When students came into class in the morning they would set their literacy centre
goals for the day. They would decide what they would read and which word work activities they would complete. At the end of the allotted time, students reflected upon whether or not they reached their goal and how they could ensure that they would reach it the next day.
We began with only a few choices and as students learned different activities they would be added to the list of choices. I used a variety of strategies to teach the students the word work activities including teaching them in small groups, having a parent volunteer teach small groups, using big buddies and teaching the class as a whole then splitting off to practice it.