Chapter three provided tons of ideas on laying the groundwork and getting your math station time off to a good start.
In reading this chapter I was reminded of the similarities between setting up Math Work Stations and starting the Daily Five. I thought about how I could bind the two seamlessly. Some of the same things Diller suggested with math stations were similar to how I begin Daily Five each year.
I will be honest and admit I didn’t devote quite as much time to building routines during math station time, I felt like there was so much to cover in math…period, and I wanted to get the bones of math time structurally in place. At the beginning of the year we didn’t go to math stations as often as I would have liked…but towards the end we hit our stride as a class.
I chose to do math in the mornings and I loved it!
Here’s what my schedule looked like this year:
7:50-8:15 Unpack, Morning Routines:
These included: Math Bag Question, answer the daily survey question, complete the daily story problem in your math journal, complete a practice activity.
8:15-8:30 Math Game with a partner ( These were previously introduced games)
During this time I pulled individual students for very small groups to do some quick math intervention. Just to make sure they understood the previous days lesson.
8:30-9:00 Whole Group Math Instruction:
This time usually included a math related read aloud, Number Talks, flash card review, explicit instruction, and a related activity. (Math Extension, Math and Literature Activity, Thinking Thursday, Weekly Estimation, Fun Friday Graph, Glyphs…)
9:00-9:30 Math Stations (One rotation per day). Stations would stop around 9:25 so we could come together to share or review.
10:00-10:20 Calendar Routines: After P.E. (9:30-10:00) we’d have about 10-15 minutes before lunch to complete our calendar activities.
This year I will devote more time to establishing routines during Math Station time. I plan to more closely follow Math Work Stations…but I love math and I also do so may other wonderful things during that block of time.
I created a few Self check sheets and some math station awards. I think during the first six weeks of the new school year doing self checks will help students…just like checking in with Daily Five. And who doesn’t love a special award!
Click on the pictures to download your copy.
Don’t forget to check out these blogs for more inspiration!
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Thank you SO much for your self-check documents. I have taught KDG for a few years then moved to 3rd then 1st. am very comfortable with the "station" game playing, but I need to be able to hold more accountable and "check-in" better so I KNOW these will help!
ReplyDeleteVery helpful post! I love the self-checking sheets.
ReplyDeleteKimberly
Funky First Grade Fun
Wow! Your students have a lot of minutes in math. We are required to do 60 minutes per day. I'd love to see the schedule for the remainder of the day.
ReplyDeleteOf my, I love the self check sheets! I am using those. Perhaps, whole group in kindergarten first trimester. Thanks for sharing them!
I also saw a comparison between setting up stations and Daily Five!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the self-checks and awards, too. I can definitely see myself using them. :)
Magnificent Multiagers!
I'll definitely use the self assessments and the awards! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteoohh I love the self checks as well! I like the awards plan as well. Taking the idea of the awards- I wonder if it could be turned into a business size type punch card... get so many punches and they get some kind of award? Just thinking out loud.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for these items and ideas!
Primary Connections
Beth, love that idea!
ReplyDeleteI love the self check sheets! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your self-check sheets and awards! I can see lots of use of them next year!
ReplyDeleteTanya
First Grade in the Desert