The Schedule and Stations
Here is description of how I schedule my groups and what each of the stations entail...
Here is description of how I schedule my groups and what each of the stations entail...
10-15 min
Whole Class Lesson Introduction (would include Math Message and or review and a brief introduction of the days lesson)
15-20 min
Group Rotations
Group Rotation Schedule
| Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 | |
| 1st Station | Meet with Teacher | Math Games | Math Card Game | Individual Work |
2nd Station | Individual Work | Meet with Teacher | Math Games | Math Card Game |
3rd Station | Math Card Game | Individual Work | Meet with Teacher | Math Games |
4th Station | Math Games | Math Card Game | Individual Work | Meet with Teacher |
Modified Split Multi-Age Rotation Schedule
Here is the schedule I am currently using with my multi-age class. The first two groups are 3rd grade and the last two groups are fourth grade. I wrote a post here describing why I needed to modify my schedule with my split classroom this school year.
| Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Group 4 | |
1st Station | All 3rd Meet with Teacher | Individual Work | Math Card Game | Math Games |
2nd Station | Individual Work | Meet with Teacher | Math Games | Math Card Game |
3rd Station | Math Card Game | Math Games | All 4th Meet with Teacher | Individual Work |
4th Station | Math Games | Math Card Game | Individual Work | Meet with Teacher |
Group Lessons
Meet at kidney table or in a meeting area. I have a small white board next to the table to show work on, students love to "play teacher" and show the group what they know on the white board during group lessons. I also usually have individual whiteboards for each student for practice. The lesson will include continuation of days lesson and guided practice- usually follow along with Everyday Math Journal Practice Pages
Individual
Students complete Everyday Math Journal- Math Boxes and coordinating Practice Pages, Skill Link pages or individual worksheet practice. They may not leave this station unless all work is completed. They will have to stay at this station, the next rotation until completed.
Math Game
I have a variety of math board games, file folder games, etc. I got a lot through DonorsChoose donations. Somedays I tell students what they must play and other times I give a category, such as any multiplication game or any money game.
Math Cards
At the beginning of the year and throughout the year I teach students addition/sub/mult/div/place value card games. You can play with any standard deck. You can even purchase specific place value/fraction/money playing cards through LakeShore Learning, for a more specific skill game.
In the past I have forgone the beginning mini-lesson and just did straight small groups. Sometimes it depends on the day and the lesson that needs to be taught. Needless to say my math block never is shorter than 75 minutes, most times 90 minutes long.
Dear Mary,
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I've learned is that the 4th Group: the one that the teacher sees the last session of Guided Math should have some of your most responsible students in it. That's because they must wait until the next day to do their journal pages from the previous days lesson. Do you agree?
Deborah/The Math Lady
Deborah,
ReplyDeleteI teach guided math groups and I always do a short introduction to the lesson as a whole group. My most-responsible and advanced students begin groups at the Journal/Independent work center. When they rotate to me at the end of our math time, I check their journals to make sure they grasped the concept for that day. If not, I re-teach it to them. If they understood the concept, we discuss it and I provide math extensions during their teacher time.
So if I'm understanding this correctly...your game station and card game may not be be the same skill they are learning for that day. I like this set up because it seems more managable. You could have your games focus on the big skills.
ReplyDeleteCorrect, my games focus on the big skills. I think it would make me crazy to have to change out my games for each day, considering that EDM often times does not cover the same skill lesson to lesson. If we are doing a multiplication unit, I might focus more on multiplication games for that time period, same for place value or decimals. Try to make it as easy on yourself as possible.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad I came across your blog. I was going to do differentiated instruction with math last year but I was trying to do a game that covered the skill we were working on each day. When I began to plan games, I began to go insane and scratched the entire idea. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteMary-
ReplyDeleteThank you for creating this site! I am excited to begin guided math groups this school year and am happy to see great resources and ideas!
Angie
WOW! Great site...thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteSandy
Great input! I do have two questions:
ReplyDelete1. How many students are in each group?
2. How long are the stations?
Centers have not worked for me in the past and I am hoping this year it will stick. By reading fantastic ideas from other teachers I believe I can do it!!
pwilson4.blogspot.com
Hi Patti!
ReplyDeleteMy group sizes vary. When I had a straight fourth grade I kept them pretty even, except my first group I kept lower because they needed more help. With my split class I only have two groups to put on grade level into. My split this year is 8 3rd graders and 16 4th graders, my groups won't even be close to being even but we will make do.
My stations are 20 minutes long. I am fortunate enough to have a good amount of time to dedicate towards math each day. Make it work for your schedule, you can certainly do less time for stations. Good luck, it may be hard at first but with modeling and consistency, you can do it!
Which would you recommend since I don't have your kind of time for math: a 10-15 min. whole group lesson followed by 3 rotations (20 min) with 7-8 students in each group, or a whole group lesson followed by 4 (15 min) rotations with 5-6 students in each? I'm thinking they need the 20 minutes to really do anything, but 7-8 students?!?
ReplyDeleteI am so excited that I found your blog! I teach 3rd grade and have decided to teach math this way this year! I have been searching for resources and cannot wait to try this! Would you be able to send me a typical lesson plan that you use? Just so I can get an idea of what it should look like - THANKS!
ReplyDeleteDarlene, 15 or 20 minutes, lower number or higher number of kids. Tricky. My first thought is the 15 minute rotation, a few years ago, when I had to get science in at the end of the day. I had to cut minutes. I did 15 minute rotation two days a week. It was very doable, as long as you do a whole group introduction. During group you won't be teaching the main concept the first time, you are reviewing, reinforcing and answering questions.
ReplyDeleteLast year my third grade groups were 8 kids each, that was high but not impossible.
What I would suggest is to get to know your kids, during those first several weeks when you are teaching routines and not doing stations to begin with. See if this is a group that can handle a group of 7-8 or do they need smaller groups. Once you can get a good idea on your students, you can determine what route you want to go.
Starr, I would be more than happy to share a lesson plan I have. Although it is in my files on my school computer. I will be there early next week and will be sure to pull a lesson and post it. Glad I could be of help!
ReplyDeleteCould you explain what sorts of prompts procedures and performance you expect from the math journals station?
ReplyDeleteI just came across your site i will be teaching 3rd grade math this year and i am so excited to have this teaching model...i am new to blogs...have you already posted the lesson plan someone asked for above?
ReplyDeleteDo you check Math boxes and any other work when they meet with teacher?
ReplyDeleteI do check the math boxes when they meet with the teacher. I might not do it everytime but enough to make sure the kids are on task and understanding the concepts.
ReplyDeleteUsually the kids that have trouble with the individual work are usually my intervention kids. I have a set intervention time that I use to work with these students on these concepts.
Loving this! I do rotations all the time, but this makes it structured and relevant.
ReplyDeleteJust a question, what does the Maths Journal look like? I can understand giving a worksheet at this time to reinforce skills but I am not sure what a Maths Journal or maths boxes are.
Also, I have access to laptops, would you incorporate skill building on maths websites (the students pay a subscription to a very good one called mathletics) as one of the rotations? Would this be during the individual time (we have 10, so plenty for one each) or as a game?
Thanks
I just found your blog and it is great. I am teaching 3rd grade this year with the EDM program. I love the center idea. I would like to see a sample lesson plan. I can see this working with my group this year (yes, it is almost over). Oh well...
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing.