Literacy Learning Center Rubric

Literacy Learning Center Rubric

Name or Number________________ Center Topic_____________

	Exceptional	Meets Acceptable Level	Does Not Meet Acceptable Level
	2 points	1 point	0 points
Literacy Across the Curriculum	The learning center shows an exceptional understanding of integration of literacy into more than two content areas.	Learning center activities allow students to practice and apply skills. At least two subject areas are integrated into the center. \|	The literacy learning center has gaps in understanding of theme-based or integrated activities.
Activities	Center offers students a variety of ways to practice and apply higher level thinking skills Hands on activities encouraging divergent thinking and problem solving. Learning at own rate	Some opportunities for problem solving and critical thinking Some hands on activities. Some opportunities for divergent thinking and problem solving Some self-pacing	Few if any opportunities for problem solving or critical thinking Few activities seem to be hands-on; Little, if any, divergent thinking . Little self-pacing
Appropriate Developmental Level	Literacy activities selected demonstrate outstanding understanding of developmental level of the students.	Literacy center activities are mostly developmentally appropriate.	Learning center activities selected are not developmentally appropriate.
Variety	Literacy center activities offer many varied opportunities for creating, exploring, discovering.	Some opportunities for creating, exploring, discovering	Learning center activities offer students few opportunities for creating, exploring, discovering
Appearance	Attractive, motivating, and easily accessible. Visuals on the tri -fold display board are colorful, create interest, represent own ideas and are free from grammatical errors.	Attractive, but may be somewhat disorganized or not easily accessible. Visuals on the tri -fold display board are colorful, create interest, and are free from grammatical errors.	Collection of activities without well-defined theme and purpose. Visuals on the tri -fold display board lack color, create little interest, or may have grammatical errors
Independence	Learning center activities can be completed independently and suggest enrichment activities. Student instructions are easy to follow and include creative graphics. They are step by step and clearly stated in age/developmentally appropriate terms. Students engaged in active learning, social interaction, cooperative learning Students engaged in self-selection and self-checking	Learning center activities can be completed independently. Instructions for students are complete and easy to follow in terms known to age/development of group. Some opportunity to engage in active learning. Some opportunities encourage cooperative learning. Some activities engage students in self-selection and checking	Learning center activities may require some teacher assistance. Student instructions are incomplete, vague, or will not lead to accomplishment of objective. Opportunities do not encourage active learning, cooperative learning; or engage students in own learning. Students do not self-assess.
Standards / Objectives	Appropriate topic which relates to lessons taught and has clear objectives aligned with standards	Topic relates to lessons taught but objectives unclear or missing; all not aligned to standards	Topic and/or objective not related to current learning; not aligned with standards
Diverse/ Multicultural Learners	Instructions and activities provided for immature, diverse, and multi-cultural learners.	Instructions and activities for the needs of diverse learners addressed, but superficially	Needs of diverse learners were not addressed.
Materials	All materials were listed and provided; materials were appropriate to objective and grade/developmental level.	Most materials were listed and provided. Connection to objective may not always be clear. Materials appropriate both to developmental level and objective.	Materials were not listed and/or were not provided; inappropriate to grade and/or objective.
Record Keeping	A student-friendly system of record keeping for each student was available. A student-friendly schedule was posted.	A record keeping system/folder was available but had to be completed by the teacher. The schedule was difficult to understand.	No record keeping was available. No schedule was made. Not easy to determine the success/failure of the objectives.
Handout	Handout for colleagues included all necessary instructions to build center.	Handout included most information.	No handout or handout offers little to enable replication

A learning center can have a variety of uses and definitions. For our purposes, we will use a variation of Michael Opitz description.

For me, a learning center is a small area within the classroom where students work alone or interact with others, using instructional materials to explore one or more subject areas. It is a place where a variety of activities introduce, reinforce, and/or extend learning, often without the assistance of the classroom teacher. (http://teacher.scholastic.com/professional/backtoschool/learning_center.htm#author)

For a Literacy Learning Center you will still have a small area in the classroom; you will have materials that incorporate more than one subject area to complete your objectives. For example, you would want to incorporate reading, writing, and probably math across the curriculum in your chosen center.

You will create a Literacy Learning Center with at least three activities. Both the instructor and your peers will score your center. The rubric will help with the scoring and creation of the center.

Be sure to make a handout for each of your colleagues in the class. The handout should include directions to create your center as well as the materials that would be included, the method of assessment, organization, and other information pertinent to your center. If you have worksheets in your center, you need to reproduce only enough to jog the memory of the persons reading your handout—not copies of all the student work.