2. Large group teaching area
● Easel or chart stand
● Smartboard
● Markers, manipulatives for demo, sticky notes, literature
● Response boards
Small group area
● Dry erase boards and markers
● Sticky notes
● Highlighters, pencils, paper
● Manipulatives
Classroom Organization
3. Workstations
● Technology
○ Computers, laptops, Ipads
● Math tubs
○ Modeled from Math Work Stations by Deb Diller
○ Tubs for fact fluency, skill practice and problem solving
● Students use tubs on the floor or at desks
Classroom Organization cont.
4. Small group instruction
● Students grouped by strengths and needs
● Groups of 4 or 5
● Groups are flexible
Workstations
● Students work with a partner
● Partner is also part of the current math group
● Odd number of students: Work in a group of 3
Grouping
5. Monday: Whole class instruction
Tuesday-Friday: Minilesson,
small groups and workstations
Friday: Remediation
Weekly Schedule
Whole group instruction to
introduce new strategy or concept.
Introduce new vocabulary.
Use literature, videos (BrainpopJr.,
Discovery Education) to engage and
develop vocabulary.
Independent practice for review of
previously taught skills.
Model any new workstations.
Monday
6. Monday: Whole class instruction
Tuesday-Friday: Minilesson,
small groups and workstations
Friday: Remediation
Weekly Schedule
Focus: Telling time
Warm up: Dot card flash for current fact
strategy
Lesson: Read The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric
Carle. Spend 5-10 minutes discussing time to
see what schema/background knowledge
students have. Use mini clocks to identify
parts of the clock. Model how to show time on
the hour and vocabulary “o’clock.” Students
use mini clocks to show times called out by
teacher.
Students draw and label a clock in their math
journals.
Introduce a new game for workstations for
practicing doubles plus one.
Independent practice: Fact Fluency practice
sheet.
Sample Monday plan
7. Monday: Whole class instruction
Tuesday-Friday: Minilesson,
small groups and workstations
Friday: Remediation
Weekly Schedule
Minilesson:
● Connect
● Teach
● Active Engagement/Guided Practice
● Link
Guided Practice: Smartboard activity, use
manipulatives, etc.
Rotations: 2 or 3 rounds
● Journals
● Workstations
● Meet with teacher
Powerpoint for rotations
http://bit.ly/1fuvo4F
Tuesday-Friday
8. Monday: Whole class instruction
Tuesday-Friday: Minilesson,
small groups and workstations
Friday: Remediation
Weekly Schedule
Journals: Students glue prompt or activity into
notebook
● Problem solving
● Skill practice
● Interactive
I also keep a tub of “When I’m finished”
activities for students who finish journal work
before the end of the round.
Examples:
● Marcy Cook tiles
● Spin and graph activities
● Task cards
● Puzzles
Tuesday-Friday
9. Monday: Whole class instruction
Tuesday-Friday: Minilesson,
small groups and workstations
Friday: Remediation
Weekly Schedule
Small groups
● Groups of 4 have been ideal in my
classroom
● Meet with each group twice a week
● One session to work on skill and one for
problem solving
Materials:
● Dry erase boards/markers/pencils
● Number lines and 100 chart
● Variety of manipulatives and workmats
● Small versions of anchor charts (I use a
sketchpad.)
Tuesday-Friday
10. Monday: Whole class instruction
Tuesday-Friday: Minilesson,
small groups and workstations
Friday: Remediation
Weekly Schedule
● Students work with a partner or
group of 3
● Explore new concepts/review
skills
● Games, activities,
manipulatives
● Fact Fluency
● Problem Solving
● Ipad
● Computers
○ Use Symbaloo to organize
online activities
○ Example:
http://bit.ly/1dtIT3P
Workstations
11. Monday: Whole class instruction
Tuesday-Friday: Minilesson,
small groups and workstations
Thursday: Exemplars
Friday: Remediation
Weekly Schedule
One round is set aside for pulling
students who need more help or
conferencing with individuals.
Thursday
Friday
Only 2 rounds of groups/stations to
allow time for whole class problem
solving such as Exemplars.
12. ● Don’t introduce too many stations at once.
● Take time to model (and practice when possible.)
● Teach setup and cleanup routines.
● Create anchor charts for station expectations: voice levels,
where to sit, restroom, what to do if you have a question or
need help, etc.
● Label all pieces and have a spot for lost and found items.
● Choose some activities with similar formats to previous
stations to cut down on the learning curve for a new
game/activity.
● Make sure your activities are relevant to what the kids are
learning or need to review. When I first started stations I
went a little crazy on Teachers Pay Teachers and bought a
lot of seasonal sets. Although most of the activities were
good, they didn’t always correlate with our curriculum at the
time. Don’t use an activity just because it’s October and the
game board has cute little monsters on it!
Lessons learned from experience!
13. These books have been helpful as I set up my math workshop.
Guided Math- Laney Sammons
Math Sense- Christine Moynihan
Math Work Stations: Independent Learning You Can Count On, K-2-Deb Diller
These are just a couple of websites that have ideas for guided math and workstations.
www.mathwire.com
www.mathcoachscorner.blogspot.com
Resources
Editor's Notes
I have 3 areas set up in my classroom for math instruction and teaching.
I keep most of my math manipulatives in plastic boxes on open shelves so they are accessible at any time.
4 or 5 students fit comfortably at my teaching table. I keep students with similar needs together so I can assign them differentiated tasks as necessary.
My rotations are about 15 minutes long. If I had a longer math block, I would try 20 minutes. There are lots of different ways to organize stations and rotations- this is just what works for me now after a lot of trial and error!
Spiral notebooks would work as well.
For example, during our geometry unit, small groups worked on identifying attributes of shapes during the first meeting of the week and problem solving strategies using differentiated problems during the second.
Deb Diller’s Math Workstations was the inspiration for my workstations.
If I pull a student for remediation during workstation, his/her partner can continue to work at the station or complete a “When I’m Finished” activity.
