To make your station setup as chaos-free as possible, identify the space clearly. Use colored tape to section off stations, placing it on the floor. Make it clear to students that they are not to go beyond the boundaries of this tape, decreasing the chances of them turning station time into run-around-with-friends time. For example, if three students are at the math station, they will know that when told to go to this station by their teacher, they need to stay there and that they cannot pass the blue-taped boundary that identifies this station without meeting with a consequence. Such consequences can include placing students' names on the board or taking time off of their recess period.
While it may seem that having stations would lead to extra activity within the classroom, which could prove distracting to students, this does not have to be the case. To prevent distraction while still allowing your students to reap the benefits of the station setup, create dividers. Use tri-fold foam boards to separate your station space, placing them on tables or on top of desks to create private nooks in which students can get down to work. By setting up these boards, you can create a cubicle system, of sorts, to separate the space.
Make it possible for your students to drown out the noises that may prove distracting. At stations at which you want students to engage in quiet and solitary work, place CD players with headphones. Load classical music or nature-sound CDs into each of these players and ask students to put on the headphones and listen to these soothing sounds as they complete the activities at that station.
Because a station setup means that students will not all be doing the same thing at the same time, creating clear instructions is of paramount importance. Type step-by-step instructions for each station. Laminate these instructions and place them at each station, allowing your fourth-graders to refer to them whenever they need direction.
Let your fourth-graders have a voice in your station setup by creating opportunities for feedback. Create a suggestion box and place it on your desk. Tell students that if they have any ideas for how to improve the station setup, or if they would like to suggest a station activity, they can write a comment and slip it in the box. Review these suggestions and make changes as appropriate.