Reading Centers/Stations in 5th grade

I'm getting ready to finalize the stations I'll be using in readers workshop this year. Our state assessment for reading includes passages in different genres (poetry, fiction, drama, and non-fiction), therefore, I decided that our stations are going to reflect that. I'll be using the following stations:

1. Poetry/drama: in this station students will read either the assigned poem or drama and complete a graphic organizer. I use these graphic organizers during my reading instruction and then during my stations. For this station I gather, copy, and laminate poems I find in books, Internet, and our released state tests. I usually put about 4-5 poems and allow students to choose one for their station assignment. The dramas I use come from our textbook adoption. I rotate one week a poem and a drama the following week.

2. Fiction: in this station I include myths, fables, tall tales, and any other type of fictional text I can find. I use the same organizers from the poetry station. The texts I use in this station include picture books from my classroom library, copies of short stories I find, myths from several Scholastic resources I own. I usually have a bin with several books/readings to allow my students some choice in what they read for the day.

3. Non-fiction: this is by far my students' favorite station. For this station I use Super Science magazines, National Geographic, newspaper articles, and Science A-Z readings. I try very hard to include text my students will find engaging. For this station, I use my non-fiction graphic organizers (I choose the one with the skill I want my kids to practice).

4. Word Study: we begin this during our mini lessons and then students are required to finish this in their station. In this station I target prefixes, suffixes, and figurative language. They usually complete a 4-tab foldable or an idiom of the day. I provide resources for them to complete their assignment.

5. Independent reading and response: for this station, students read a book of their choice and respond using prompts I have created according to the genre they read.

Tips!!!
Stations management:
-use bins to store readins and graphic organizers
-kids will need 15-20 minutes to complete the reading and graphic organizer (provide a visual of time)
-use a pocket chart to show the station rotations
-be consistent- keep up with the stations so that your students are constantly exposed to various genres
-be flexible! Allow room to grow, reflect, and change!

How are you running your reader's workshop?