Guided Math Chapter 6: Part 2

Mrs. Crofts' Classroom

Today I am guest blogging on Crofts' Classroom again to share my thoughts on Chapter 6 of Laney Sammons' Guided Math.  This chapter is all about math workshop, which I absolutely love!  I summarized the chapter on Tina's blog, but I also wanted to share a little bit about how workshop works in my classroom and how I hope to improve it this year.  I also wrote several posts about my work stations last summer; you can read them here, here and here.

Deb Diller's book Math Work Stations was the inspiration for how I set up my workshop. I use 10-12 stations, depending on the number of students I have, so that two or three students work at each station. (Note:  I have 12 stations, but not necessarily 12 different activities. I often have 2 tubs with the same activities and materials.) I like this because I think it keeps the noise level down and is a little more controlled. Once I have a handle on my students' abilities and needs, I create the partner pairs who will work together for several weeks.  Other teachers have had great success with other formats similar to CAFE in language arts where the students complete activities in different strands like measurement, fact fluency, using math tools, etc. (See this blog post about BUILD.)  Some teachers have their students work in groups and rotate through stations, seatwork and small group work.  All of these systems have merit; you have to choose what works best for you!

This year I want to:

1. Create at least one tub that always has some sort of graphing/data activity to complete. My plan is to eventually turn this into an investigation station where the students are actually gathering data.
2. Avoid getting too caught up in "themed" stations.  Just because I bought a really cute packet of math centers for Halloween does not  mean that every activity in that pack is right for my class. I need to remember to choose activities that match the curriculum and the needs of my students.
3. Continue to develop and use stations with similar formats.  One idea that I have is to have one tub that  always has activities using number cards.  The number range will vary, and I can use Donna's wonderful themed number cards for variety! (Math Coach's Corner on TPT)  Another tub will utilize Marcy Cook's number tile task cards.
4. Create "I Can" charts for each new station.  I was really good about doing this at the beginning of the year, but slacked off mid-year.
5. Try for more differentiated activities within the stations.  Keep the higher levels of Bloom's taxonomy in mind when planning activities. Are the students analyzing and creating?  I really want to utilize technology here!

One thing I have learned is that you have to introduce stations slowly and really practice the procedures.  For the first few days, all we do is free exploration of materials while we practice working quietly, getting our math tubs and cleaning up.  Then I add a task to each tub of manipulatives like "Take a number card and create a set using the manipulatives" or "Create a pattern."  Next I introduce a simple game, and we practice playing it with a partner.  I also like to do number tubs from Math Their Way (Chapters 7-8) during these first few weeks.  Here's a link to Math Their Way info, but basically the students work with a given number and use the manipulatives to represent their number and show combinations.  Then they draw or make a model of their work.  For example, one of the stations has toothpicks.  Students make arrangements of 5 or whatever number they are working with and then glue the toothpicks on construction paper and write a sentence to describe their work- 3 toothpicks and 2 toothpicks make 5 toothpicks.  I also include counting books at each station for early finishers.

After about 3 weeks the students are fairly independent so I can start pulling some small groups.  Again, you have to really teach the procedures and expectations of how to work when the teacher is with a group.  Have a plan for the restroom, questions, supplies, etc.  Basically, I tell my kids you don't interrupt the teacher unless there's blood or vomit!  (And I've had to explain that picking the scab off of a mosquito bite is NOT what I mean by blood!)  Some teachers wear a crown or use signs to remind their students not to interrupt when they are with a small group.  

Math workshop has become one of my favorite times during the day.  It takes a lot of work to get it going, but once it's up and running, you will love having time to work with groups and individuals!

Too Soon for End-of-Year Panic Mode?

I was just looking at the calendar trying to make some summer plans when I suddenly realized that there are only 27 more days of school!  How can that be?  Although I can't deny that I am looking forward to summer vacation, I'm also a bit sad and panicked about this school year ending.  Sad because I have really enjoyed this group of first graders, and panicked because there are so many things I would still like to do! (And many things I HAVE to do!)
There are still a lot of technology tools and ideas I would like to explore.  Almost every day I read about something new to try.  (I love Twitter!) I just purchased Kathy Cassidy's book Connected From the Start and am even more fired up about trying new things with my class.  I discovered Kathy when I was researching blogging with primary students. It was so inspiring to hear about someone who was using blogging, digital portfolios and other tools with young students. I purchased the book as an e-book, which is fabulous because it is full of links and examples of her students' digital work. This book is a fantastic resource for those of us who want to use more technology with our little digital natives.  After  reading the first couple of chapters I find myself wanting to try Skyping with my class.  Too much technology, too little time!

Using Kidblog in the computer lab

Then there are resources and activities that I have done in the past, but haven't used yet this year.  This week I stumbled across my Marcy Cook Number Tile Cards.  How could I have forgotten about these wonderful activities?  I included them in my math tubs on Friday and my kids had a blast.  I loved when one little guy told me "It was challenging but I got them all!"  If you are not familiar with Marcy's tile activities, check them out here:

http://www.marcycookmath.com

Here's some of my friends enjoying math tubs on Friday.

