Station Contracts...
I have used Learning Station Contracts in the past with success (for literacy), so I decided to try this approach again during science instruction. Students received two station contracts at different points during the unit. First, students completed a "Solids" station contract, and when they finished work on that, they could begin work on their "Liquids" station contract.
Each contract included several "have-to" activities, which were activities everyone had to complete. There were also several "choice" activities on each contract. Students knew they had about five days to complete their work and that the "have-to" activities had to be done by the end of this time period. All activities were designed to help students better understand the concepts of the unit, but they were based on a wide variety of learning styles/multiple intelligences.
What I noticed...
- High student motivation--students seemed to feel empowered that they could choose when to do which activity.
- Building of time-management skills--this was a valuable way for me to help students learn how to best manage their time in order to get work done. A few needed me to keep them on track.
- Students didn't always choose what I expected them to choose for activities--I learned a lot about my students by watching how they worked.
- Working in groups/independently--it was about an even split between those who tended to go from station to station with others and those who liked to work at their own pace.
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