Abstract:
An activity station and method of learning for reinforcing skills taught by a teacher or institutional assistant to students. The activity station is comprised of a board with folds that, when open, will stand erect and reveals instructions and activities for the student. A student&#39;s progress through the activities is tracked, and the student&#39;s performance is evaluated by completing skill sheets. The activity station can then be closed to conceal the instructions and activities for ease in storage.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)  
       [0001]    This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/329,237 filed Oct. 12, 2001 for LEARNING STATION. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    One of the best ways for students to retain lessons taught by a teacher is through repetition. Practicing a skill again and again reinforces the information and helps students to become proficient at the skill. Some students may require more practice than others, and the teacher can not always be available to help individual students that need more practice. Moreover, students may quickly become bored with simply doing additional workbook or worksheet exercises or looking at a computer screen and pressing a key. That becomes tedious. Teachers, therefore, need a learning tool that will provide practice for students to reinforce and maintain skills and information without the students becoming bored. In addition, it must be an economical solution that does not require a large budget, and it should also be durable and useful for years.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    The invention is an activity station and method of learning for reinforcing skills taught to students by a teacher. The activity station is a board that will fold to conceal the front and, when open, will reveal the front and stand erect. The board is divided into zones that contain holders for holding materials that the students and teachers will use. Removable labels allow teachers to easily change the topic which the activity board will address. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0004]    [0004]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the opened and erect activity station arranged in its preferred embodiment.  
         [0005]    [0005]FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the preferred arrangement.  
         [0006]    [0006]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the skill sheet zone of the activity station.  
         [0007]    [0007]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the instruction zone of the activity station.  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 5 is a management card.  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the activity zone of the activity station.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 7 a  shows the front side of sample activity flash cards.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 7 b  shows the back side of sample activity flash cards.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIGS. 8 a ,  8   b ,  8   c , and  8   d  are the front and back sides of sample activity flash cards.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 9 is a sample skill sheet.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the work product zone of the activity station.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the activity station when closed. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0016]    [0016]FIGS. 1 and 2 show a preferred embodiment of activity station  10 . Activity station  10  includes board  12  with front  13 , instruction zone  14 , activity zone  16 , skill sheet zone  18 , work product zone  20 , and folds  22  and  24 . Instruction zone  14  additionally includes removable directions label  26  and management card holder  28 . Activity zone  16  contains activity holders  30   a - 30   f . Skill sheet zone  18  includes removable title label  32  and skill sheet holder  34 . Lastly, work product zone  20  additionally contains work product holder  36 .  
         [0017]    In operation, a person, such as a teacher or institutional assistant, attaches removable title label  32  to skill sheet zone  18  shown in FIG. 3. A different removable title label  32  is provided for each subject that activity station  10  addresses. The teacher, thus, attaches the appropriate removable title label  32  for the corresponding subject. The teacher also attaches the appropriate removable directions label  26  to instruction zone  14  shown in FIG. 4. Preferably, removable labels  26  and  32  are attached by a hook-and-loop closure, but any type of removable attachment means can be used. This is economical, because the same activity station  10  is used for all subjects and can be easily changed. If, however, only one subject will always be used for an activity station  10 , removable labels  26  and  32  may be permanently attached.  
         [0018]    Management cards  38 , one example of which is shown in FIG. 5, are placed in management card holder  28 . Students and teachers use management cards  38  to track the student&#39;s progress. To fit the needs of the subject matter being taught, management cards  38  may vary somewhat from that shown in FIG. 5, but the function is essentially the same. Students enjoy seeing their progress, and management cards  38  are a good way to note accomplishments. Management cards  38  can also be stapled to finished work and sent home with the students.  
