Once students have had 3-5 days of practicing the pocket choice routine, I introduce students to their center groups, which color-correspond with their Pocket Choice stick. You can certainly avoid the fruit names; I use them to avoid confusion with my table colors (red table, blue table, etc).
Finally, I bring out the center assignment papers.
The secret ingredient to teaching my Center routine is that I introduce it a little bit at a time. For the first week, I place a Post-it note over the middle assignment of each paper. I want the students to REALLY master finding and familiarizing themselves with that one center and then moving on to a Pocket Choice, which I've already thoroughly introduced. I include these centers on the Pocket Choice hunt that they complete on the first day of school, so students should have noticed the placement of the centers before. After giving instructions about the assignment/materials contained in each center, I dismiss students, one group at a time, to find their center box and the table at which they should work.
I do require students to show their completed work to a teacher or other adult before making a pocket choice. Or… like in the Math Center, where they
usually play with pattern blocks the first week, I tell them when they can
finish with those materials to make a choice (usually after about 10 minutes).
After one or two weeks of practicing the first center and
pocket choice, I cover the first center with a Post-it note and have students
follow the same routine, but with the middle assignment and then a Pocket
Choice. I know teaching the routine this way takes quite a few weeks, but it ensures that students slowly adjust to the full routine. Once the full routine has been introduced, students know exactly how to follow it.
After another 1-2 weeks of the middle assignments and pocket choice, I remove
the Post-it notes altogether and have students complete both assignments before
making a choice. Most of the time, students are able to work at their own pace (I rarely assign group assignments for these centers). Students
may need a slightly longer center time in order to get to the Pocket Choice with the full routine in place… I
want them to experience the satisfaction of getting that free choice, though;
rather than being discouraged by having time consistently run out. As they
become more accustomed to the routine, you can shave down the time… except for
the weeks that you are feverishly trying to finish testing for report card
scores J.
Note: To find out more about Pocket Choices and how I introduce that routine, click here.
