Top Teaching
Math Workshop: Using Developmental Grouping to Differentiate Your Instruction
In the past, I taught my math lessons as an entirely "whole-class" event. I found myself at the front of the classroom teaching while my students sat at their desks trying to understand the new concepts. There were always some students who found the lesson too easy and, likely out of boredom, tried to do the work before I even finished teaching the lesson. On the other hand, there were also those students who struggled to understand the concepts and felt lost unless I stopped teaching and went to their individual desks to help them. For these reasons, I found that teaching math was frustrating. I was never able to meet the needs of all of my students. That is when my teaching partner suggested we do Math Workshop after attending Alice Murphy's professional development seminar. I have no idea why I had not been doing this all along! I am so passionate about Reading and Writing Workshops because I can provide my students with the differentiated instruction that is so important in elementary school. Math Workshop now allows me to do the same thing, as I use developmental grouping to differentiate my daily instruction.
READ ON to learn how I use developmental grouping, math rotation stations, and math games to meet to the needs of my students during Math Workshop.
The Math Workshop model was created seven years ago by a teacher in my county, Alice Murphy. Some of the information in this post was derived from her presentations and professional development seminars. Visit Alice's Math Workshop Web site to find detailed information about Math Workshop, as well as Everyday Mathematics lesson plans for using this approach in your classroom. You will also find her contact information so that you can invite her to train teachers at your school or in your district.
How Does Math Workshop Work in Our Classroom?
Developmental Grouping: Before each unit, we pre-test the students to determine their prior knowledge about the concepts in the unit we are about to teach. Using that information, we create three groups (high, medium, low). The students obviously are not told what group they are in, and the groups do change throughout the year as we move through each new unit. Students are assigned to a group with a name that goes along with our theme. (See "Math Rotation Stations" picture below.) We are careful to make sure that the group names change after each unit so that, for example, the high group is not always "The Titanic."
Math Rotation Stations: Once the students are divided into three groups, they rotate through three different stations during our daily math period. Students are typically at each station for 20 minutes. Below are the descriptions of the three stations.
- Work With Teacher: At this station, students sit close to me and engage in an interactive lesson that is geared to their needs. I use a small dry erase board, and the students sit on the carpet in front of me so that I can see exactly what they are doing. Students often use portable dry erase boards to practice the concepts we are learning, or we may work together on pages in the math journal. (I am excited to have a new SMART Board to use during this rotation to make my instruction more interactive and effective!)
- Independent Practice: Students are at their desks during this rotation, working on pages in their math journal (Everyday Mathematics' term for a math workbook). They may also be working on teacher-created worksheets or math packets.
- Math Games: At this rotation, students play Everyday Mathematics games or other math games that help them practice the concepts they are learning in each unit. Students usually play the games with a partner in their group. However, there are times when the games can be played as a whole group or in larger groups of three to four students. This rotation can also be a time for students to work on math projects and/or investigations that span multiple days. (Everyday Mathematics even has online games that students can play on the laptops.)
In What Order Do the Groups Rotate to Each Station?
Rotation #1:
The medium group starts at the Math Games Station. They are often playing the game that is part of that day's Everyday Mathematics lesson, but they may also be playing a game that they have played in the past that corresponds to the concepts in the unit. Sometimes students are also doing projects at this center, especially during the fraction and geometry units.
The high group starts at the Independent Practice Station. I have them start at this station because they are often able to do the math journal pages without much instruction. Each day, they are asked to complete the journal pages that correspond to the lesson I will be teaching. When they finish those pages, they can also do the math boxes that correspond to the day's lesson. (Math boxes are practice pages in the math journal that provide students with extra practice on previously learned concepts.) The high group is also given a math packet created by our "Gifted and Talented" teacher because they often finish the math journal pages before it is time to rotate to the next station.
Rotation #2:
The medium group now comes to me at the Work With Teacher Station. I always plan to teach the lesson from the book to the medium group. However, they will sometimes catch on quickly and need to be challenged. If this happens, I can either do some enrichment with them or just challenge them by giving them some problems similar to the ones in the lesson but making them a little more difficult. I have a set of portable dry erase boards at my station, so students can work right on their laps. I like this because they are working right in front of me, and I can immediately see how they are doing. This group will usually start the journal pages with me, but they will complete most of the work independently at their desks if I feel they are understanding the concept.
