Book Talk - Math Station Fun!

If you are anything like me then you are always thinking of ways you can be better in the classroom. I always strive to get better and better and I am doing just that... but, I know I can do eveeennnn better!! So, I decided for the month of June I wanted to focus on my math block (because in July I will be focusing on my wedding)--:) -- (with some school thrown in there I'm sure)!!

I purchased, "Math Work Stations" by: Debbie Diller. 

I have not yet read the whole book but woah man... There is a lot I can do to improve math time in my classroom!

I wanted to share some fun ideas that I found in the book and will be using this year!

In this book it makes it very clear that math work stations need to be activities that the students already know how to do--they can practice skills you have already taught them using like activities. I am one that changes the math stations every single week. That's a whole lot of laminating and cutting... let me tell you! Now, they learn a lot from these activities and I won't be totally disregarding them but!... I will be implementing activities we do in whole class into their math work stations.

Example: In the book, the teacher read a math story, they completed a pattern activity as a whole class and practiced drawing patterns. All of those parts were placed into a station tub. I love how the one tub will have so many different components to keep the students engaged.

Another component of it is the "I can" mat. This mat give students a series of activities to complete in ONE tub... it's a way of extending their thinking and taking the materials further and further. 

I made this one up really fast to give you an idea of how it provides students with an order of activities to complete within the station time.

This 'I can' mat is placed at each math station and the purpose of it is to extend thinking and get rid of the 'I'M DONEEEEEEEEEE' voice. (Ya like how I extended that?--ha ha you know how it goes!) It can be written on a piece of paper and slid into a page protector--it doesn't need to be typed up and all prettified... sometimes we just don't have the time for that.

The book also talks about how the math work stations begin with a whole group lesson and then breaking off into math work stations for 30-40 minutes. The students work with a partner and they are assigned two math tubs each day that are numbered. There are two rotations and all students go to their first rotation and the teacher pulls back students for remediation or enrichment. Students stay at their station for 15 minutes and then everyone switches at the same time. The teacher puts his or her name on the station board next to the students he or she meets and that takes place of a station--I love that!!

This is what a section of the math workshop rotation chart would look like. You would have two students names or pictures beside one another. That means the students will be working with each other on each station. I LOVE when students work in partners--- we want them to talk about their learning so don't make your room super quiet or else their poor little brains will not be able to extend their thinking as much. Just like adults; students need to talk things out in order to learn something--let them! (my rant) ha ha.

Then, beside their pictures place number cards. These number cards will correlate to the numbers on your bins. So, this set of students will first grab bin #1 and then when we switch.

Here is the kind of bins I am wanting to get--picture snatcher right here--this is from really goof stuff.

These bins have labels for the kind of activities. I don't think I will do that because I want them to be able to be changed into different kinds of activities. But, I do like the numbers and the bins!

Alrighty.. there is so much more I could share but I think it's good to stop here! I am off to read some more and I will be back next week with even more information for you! 

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Have a Happy Tuesday and don't forget to check out other great books at Deanna's linky!