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Thursday, January 1, 2015

Guided Math in detail!

Well, first of all, let me say Happy New Year!!!!  I hope y'all had a safe New Year's Eve- I was cozy under a blanket watching the second Hobbit movie: exciting, I know!!

I also hope y'all have had an enjoyable Christmas break!  I know I have!!!  Lots of fun family time and lots of Netflix and naps as well!  I'm almost 7 months pregnant now, so it's been nice to relax and spend quality time with my husband and my family.  We have been working on the baby's room (and when I say we, I mean mostly my husband) and everything's still all over the place, which is making us both a little crazy!!  We're making good progress though and are taking advantage of the last few days of break to get it as close to finished as possible!

I wanted to share a little about how I use Guided Math in my classroom.  I've been meaning to do a blog post about this for a long time, but just haven't gotten around to it until now!

I love Guided Math and have been using some form of it for about 7 years now.  When I first arrived at my current school, we taught math in Whole Group only and used our giant student workbooks as our pacing guide.  It was miserable trying to run from desk to desk to make sure that everyone was on the correct page and this was before I had a document camera and projector installed in my classroom!  I remember saying, "Ok, find blue number two," and then going all around to make sure my little sweet first graders were actually on blue number two.  Whew!

Then came Guided Math (and eventually a projector!) and everything changed.  I finally felt like I was actually teaching math to each and every one of my students.  I introduced Math Centers (Workstations) and they LOVED them!!  There is so much learning going on and they just think they are playing math games!  Math is now my favorite part of the day, hands down.

Please feel free to leave me any comments or questions you have in the comments section of this post.  I hope this gives you insight about how wonderful Math time can be in any classroom and I really hope you find something helpful!








*edited to add more detail about my Math Journal time-

I love using the 4 box system.  It's really easy for the kids to get used to as a daily routine.  At the beginning of the year, I introduce just the first two boxes.  We do them together each day and then I give them time to practice some math workstation games.  As the days go on, I add the third box and start to leave blanks in the first two boxes.  Then we add the fourth box and eventually build up to them doing the entire thing independently.  Once they get going, it is SILENT during that time and I love it!  :)

I have always done handwritten journals, but I recently started making them on my computer and trying to get 5 at a time done for the upcoming week.  I just print and post that copy on the document camera and they do the work in their Math Journal spiral notebook.  They come show me when they are done and I quickly check for any major errors.  Then they go to their workstation and we check their journal together after I'm done pulling groups.  Here are some more pictures-



















14 comments:

  1. I've been teaching guided math for a while now too! It's one of my favorite times of the day!! I always love reading how others do it to get new ideas! I LOVE the page protector idea! It's such an easy way to keep track without wasting paper! I also like your flower lei! I tried the light from the dollar store thing...and I got so tired of messing with it because well...it was cheap and didn't always work right! I'd like to know more about your math journal. Do the kids get a copy of something everyday or is it put on your projector. This seems like a great idea but we are so limited on our copies! Thanks for sharing!!

    Rachel
    A Tall Drink of Water

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    1. Hi Rachel! Yes, the flower lei is GREAT! Over the years, I've heard many kids say "Oh, wait she has on her necklace!" when they start to walk over to my table. It's great!

      I put the daily journal on the projector and they copy it into their Math Journal spiral notebook. I've always done the 4 box system and it is great. I used to just do handwritten, but this year I've started creating 5, a week at a time, on the computer and then just printing them out. It's just one copy a day, the kids do all the work in their spirals!! I introduce it slowly at the beginning of the year and we might just do the first two boxes together and then learn a new math game for awhile, before they start doing the whole thing independently. Hope that helps!! Feel free to email me at KTPonTPT@gmail.com if you have any more questions!!

      Katie :)

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    2. I edited the post to add more pictures and info about the Math Journals!! Hope you see this! :)

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  2. This may sound silly but I can't visualise how you have mixed ability and same ability groups on the go at the same time. I am always seeking ways to improve my group rotations and maths lesson in general. Could you clarify your schedule and what each group do at certain points in the time a bit more? If you don't mind! Lol thank you for the great ideas.

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    1. Hi Clair!! Nothing is silly- I'm glad you asked!!

      The mixed ability groups are at their tables. They are doing math journals and math centers together at their tables. I want them mixed ability there so that my struggling kiddos have help if they need it and it's good for the above level kiddos to be "leaders" and "helpers" during that time. Also, with a mixed ability group, there's a pretty good chance that someone at the table remembers the instructions to each game or can help each other with journals, so that they don't have to come to me. I'm at my back table pulling same ability groups. I call their names and they come to my table from wherever they are in the journal/workstation process. Since they are seated in mixed ability, I'm never calling a whole table at a time or leaving one kid there by themselves to struggle or not have a partner for the activities. Does that make sense? I am more than happy to answer more questions here or if you email me at KTPonTPT@gmail.com. It takes a bit to wrap your head around a new system and you really need to try it out and really build on and practice the routine before it will run as smoothly as it does in my room now. It takes time, but it's great now!!!

      Katie :)

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    2. That was my question also, thanks for clarifying!

      Juliette

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    3. The group that you are working with that have the same ability, do they get to do the workstation that they are being pulled out of. Or do they skip it for that day? How do you do so they do not miss out on anything?

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  3. What a great post! I've been interested in Guided Math, and your post is encouraging me to give it a try!

    Rachel
    Third Grade Cupcakes

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    1. Yay!! That's so great!! Hope you love it as much as I do!!

      Katie :)

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  4. Hi Katie,
    I love the details of this post! It sounds like you are really dedicated to teaching math!

    Tara
    The Math Maniac

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    1. I used to not really like teaching Math and now it's my favorite part of the day!!

      Katie :)

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  5. Oh my goodness! You have your firsties working with such large numbers! Impressive!!

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    1. Hey Heather!! I actually moved up to 2nd grade this year, sorry about the confusion!! I used this exact same system with my firsties, though, and they loved it!!

      Katie :)

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    2. Ahhh...got it :) I'm new to your blog, can you tell?? Hahaha!

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