The high group goes to the Games Station to continue practicing the concepts that were introduced in their journal pages.
Rotation #3
The medium group moves to the Independent Practice Station at their desks to complete the assigned journal pages that correspond to the daily lesson and then the math boxes when they are done with the assigned journal pages.
The high group is the last group I see at the Work With Teacher Station. Since they have already completed the journal pages for the day's lesson, I take a quick look at those first. If it looks as though most students in the group already understand the concept, I will use the enrichment materials from the Everyday Mathematics curriculum, or I will do some sort of enrichment that I create on my own. If the students in this group did not do well on the journal pages, I will teach the regular lesson and make sure that they understand the new concept.
Daily Schedule for Math Block
We have one hour and 20 minutes scheduled for math each day (80 minutes). Below is exactly what we do during that precious time.
Math on the Water: (8–10 minutes) This is a student-led activity that is explained in greater detail in a later section of this post.
Rotation #2: (20 minutes)
Rotation #3: (20 minutes)
Closing: (5 minutes) At the end of math, I call the class back together quickly to reinforce the day's concept. If there is time, we will correct the daily math journal page as a class.
Don't Always Let the Teacher Edition Determine What You Teach
Once I have completed a lesson, I decide what to do the next day. If the majority of students in all three groups understood the concept, I will move on to the next lesson with each group. If the low group needs more practice, however, I will spend another day with them on the same concept. I can either move ahead with the other two groups or just do additional enrichment.
There are even times when I feel the entire class could use an extra day on a concept. In this case, I create work for the Independent Practice Station since students would have already completed their Everyday Mathematics journal pages.
Create Your Own Math Games to Enhance Math Workshop
While Everyday Mathematics does provide materials for many games in each unit, my teaching partner and I have also created many games of our own and have purchased some additional math games at teacher stores or online to supplement the Everyday Mathematics games for some of the units. There are great resources available from the Scholastic Teacher Store that can be used to enhance your Math Games Station, such as Scholastic professional books with reproducible math games and math center ideas.
You can also have students play Everyday Mathematics online games or Scholastic online math games if you have computers or laptops in your classroom.
Make Your Math Games Reusable
We copy, cut, and laminate all of the Everyday Mathematics game boards (and any game boards that we use from the Scholastic professional books) so that they are sturdy enough to be used by multiple groups during the year and in years to come. We also mount and laminate the directions so that students do not need to interrupt us while we are working with another group.
We organize all of our math games in manila envelopes and store them in a cart with drawers so that we know all of the games we have available for each unit and can easily locate them when necessary.
Use Parents as Math Helpers!
Many teachers ask how I manage all three groups when I am only teaching one group. It does take a few weeks at the beginning of the school year for students to learn to work independently at the Independent Practice Station and work cooperatively and quietly at the Games Station. One helpful solution is to ask parents to volunteer to be your math helper during math time each day. The math helper in our classroom works at the Games Station. He or she can help students understand the directions, manage the groups as they play the game, and hold students accountable for their learning. There are times when students will not put forth as much effort as they should when the teacher is not looking over their shoulder. Having a parent watching them as they play the math game helps ensure that students are getting the most out of the activity. Also, if students have questions about the game they are playing, they do not need to interrupt my teaching. These parents also help out with projects at this station when students are doing collaborative projects as opposed to math games.
To round up parent volunteers for math helpers, we send home a sign-up calendar each month. We almost always have a parent helper at the Games Station to make sure students are getting the most out of the games they play or the projects they are doing.
Assessment in Math Workshop
While we do give unit tests at the end of each unit to check the students' understanding of the concepts we taught in the unit, our overall assessment is ongoing (just as it is in Reading and Writing Workshops). As my teaching partner and I meet daily with each group at the Work With Teacher Station, we keep a clipboard that has a checklist of skills for the unit. We have each child's name listed on the checklist so that we can keep track of students who are struggling with any of the concepts we are teaching. We try to find time to meet individually with struggling students to reteach the difficult concepts or at least check in on their progress. If an entire group is struggling with a concept in a particular lesson, we will reteach the skill to all students in the group during Math Workshop on another day.
