Math Workshop Monday {9/16/13}

Welcome to my weekly series where I try to share what has worked (and hasn't worked) in my classroom as I explore the wonderful world of Math Workshop:

This week's topic:

Last week, I shared with you my station boxes.  I found some tubs to use for my groups this summer.  Last year, I had two tubs per group, but I found that it just caused confusion.  This year, I scaled down to one tub per group.  Inside I have the "hands on" materials they will use for the week.  You can see that the tubs are all different based on what that particular group needs to practice:

The last thing I want is for the "Hands On" time to turn into "Play" time.  I know that sounds a bit harsh, but when we are trying to cover a gagillion standards (yes, I made up that word), I don't want even this 15 minutes to be filled with students "playing".  This is why I spent several weeks (yes, weeks) "practicing" rotations before letting them loose with our rotations.

Let me back up.  No, we didn't just practice.  Yes, there was instruction going on at the same time.  I was teaching whole group for the first 3 weeks of school. And, I was tired with a capital "T" at the end of the day.  My students work better in small increments of time.  Don't you find that to be the case these days?  This is why the workshop model works for me.

Back to "Hands On" time~During this "leg" of their rotations, students work in groups and/or partners with different tasks I've given to their group.  Based on performance tasks, pretest, etc., I have determined what skill a group needs to practice.  Does it work out that every single student needs practice with that particular skill.  No.  Does it matter?  Not really.

For example, my "Group 2's" needed to work on subtraction with regrouping.  Did everyone in Group 2 need to work on that skill?  Not really.  Several students were pros already.  However, when I send my students to their Hands On time, those who are the pros typically will take on the leadership role in the group and be the facilitator during their time.

In a perfect world, yes, everyone would only work on the skills that they need to practice the most.  I'm not Super Woman and I just don't have the time, energy or money to buy all of the necessary materials for each student to only work on the skills that they need to practice the most.  That comes later...during Teacher Time.

So, what do I put in the tubs?  The million dollar question, right?  Basically every little thing I've bought over the last few years~  I could give you a link to every single TPT store who I buy from, or a link to every single product I've made, but that would be silly.  Besides, what my students need will be different than what your students need.

What I can give you are a few hints for some easy and free resources.  You can go shopping later :)

Simple.  Last week, I taught my students how a pair of dice can be used easily for practicing addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.  Simply take 2 dice, roll them and multiply the two numbers together.  Challenge yourself:  Roll the 2 dice, add them together for your first number.  Roll the 2 dice again, add them together for your second number.  Next, multiply the two numbers together.  Easy. Fast. Fluency Practice!  Yay!

The same thing can be accomplished with a deck of cards.  I pull out all of the face cards and teach my students that the Ace is equal to 1.

One more hint about "Hands On" time.  Have your student in a close proximity to your small group table.  I know this sounds like a no-brainer.  But, I learned by trial and error that having them closer to my small group table helps me control the volume in their group and it also helps me control the volume of my small group.  I can also take a quick glace up to see who is on task.  If they are not on task, they go to their seats.  No questions asked.  Harsh? Yes.  Does it work? Yes.

Happy Workshopping!  {Yep, I made that word up, too.}  Got questions?  Shoot me an email or comment below.