         [0019]    The teacher then fills activity holders  30   a - 30   f , shown in FIG. 6, with the appropriate activities for the subject matter being taught. FIGS. 7 a  and  7   b  show one type of example activity. FIG. 7 a  shows the front side of a set of flash cards. Each flash card has a picture of different subject matter on it. FIG. 7 b  shows the back side of each flash card. One or more vocabulary words with phonetic spelling are given that correspond to the picture on the front side. Preferably, each flash card is labeled, such as with a number ( 25  in FIG. 7 b ) or color coded, to correspond to the set of flash cards the flash card belongs to. If the flash cards are emptied from activity holders  30   a - 30   f  and become mixed together, the numbered label or color coding makes it easy to sort them again.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIGS. 8 a - 8   d  show another type of example activity. Here, FIGS. 8 a - 8   d  are flash card-type activities to reinforce math skills. Inquiries are presented on front side  40 ,  44 ,  48 , and  52  of the cards, and answers are provided on back side  42 ,  46 ,  50 , and  54 , respectively, of the cards.  
         [0021]    The teacher lastly places skill sheets  56 , one example of which is shown in FIG. 10, in skill sheet holder  34  (FIG. 3). At this point, activity station  10  is set up for student use.  
         [0022]    Activity station  10  is preferably arranged such as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 for ease of use. Each label and holder is positioned such that the student begins on one side of activity station  10  and progresses to the other side. However, removable labels  26  and  32  and holders  28 ,  30   a - 30   f ,  34 , and  36  may be arranged differently than that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and still function as described above.  
         [0023]    To use activity station  10 , students remove management cards  38 , shown in FIG. 5, from management card holder  28  and fill in their name. Management card  38  is stored in management card holder  28  until the student has completed activity station  10 , so that the student or teacher can track progression. Each time the student completes an activity, it is recorded on management card  38 . This makes coming to activity station  10  an on-going project.  
         [0024]    The student practices activities, such as in FIGS. 7 a ,  7   b , and  8   a - 8   d  until the student feels proficient. The student completes corresponding skill sheet  56  and places it into work product holder  36 , shown in FIG. 10. The teacher corrects these in order to determine whether more practice in that subject area is required. The teacher may then supplement activity station  10  with materials he or she already has.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 11 shows activity station  10  when closed and not in use. Board  12  is folded along folds  22  and  24 , so that activity station  10  is closed and front  13  is concealed. Thus, activity station  10  can easily be stored in a relatively small area. In a crowded work area, activity station  10  may only come out at specific times. It is also easily moved between classrooms.  
         [0026]    Preferably, additional sets of activities like those shown in FIGS. 7 a ,  7   b  and  8   a - 8   d  and skill sheets  56  are available. The teacher may then switch activities and skill sheets to provide more interest, variety, and opportunity to practice and learn to the students.  
         [0027]    In the preferred embodiment, board  12  is vinyl coated and holders  28 ,  30   a - 30   f ,  34 , and  36  are plastic pockets that are heat sealed to front  13  of board  12 . Each pocket may or may not be labeled. These materials are sturdy and easily cleaned. However, activity station  10  may be constructed of many types of materials including cardboard and paper. Preferably, when open for use, board  12  has a width of about 48 inches and a height of about 18 inches. Instruction zone  14  and work product zone  20  each have a width of about 12 inches and a height of about 18 inches. Activity zone  16  and skill sheet zone  18  together have a width of about 24 inches and a height of about 18 inches. These dimensions allow commonly used 8 inch×11 inch paper to be used and easily stored in activity station  10 . Also, the tri-fold style allows it to easily and firmly stand erect. When closed, board  12  has a width of about 24 inches and a height of about 18 inches.  
         [0028]    Activity station  10  is preferably used to reinforce information taught by a teacher. Thus, students can better learn and retain skills in various subject areas. Some of the subject areas for which activity station  10  can be used are Reading, Writing and Listening; The Five Senses; Reading/Phonics; Math; English as a Second Language; Adult Basic Education; and The Fifty States. One activity station  10  can be used for all subjects simply by changing removable labels  26  and  32 , activities in holders  30   a - 30   f , management cards  38 , and skill sheets  56 .  
         [0029]    Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.