On the sample checklist to the right, you can see that we use "S," "P," and "N." "S" indicates that a child is "secure" with the concept, "P" means the child is "progressing," and "N" means the child "needs additional support." (Please know that this is a sample checklist I made that does not feature real students.)
Math on the Water (Daily Math Review)
We begin Math Workshop every day with what we call "Math on the Water" to go along with our Pier 13 theme. (Last year we called it "Martian Math" to go along with our space theme.) During this time, a student teaches the class a short math review lesson that includes three to five skills that have been taught during the current unit or previous units. See the photos and information below to understand what this time of our day looks like.
Each day a new student has the job of "Captain Math." It is this student's responsibility to complete parts of the math activities on the Math on the Water board during morning work time. Since students have about eight minutes to teach their lesson, we suggest they pick three to five math problems to do on the board each day. The student will then complete the problems with the help of the class at the beginning of Math Workshop. For example, if a child chooses to do a "frames and arrows" activity, he or she might not fill in the rule and just add enough numbers for students to determine the rule and add the missing numbers.
We do math first thing in the afternoon. Captain Math wears a captain's hat and leads the lesson while the rest of the class sits on the carpet. Students raise their hands to help Captain Math solve the problems, and the class agrees or disagrees with the final answers. (Captain Math is also expected to have solved all problems prior to the lesson so that he or she knows the correct answers.)
The Math on the Water board is a magnetic dry erase board that changes on a regular basis to reflect the new skills we learn in each unit. At the beginning of the year, we have things on the board that the students are expected to have learned in 2nd grade. However, by the end of the year, the board has everything from fractions and decimals to geometry and double-digit multiplication to reflect all that students have learned. The board is constantly changing.
Many teachers want copies of all of the things we have on our Math on the Water board. This would be nearly impossible, as we have hundreds of different concepts we put on the board throughout the year. Many of the items we use come straight from the Everyday Mathematics curriculum. These include things like frames and arrows, number grids, "What's My Rule?" charts, number story diagrams, place value charts, name collection boxes, etc. (We enlarge things from the Math Masters book.) We also use clocks, magnetic money, magnetic geometric shapes, fraction pieces, etc.
All of the activities on the board are printed on colored card stock and then laminated so that students can write on them with Vis-à-Vis markers and clean them off at the end of the day to be used again.
Share Your Math Ideas!
My favorite thing about writing this blog is hearing from other teachers. Please share the ways that you teach math in your own classrooms! My fellow "Top Teaching" blogger, Angela Bunyi, conducts a form of Math Workshop in her classroom and is also available to answer any questions you might have.
Reader Request
In some of the comments below, readers asked what my lesson plans look like. So I'm linking to a weekly lesson plan file from early in the school year. It includes all subject areas, but you can see how I plan my differentiation in math.
- Everything You Need:
- Subjects:Reading, Math, Classroom Management
Hi Beth--
I was wondering if you do the "Math Message" from EDM or if "Captain Math" takes the place of that?
Do you have any experience using this model in middle school or high school?
Hi Beth!
I am a new first grade teacher in Rochester, MI and I was very intrigued by your math workshop. Right now, I'm struggling with a range of students at very different math levels. My question is, do you teach the games throughout the year during your rotation while they are with you at "Meet the Teacher"? In first grade, I'm worried if I teach it in the 5-8 minute review at the beginning it will not be enough time for them. Also, if you look at your "high" kids math journals when they come to you...are they still obligated to correct their journal pages when you correct them at the end of the rotations? Or are they working on something else? Thank you for your time!
Lindsay
Admiring the time and effort you put into your blog and detailed information you offer! I will bookmark your blog and have my children check up here often.
http://coolmathgames2k.com/
Beth,
Thanks for all your helpful information and great ideas! I read above that at the independent work station, kids might be working on teacher created math packets. What do these look like? I am a second grade teacher trying to create review folders for my students so that I can meet with small groups and am very overwhelmed. Thanks in advance!
