Even teachers should get to trick-or-treat, right?! The teachers from the The Elementary Entourage thought so too! We've gotten together to offer a Tricks and Treats Blog Hop! So grab your teacher bag and start collecting those goodies!
Here's my trick: Use a timer to monitor transitions or manage class activities. I use timers for EVERYTHING! I have a special one that's super loud for reading transitions.
Make sure to announce the amount of time students have to complete an activity. For instance, I might say to the class, "You have 1 minute to come up with 3 things you learned about bats. Ready, go!" This creates a sense of urgency.
Do you have any of these goodies?? I found them at the Dollar Store and the Target Dollar Spot. I use them to play some of my favorite autumn math games. #iheartmathtime
I made this new game to match the work we've been doing with subtraction. There's a workmat and recording sheet. I don't use recording sheets often, but I definitely felt like my kiddos needed to practice writing out those number sentences.
I was so excited when Angie (Lucky Little Learners) and Ashley (Schroeder Shenanigans) revealed that the topic was math! I just LOVE math and I've been meaning
to get this post up for quite some time. Today, I'm sharing all about math work
stations.
Two years ago I had a desire to
implement math stations. I had a hard time finding resources that explained
running the groups, rotations, etc. Luckily, I was able to find a professional
development and figured out a rotation system. The hard part in second grade was
finding time in my schedule for math stations. Somehow it's been more
manageable in first grade.
I usually have 20 students (16 this year), so
I have 5 groups of 4 students The games students play are typically individual
or partner games, so it helps to have even numbers. Every math group has a
captain. I select new captains randomly throughout the year. The captain's job
is to get their group's math bin and put it back in its place at clean up time.
The student’s name is in blue font in case teacher anyone forgets.
I decided to keep the time to 10-15 minutes. This
helps to minimize behavioral issues. I find that the more time students have,
the more likely they are to be off task (at least in my class). Students go to one math work station each day. By the end of the week, they should have done all 5 (as long as our schedule wasn't interrupted).
I recently attended a Cognitively Guided
Instruction PD (you can read about that HERE) and have modified my centers to include more counting
activities. I definitely plan on adding more rigorous activities as time goes
on.
I'm sure you've seen these before! Ashley Hughes posted these Hundred charts a while back. They're free too! I printed and laminated them, then provided a blank 120 charts for students to check their answers. Click {HERE} to find the Hundred Chart Printables.
I've been using calendar cards that were provided by my teammate. It was a great way to review numbers to 30. This station has already been retired in my room.
This student is playing Puzzle Pics on MathPlayground.com (a FREE website). They get so giddy when they see these puppies. It's so sweet. I supply my students with cubes, so that they may model their responses.
Do you have any math work stations that your kiddos LOVE? Please share. I'm always open to new ideas. ^_^
Hi friends!! I'm linking up with Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd and Lucky little Learners for another 2getherwearebetter. I'm sharing about the BIG changes I'll be making in my math instruction next year. Dun dun dun… This summer
I had professional development on Cognitively Guided Instruction and read the
book Children's Mathematics. It was four days long and covered skills I don’t feel like I see all that
much anymore. Algebraic equations, fractions and decimals… huh? I was rusty.Anyhow, we were able to see this used in real classrooms and some of the
teachers in my area came to share some of their experiences and resources with
us. They even offered to respond to questions we may have. SUPER NICE.
My
plan is to jump in with both feet. I’m not quite sure how it’s going to work
yet though because 2 new teachers will be joining my team and my veteran teammate
will be out on maternity leave for the first couple of months. Oh, and only one
of my teammates was at the PD. Soooooo… I’m a little nervous because I want to
be able to offer the most support to my team.
So let me go ahead and set aside all of my anxieties, so I can tell you about CGI. For starters, it’s not a program or curriculum.
It’s actually research that “provides a framework for children’s thinking in
whole numbers.” It also explains the development of children’s understanding of
mathematics and shows teachers how to foster it by making math make sense. Why
didn’t I think of that? Of course, math should make sense.
What did I learn?
5+3=___, means nothing
to a student who’s just beginning to learn addition. On the other hand, if you
said:“You have 5 stickers. Then your
teacher gives you 3 more stickers. How many stickers do you have now?” A child
should have a better understanding of the problem and be able to solve using a
strategy of his or her choice. For so long, I didn’t understand the
significance of providing my students with context. AHA MOMENT!!
Did you know that there are 3 types of addition
problems? I didn’t! Side note: Addition is referred to as “join” throughout CGI
math.
Another important insight was to stop encouraging
students to search for key words. OOPS! Worst offender here. Key words
don’t always identify a particular operation. I always suggest that “left”
means to subtract, but it doesn’t work in the following problem.
Chris left 2 books at home on Wednesday and 4 books
on Thursday. How many books were left at home?
Want to see it in action? Check out this Alyssa Naatjes' video:
FREE Join problems
I’m definitely on board with CGI Math and can’t wait
to delve in. I’ve started creating problems for my students to work on daily (two problems a day were recommended). You can
check them out by clicking HERE. Would you like to see more resources? Click HERE. I am looking forward to sharing more about CGI Math
and the changes I’m making next year. Are you planning on making any changes to
your instruction? Leave a comment or link up for 2getherwearebetter.