Pattern block animals

Number Tile Task Cards

Close up of a partially completed task card.

This is a big week for the first graders at my school.  Our annual Reading Restaurant is Friday, and I can't wait!  We still have a lot to do to prepare our "Mother Earth Cafe" but it's going to be loads of fun.  I'll try to post some of our projects as we complete them.

Have a fantastic week!

Math Work Stations Part 3

Today I'm going to share the kinds of activities I put in my tubs.  At the beginning of the year my tubs looked a lot like the tubs I used when I did Math Their Way.  I had a couple of tubs with patterning activities.  One tub had pattern blocks and then pattern cards for the children to copy and extend.  I had access to a die cut for the pattern block shapes so I also put in some paper pattern blocks and black construction paper for the children to record a pattern they created.  All supplies were in the tub; glue sticks, white crayon to label the pattern and the blocks.  Another tub had small toys and junk with pattern labels like ABC or ABBC.  The students would use the objects to create these patterns.  Other tubs held counting and sorting activities.  I have a lot of different counters so I put them all together and let the kids sort them.  The math talk at this station included stating the sorting rule.  Another tub simply had objects and numeral cards.  Each person would select a numeral card and count out that many objects.  I  included counting books in this tub.  I also used some board games like Chutes and Ladders and Hi-Ho-Cherry-O for counting practice.
As we introduced new concepts in large group, I would add a station to practice that concept.  I found a lot of activities through the online book study of Math Work Stations I followed last summer.  These talented bloggers shared some fabulous activities.  Here's a link to check it out:

http://learningwithmrsparker.blogspot.com/p/math-work-stations.html

Included in these activities were variations of more and less games, war and counting games that were perfect for the first part of the year.  Deb Diller included a lot of simple activtiies in her book as well.

Where did I find activities for the rest of the year?  Everywhere!

• www.mathwire.com
• Every Day Counts Partner Games
• Our math textbook Texas Mathematics from McGraw-Hill.  I assume most textbooks will have activities suitable for work stations.
• Blogs- I spend WAY to much time blog stalking!
• Teachers Pay Teachers and Teachers Notebook
• Marcy Cook Tile Activities- A former teammate attended one of her workshops a few years ago and was given money to purchase a ton of these cards for our team.  Love them!
• Shari Sloane's website http://www.kidscount1234.com/- My kids loved the casino bottles!



Photo from www.kidscount1234.com





• I also discovered I liked creating games and activities.  Here's an addition practice game I made to go with our first grade "Wizard of Oz" theme for this next school year.



There's No Place Like Home





I have discovered that sometimes the simplest activities are best, like the casino bottles above and games like BUMP.   (Here's one I created.)  I tried to add a couple new activities every couple of weeks or whenever the kids were ready to work independently on a concept.  I would also bring back old favorites sometimes for review.  Add new activities gradually and make sure you model each one completely.  Do not make my mistake and try to put out a whole set of new activities at one time because you just bought the cutest unit on TPT!!!!
What do you have in your math stations?  Where do you get your ideas?
Carol

Math Work Stations

Several people have asked about how I do work stations so I thought I'd share.  I'm really just getting started but they were successful for the most part.  I wish I had decided to start blogging before school ended so I would have some pictures, but I'll do my best to explain my set up.  I strongly suggest reading Deb Diller's Math Work Stations.  Most of my ideas are based on her book.
Set up:
I had 12 stations.  Each station was designed for 2 students.  Occasionally I had to have a group of 3, but 2 is the ideal number.  I kept the supplies for each station in plastic dishpans I bought at WalMart.  You do not have to have 12 different stations!  Especially at the beginning of the year, I only had 5 or 6 different activities and just had 2 tubs with the same materials.  Some of the tubs stayed the same all year.  For example, I had a tub with pattern blocks and design cards that stayed out all year.  My kids loved BUMP games so I also had a tub with several choices of game boards.  I kept the tubs on the counter in my classroom.  You can see them in the background of this picture.  (A parent just sent this to me-it's from the first day of school!)  Under the tubs are labeled plastic shoe boxes filled with most of my math manipulatives.

Rotation:  I used 2 of the little pocket charts from the Target Dollar Spot stapled together.  I made a card that matched the label of each tub and a card with each student's name.  (Note to self: make extra cards next year; I got 5 new students this year!)  Each day I would place 2 students' cards by a station card.  I tried to do 2 rotations of about 15 minutes each time, but some days we may have only done one.  After I got to know my students, I would pair them so that my higher students could work together some days and my strugglers could work with someone a little stronger.  Most of the time all my students did stations at the same time, but occasionally I would put in  "Meet with Teacher" cards so that I could work with some small groups.  My goal next year is to do this at least 3 days a week.

If you would like a copy of my station cards, click below:

My Station Cards

Tomorrow I'll be back to share what kinds of activities I put in the tubs and what I will do differently this year!

Carol