Kathy
2nd Grade
Hi Beth! Thank you so much for sharing your very practical math workshop approach. I have wanted to teach math in small groups for a number of years but couldn't figure out how to manage it. You have given me a framework to do so. My question is do your students always move to the next rotation even if they are not finished with the independent work? I am required to give grades during the week and wonder if you only "grade" the assessments or do you have students do additional work on a previously taught lesson? My " low" group will sometimes sit without working during independent rotation and get very little done. I'm hesitant to have them just move to the game, if they have little work completed. Some students will even just write an answer down so they look finished & can go to the game. I have also kept students with me for the next rotation if they are really struggling with a concept, which seems to be effective. I guess I'm struggling with how to keep the kids accountable so the work they are doing is a closer reflection to what they really understand. Any thoughts you have are appreciated!
Lesley
Beth
I teach kindergarten everyday math and would love to set up stations like you. Any suggestions you can give me would be greatly appreciated.
Krista
Hi,
I teach a k/1 multi-age classroom. EDM is the math curriculum in my district. I like the way you have set out the organization for the rotations. Would you have any further suggestions for a k/1 classroom?
Thanks.
thanks for helping me understand math and the math workshop
Kelley,
Math fact practice is incorporated into "Math on the Water" daily (see my post), but we also do timed tests each week where students must memorize their multiplication facts. They move up a level each time they can do 30 problems in a minute. I have never been a huge proponent of timed tests, but I was finding that students were not truly memorizing their facts unless they were held officially responsible. Our fourth grade teachers are very grateful that we do this in our 3rd grade classroom because they are better prepared for 4th grade math!
With all of the awesome technology you have in your classroom, I think you will find that Math Workshop will help you really use those tech tools to improve your math instruction and really meet the individual needs of your students!
Good luck!
-Beth
Beth,
Math Boxes are a component of Everyday Math, the program we use in our district. They are simply a page in the students' math journal that has 6 boxes, each one with a math problem that helps them review what they have learned in previous lessons. They are not anything fancy, but I don't think I am allowed to share them on the blog. I do not create the Math Boxes myself, so it would be a copyright issue. Here is a link to the Everyday Math website where you can find more information about the program: http://everydaymath.uchicago.edu/about/
-Beth
Jen,
You can just use parts of the final tests for your pre-tests if necessary. The last Math Boxes page in each unit is also a good tool to use since it focuses on upcoming concepts. My teaching partners and I have created some pre-tests using the assessment creator CD, but we are constantly tweaking them to improve them for the following years. I would like to use them and know that they are "perfect" before I post them as resources for other teachers to use.
I hope you enjoy doing a math workshop in your classroom next school year!
-Beth
Beth,
How do you incorporate math fact practice into your day and math workshops? Two years ago I was transferred from high school math to a 3 grade classroom and your website saved me! After one year in 3rd grade I was then transferred to 6th grade. I just go the news on Friday that next year I will be in 4th grade and the first thing I did was look you back up! Our district uses the Saxon math program and I do have a smart board, wireless slate and a set of "clickers"...student response systems. I would love to try the math workshop but after being in 6th grade for two years I know how weak the students are in their facts .... your comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for all you do...you are truly an inspiration.
Kelley
You have a great website. I do have a question though. I am beginning to use Math Workshop in my class and was wondering if you could give me an idea about finding some great stroy problems to use. I am having a hard time coming up with some for place value in particular.
Thanks,
Melissa
Hi Beth,
You have the greatest ideas, and your students are so lucky to have such a creative and passionate teacher!
I was curious...regarding the pre-tests, are these tests you have found somewhere online, or did you create them yourself? If possible, could you share your resource? I teach using Everyday Math, and think your setup would be perfect to reach my students better and keep them engaged! (I don't know why no one has thought of it before!)
I love the idea of math stations and I will start using them next year. However, I was wondering if you could send or post a sample of math boxes-- I would not mind making my own.
