Math Workshop: Little Extras

Are y'all following the Guided Math book study? It's pretty spectacular! Dana at 3rd Grade Gridiron did an excellent job of hosting Chapter 2- equip with a powerpoint and voice recording! Can we say awesome?!? I wanted to link up with her, and share a few ways I use some of the ideas outlined in the book.

GROUP AREAS
Something mentioned in the book is having areas for whole group, small group, and workshop areas. Here is a visual of how my room is laid out:

The purple is where I do my whole group mini lessons and take my small groups. This part of my room is where we have the large carpet so it works out perfectly. Alongside the wall I have some plastic bins which house math manipulatives, whiteboards, extra pencils and erasers, and any graded work or other things needed for the day.

The yellow is where math station students go. They are next to all the supplies they need and can work either in the desks or on the floor or even the kidney table desk to the left.

The green is where students go who are working on the current event. It's right up next to the board where I might leave examples of what they are to do. Sometimes I will even project directions or reminders using the ELMO.

One of my favorite things about how my room is set up, is that the yellow and green parts are connected to the purple part! This means that students who might need help can sit alongside the carpet and I can quickly check in with them easily.

PROBLEM OF THE DAY/WEEK
This is something new I did this year and enjoyed! I broke mine up into a problem of the week. I did NOT come up with the super cute IPAWS acronym (althought I wish!). I got the idea from proteacher (another addiction of mine!). I believe the original author was Ms. Sanchez who has a super cute I PAWS worksheet too.

 Click HERE for the google doc version.

P - Monday

A - Tuesday

W - Wednesday

S - Thursday

On Fridays I would leave time for students to come up and present how they solved their IPAWS. You can do this by having poster paper up for them to write their responses on, or students could use the board and give a presentation. Lots of different ways! If you have a way you share problems, please do share! I'd love more!

What's the "A" box all about? The A box would contain something like 'draw a picture' 'work backwards' 'act it out'. I teach problem solving strategies, post them in the room, and then students can refer to those to help solve problems. In the A box, they would just write 'draw a picture' or whatever strategy they chose to use. Tuesday's we would discuss what we could use, and students can choose their own when they are able to start doing problem of the week's individually. At the beginning of the year we do these together.

VOCABULARY

I always have vocabulary posted on one of the boards in my room. I'm thinking this year I will retire words around the board or high up towards the ceiling, and make sure current words are actually ON the board for students to see.  That way they'll be up all year long. I always have students copy the vocabulary word I teach into their notebooks as well. We write the word, the definition, then draw a picture. Anyone else have some other suggestions on teaching math vocabulary?

This is an example of what students glue into their notebooks.

MATH JOURNALS

I have students write notes on one side, then flip it over and write math work on the other. In the notes side, we glue in foldables, vocabulary words, write examples. On the math work side students might solve a problem or do a quick write about a closing question I might ask. I think I may just combine it all this year, and have students really take care of what they are writing. I'd also like to put a table of contents in like I do for science. I have been pinning some great notebooks, so you can take a look at what I have found HERE.

I'd like to get better with making math anchor charts this year, and displaying them. I have found so many great ones on pinterest that have been quite inspiring. I've also been pinning lots of math literature as that is one of my FAVORITE ways to get students connected to skill being taught.

I hope you have found some useful ideas today! In my next post I'll go more in depth into what I do for each station (current event, math stations, team meeting) and how I set it all up! Again PLEASE leave any questions or suggestions! There is still so much more I'd like to improve!

Oh! ANNNND! I am going to participate in a new blog completely centered around awesome pinterest pins! There will even be themes at times such as 'back to school' or 'thanksgiving'. How cute does that sound? Come join in on the fun!!