Making the Most of Math Time (with a Freebie!)

Making the Most of Math Time 

Hey y'all! We all know how precious time is in the classroom. There literally is never enough time to do all the things, check in with all the kids as much as we'd like, and actually have fun at the same time. #toomuchpressure

One of the best ways to ensure that I can reach all my students and adjust instruction as needed is with stations. If you're familiar with my science units, you know exactly what I'm talking about. If not, you can check out the original post here.

Basically, on Monday we do a whole group lesson which introduces the topic and sets the stage for the rest of the week. We create anchor charts and get our notebooks ready for the week.

Tuesday through Thursday, students go through a series of stations designed to enhance learning of the given topic. While they are at stations, I am up moving around, checking in with students, providing support as needed, checking work, addressing any misconceptions, and all the other things you do while students are working independently. The kids are engaged in hands-on activities and constructing their learning while discussing concepts with their classmates.

On Friday, we do a culminating activity to put together all the things we've worked on during week. We share out Ah-ha! moments throughout the week and discuss our thinking about the concepts we're working on.

But how do we manage all this? It's really simple.

Students are grouped into teams of 3-4 students (depending on class size) and rotate through stations together. I tend to group students more-so on who works well together rather than ability level. You can get a free copy of my group rotation cards and station labels here.

We also need a place to put all these thoughts, ideas, and recording sheets. That's where math notebook come in. I like to use tabs in ours so that students can easily find what they are looking for without having to thumb through every page. These are also free and you can get a set for your classroom here.

The biggest impact we can have on our students is mindfully and purposefully planning instruction. If we just throw it all out there or blindly follow the district resources without really thinking about all the things, we will waste our instructional time and do our students a disservice. This setup is easy to follow and several resources are already ready to get you started. Click here to find out more and stay tuned for additional units coming soon. 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you got some new ideas for your classroom. Be sure to follow me on Teachers Pay Teachers to stay up to date on all the ideas, resources, and updates. Have a great week and stay cozy. 

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