Sarah,
You asked what we do when we have students performing well beyond a third grade level in math. You wanted to know if they still do the math journal pages. We are fortunate in our district that the teachers who do our gifted and talented program created challenge packets for each unit in Everyday Math. When necessary, some students will work on these packets during the independent work rotation.
-Beth
Jillian,
Good luck with your move from Title 1 to 3rd grade. I think you will love being in the classroom full-time, and your experience working with small groups will be perfect when implementing a math workshop in your new classroom!
Have a great summer!
-Beth
Amy,
Good luck implementing your math workshop next year! You certainly do not need Everyday Math to make it work. In fact, we pull materials from many different resources to make our workshop as successful as we can!
-Beth
I was so excited when I found all of your valuable information on line. We just finished school for the year and I am already planning on ideas for next year...thank you for sharing! I have one quick question regarding math. What do you do if you have students beyond the norm...for example students who are really performing beyond a third grade level with certain concepts...do you still have them focus on their math journal or do you create entirely different modes of independent work for those children? Again, thank you for your willingness to share your fabulous ideas. I feel like a kid in a candy store ready to explore new things.... Thank you! Enjoy your summer and your children. I have three daughters myself and we are all ready to play.
Beth,
I love all of your ideas! Next year I will be moving from Title I to 3rd grade. I am excited and trying to get as many ideas as possible. I think I will set up my math the way you have yours. Where I was Title I, I am use to working with small groups, so I feel I will be very effective this way. My county is changing math series to "Everyday Math" this coming year. I am already planing on fixing the game cards as you suggested. Jennie A, is there anyway I could get those smartboard files? I would compensate you for your time....just email me. Thanks everyone for great ideas. jrichmond@access.k12.wv.us
Thank you so much for sharing all of your work with us. I was just talking to my principal about implementing a math workshop since we already have reading and writing workshop well underway. I teach in 1 of the 2 schools in our districts that tested Everday Math this year. Although we are not going to be using Everyday Math as a curriculum guide and instead will go back to using our districts pacing guide I am excited about pulling some of the lessons and practice for work with my kids.
Alison,
We have used the CD to make some of our pre-tests. However, we have also just taken items from the final test and given that as the pre-test. We look at the students' overall performance on their pre-tests to determine which group they will be in for the upcoming unit. You can read comment #47 for more information on pre-testing.
-Beth
Kerstin,
You asked about the open response questions in Everyday Math. I assume you are talking about the optional part of the unit assessments. Since we do have students complete many of the "Writing/Reasoning" questions during our daily lessons, we also like to include this section on our tests. It helps us to see if our students can truly write about HOW they solve a problem rather than just showing us the numbers. However, we have found that some of the open responses are quite difficult, so there are times when we only give it to students in the enrichment group.
-Beth
Gaile,
I'm glad this post was helpful for you! Also, thanks for sharing your "Majestic Math" idea. I love it, and I'm sure your students did too!
-Beth
Brynne and Jen,
I added a link at the end of the post where you can download a weekly lesson plan file from a week earlier in my school year. This is where you can see what my math plans look like. I certainly do not write out the entire lesson since it is in the Everyday Math T.E., but I do include what students will be doing at each rotation and what I will do differently for the enrichment and readiness groups.
I hope it is helpful for you!
-Beth
Robin,
There are way more problems on the "Math on the Water" board than a student will complete each day. Captain Math gets to choose the 3-4 problems he or she wants to complete each day. Also, there are some activities (blank cards)where Captain Math can make up his or her own story problem.
-Beth
Brynne,
Yes, I have a chart that shows the three rotations on my main dry-erase board in the front of the classroom. Each day I write what students will be doing at each rotation and which group will be starting at each rotation.
-Beth
Brynne,
Yes, I have a chart that shows the three rotations on my main dry-erase board in the front of the classroom. Each day I write what students will be doing at each rotation and which group will be starting at each rotation.
-Beth
Nikki,
If you read my comment #56 I think your question about the 5-8 minute introduction/lesson will be answered. If you are still confused, let me know and I will clarify it for you.
