you need to model the behaviour expected, how to use materials, importance of not interrupting etc. If you have a big class stations could quickly descend into chaos without all the pre teaching of rules being in place. Remember to change it up, provide a mix of activities at each station—hands-on, digital, written, or even outdoor activities as the weather starts to improve. Make it clear to the children what they are to do at each station. Smaller groups are ideal for helping children to focus. Now I am lucky that my class size the last couple of years has been around the 20 mark. I remember having first and second, and having 29 students in the class doing stations, that was far more difficult! I set a timer for each station. This helps students know when it’s time to move and keeps everyone on track. Each station is around 8-10 minutes. During station time, I take notes on the children’s progress. This is the hard part for me. I basically scribble down notes on post its and review them later in the day or after school to see who is ready to move on or who needs more help with the topics being taught that day.
I recently made brand new maths resources for station teaching based on the new maths curriculum for first class. There’s over 100 pages of resources and it covers the following areas:
Tens and ones
2D shapes
3D shapes
Addition
Subtraction
Fractions
Time
Maths talk posters
Word problems
Open ended maths slideshow
I also created English resources for literacy stations which are really fun and hands on! There’s over 200 pages of resources so it will take a while to print but you’ll have them forever and you can put them in plastic pockets or laminate them which is what I did to reuse them. I also have a stations work copy for work like the reading comprehensions so they are not writing on the sheets.
CVC workbook
Phonics workbook
reading passages
word family reading passages
reading comprehensions
CVCe activity sheets
Phonics task cards
Cookies and milk phonics sorting game
Roll and read tricky words groups 1-11
Board games tricky words groups 1-11
Snakes and ladders phonics game
Tricky word flashcards
Phonics worksheets
I have put these resources in a bundle for only E10.00 which is incredible value!