Thanks for posting!
-Beth
Beth,
You said you give pretests to your students before placing them. Do you look at each question to decide which group they are in for that day or is it for the whole test? Do you use the one you can make online with the Cd? Great Idea, just trying to figure out how I would use this..
Thanks!
When you do planning do you use a separate lesson plan page or just generally make note of the stations in your lesson plan book? If you have a specific template that you use could you share or would you mind sharing it?
Beth,
We teach with Everyday Math and I am excited to try this approach next year.
I was wondering how you utilize the open response questions with your students. This has been something that I have been struggling with.
Thank you so much for all of your wonderful ideas,
Kerstin
Hi Beth! I'm in love with all of your ideas and have been a devoted follower of you since my first year teaching 4 years ago! :-)
Loving the ideas for Math Workshop. I tried this out in my classroom this year, but never quite figured out the scheduling and management. This encourages me to try again next year.
Also, our school had a fairy tale theme this year and with the Calendar Math series I retitled it "Majestic Math." The girl leaders wore rhinestone tiaras and the boys wore king-like crowns. They LOVED it!
I am very excited to use your Math on the Water next school year. I have a couple of questions. You mentioned that the captain must complete each problem on the board but then only teach 3-5 problems to the students. I noticed on your pictures that there are a lot of problems for on the board so does that mean the captain has to complete all of them? Also, I noticed the problems are basically blank, so does the captain make up the problems?
Thank you for all of your great ideas.
Beth ~ Do you post a chart on the board so students know which station they're going to first? Also, what do your lesson plans for math workshop look like?
Jen,
You asked if I kept notes separate from the checklist that I show in the blog. Since I am teaching the entire time during math workshop, I find it hard to really stop and take notes. That's why the checklist works best for me. I can quickly indicate each child's understanding of the skills. When conferring in reading and writing workshop, I can take notes as I listen to them read or talk with individuals about their reading or writing, but in math workshop, I teach students in small groups with 7 other kids. Stopping to take notes during or between rotations would really interrupt my teaching. When I correct journal pages, I do keep track of students' performance. If a student is really struggling with a concept, I will make an extra note of that so that my teaching partner is aware of my observation.
-Beth
Hi Beth,
Our school uses Everyday Math, and I teach third grade-and have been pondering small group rotations when I came across this blog-it is great! Just what I was wondering about! Quick question, in the small 5-8 minute intro, would you do an example of,let's say, lattice multiplication-or would you expect your high group to be able to solve that problem using their own method-or would you quickly teach the process and then expect the high group to catch on? Its the one piece (having the high group complete the journal pages before working with the teacher) that I'm confused about :)
Thanks for all you share!
Katie,
You will definitely have to determine what will work best for your class when beginning to try out the math workshop approach. We are still tweaking things all the time! However, I tried to answer your questions in the best way I could.
You asked if we teach a whole-class mini-lesson before beginning rotations if the concept is completely new. We always give a little overview before the students begin the rotations, but it is not as long or as in-depth as our mini-lessons in reading and writing workshops. On some days the whole-class overview will be longer than others, especially if it is a completely new concept. It really depends on the lesson. If the lesson is one that we think the high (and sometimes even medium) group will be able to understand with very little instruction, we then tend to get right to our rotations so that we have more time to spend teaching the concept to the low group and doing an enrichment lesson with the high group. In a sense, each of the three groups gets a mini-lesson each day during the "work with teacher" rotation (modeling, active engagement/practice), and then the independent work station is like IDR time in reading workshop.
However, it may be different in 2nd grade. One advantage we have in third grade is that the students have a student reference book (SRB). This book provides titorials and gives examples of all math concepts learned in 3rd grade. When the high group begins their first rotation by trying to complete the journal pages independently, there are reference book pages that they can refer to if they need help. Third graders (especially those who are typically in the high group) can read the pages on their own and often figure out the new concepts fairly quickly with this helpful resource. If your high group is really gifted, many of them will not even need to use the SRB to understand the journal pages on many days. Of course they will show their completed journal pages to you when they come to the "Meet with Teacher" rotation, so if they did poorly on the journal pages, you will teach them the lesson in the same way you taught it to the other groups without adding enrichment.
There are also times when we do not do rotations at all and spend the entire hour on a whole-class lesson. There are certain skills taught in 3rd grade like double-digit multiplication that we know will be new to all students and will require lots of instruction and practice. On these days, we want all students to spend the entire hour working on the new skill.
You also asked about the games the students play. Like you mentioned, we often have them play games related to concepts that have been taught in previous lessons. The games serve as extra practice and review/reinforcement of the skills they are learning in the unit.
I hope I've answered your questions. Feel free to ask more if I'm not being clear!
-Beth
Another quick question out of curiosity-what do your lesson plan (format) look like for your workshops or daily?
Do you include all groups mini lessons or general concepts?
Beth-you truly are an inspiration. I get such great ambition and spring board ideas from all the posts and your ideas.
As far as your assessment goes, besides the end of unit assessments, do you keep notes from your small groups like that of how you do during your reading workshop? Or just the Unit checklists?
Hi Beth!
I have been lurking on your website and posts here for a while and today I decided to give your math workshop a go and have a trial-run to see how I could incorporate it in my room next year. Things went great and my students loved it, because I was not the one standing and talking for half the time :). But it did get me thinking...
How do you handle the math workshop when you have to teach brand new concepts? I am thinking it might be harder for my students (2nd graders) to work independently in workbooks when we begin learning new concepts. The same thing happens with the game. Do you have students use a game from the previous lesson or from the day's lesson?
My colleagues and I were trying to play around with timing and whether we should have a short whole-group lesson to begin with or what, but I figured I'd come ask someone who experiences the workshop everyday!
Thanks for all your amazing ideas!
Jen,
I am off today, and I actually have both boys down sleeping. I am finally able to catch up on lots of comments:)
You asked about how I start Math Workshop at the beginning of the year. I am at a real advantage because my teaching partner and I both work all day for the first week of school. This is great because one of us can teach the lesson at the "work with teacher" rotation, and the other one can really be managing the games group and checking in on the independent work group. Throughout the school year, we have parents who volunteer to help out at the games rotation. If you have a parent of a student in your class that you know well, you might even ask that parent to help out supervising the games group the first week while students become familiar with the routine and learn what is expected of them.
We also do lots of modeling before we actually begin the rotations. We explain exactly how math workshop will work and what is expected of the students at each rotation. We talk about what to do at a rotation if students need help so that they do not get in the habit of interrupting the group that is receiving instruction.
We also do small things to make the workshop run smoothly. We give a 2-minute warning toward the end of each rotation so that the game group can begin cleaning up. We then ring a little bell when it is time to rotate. Noise level is the hardest part to manage at the beginning of the year if students are not used to a math workshop. While I never ever thought I would use one of those stoplight noise monitors in my classroom, my teaching partner brought one to my room when we first started working together and suggested we put it near the game rotation so that students are actively monitoring their voice level (games can get noisy as students work together). It actually was a great thing to use for a few weeks. After students learned to play games quietly, we didn't even need to turn it on anymore.
Another suggestion at the beginning of the year is to keep the games fairly simple and uncomplicated. That way students can really learn to manage themselves and are not tempted to interrupt your lesson to ask questions.
In terms of management, I teach my small group lessons right in front of a bookshelf that holds containers of math supplies. This is nice because students do not need to bring things with them to the lesson. If the lesson calls for rulers, protractors, geometry templates, etc., I have those ready to use. Students do not need to waste time between rotations going back to their desks to get math materials.
I hope I am answering all of your questions! Let me know if you need more clarification!
-Beth
Thanks for your quick responses to the posts from everyone. :-). How do you begin the school year for Math Workshop. Do you go through what each rotations would sound like/look like a few days then do trials with small groups?
Leslie,
I remember my first year using Everyday Math, and it was intimidating. It was so different from what I was used to, but I really ended up liking it by the end of that year. I have an even greater appreciation for it now that I use the different components of EM to do my math workshop. I think you will really enjoy doing math workshop with your students next year. Good luck!
-Beth
Karen,
You asked if we ever have a group that is a unit ahead or behind. Since I have started doing math workshop a couple of years ago with my teaching partner, we have not had that situation. However, I am sure there is a way for it to work if you find that your students are at very different levels in math. We do have students doing different lessons on different days because some groups move along quicker or slower in any given unit. Instead of having a group move on to the next unit, however, we will have them do more enrichment or complete collaborative projects while the other groups finish the unit instead of having them move ahead early to the next unit. That way the final test is given to all groups at the same time, and we all move on to a new unit together.
We do differentiate our math games on many days. You can read comment #45 for more information about your question on math games.
I hope I've helped!
-Beth
Amy,
You asked if our pre-tests are based on what we teach in the unit or the concepts on which we test the students. I guess the answer is both. We make sure that the concepts we assess on the final tests match up with the concepts we teach in class. You can read comment #47 to learn more about my pre-testing of students before each unit.
Thanks for posting your comments on the blog!!
-Beth
Jen,
Here are some answers to your questions.
1. You asked if we do a whole-class lesson before the math rotations begin each day. On some days we do, and on some days we do not. It depends on the lesson. If we think the concept will be completely new to all groups, we will spend time before the rotations giving a basic overview of the concept. If the lesson is one that we think the high (and sometimes even medium) group will be able to understand with very little instruction, we then tend to get right to our rotations so that we have more time to spend teaching the concept to the low group and doing an enrichment lesson with the high group. In a sense, each of the three groups gets a mini-lesson each day during the "work with teacher" rotation(modeling, active engagement/practice), and then the independent work station is like IDR time in reading workshop.
2. You also asked if we do daily math reflection or have the kids complete exit slips. We do not do exit slips because we are watching what they do right in front of us as we are teaching the lesson. We can see immediately which students understand the concepts and which ones do not. We also use the journal pages that they complete independently to see if they can do the work without the help of the teacher.
While we do not necessarily do a "daily math reflection," students do complete the "Writing/Reasoning" section of the math lesson on many days. All students have lined paper in their math folders and do their writing on those pages.
3. You also asked about pre-testing. Many of our pre-tests for the beginning of the units are parts of EM tests pieced together. We did start using the assessment creator tool and MS Word to create some pre-tests for other units. However, by the end of the year, it becomes very clear which students need to be challenged or given extra help. The math groups tend to change throughout the year based on how students are doing in class. In other words, the pre-tests become less important, and we begin using our in-class observations to determine our groups rather than pre-testing the kids before every unit. There were even times when a student may have done well on a pre-test, but his or her work ethic and motivation level kept us from putting him or her in the high group.
4. You also asked how many days prior to the unit do we give the pre-test. Since, at this point, we already have many remedial and enrichment materials gathered or created for each unit, we typically give the pretest just a day or two before we start the new unit (if we give a pretest at all).
I hope my answers to your questions are helpful.
-Beth
MaryAnn,
Since you have a very low class, you would probably just have one average group and two remedial groups. It is okay to have two groups doing the same thing. That way you still have small groups that can receive more of your individual attention during the "work with teacher" rotation.
-Beth
Rebecca,
You asked if we differentiate our math games. The answer is yes, when possible. Many of the Everyday Math games do have different "levels" of difficult, so our high group will often play the more challenging version. We also ask the high group to play with the double-digit cards for certain games to make the game more appropriate for them.
When we make our own games, we make different versions of the same games, both remedial (if necessary) and more challenging (if necessary). When we have purchased games, we also have often bought both the K-2 version and the 3-5 version since third graders often fall into both of those categories. For example, we have "telling time" board games. One game asks students to tell time in 5-minute intervals and the other asks students to tell time to the nearest minute.
We switch games nearly everyday, but we will have students play the same game more than one time during a unit.
Students are not allowed to interrupt the teacher while we are with the group we are instructing. At the beginning of the school year, we spend time talking about what students can do if they are stuck on a math journal page (quietly ask a classmate at that same rotation) or if they are confused about how to play a game.
Good luck with your own math workshop!
-Beth