Math Groups 2015

Hey Guys! This summer I presented a professional development on my math groups for my county. Some of my sweet friends on Instagram (@theelementarydarling) have asked me to post my math group information on my blog! Here it is, all million words of it. It can be hard to follow, and you have to remember that this was a full day professional development where I worked with teachers who taught Pre-K all the way to 6th grade! I had a blast, and had a fabulous group of educators to work with! I am going to try and walk you through everything. If you have any questions, leave me a comment and I will get back to you!

For the professional development, I wanted teachers to take away their OWN way of implementing math groups in their classroom. I also wanted to show them how I use NWEA MAP scores and goals to create my math groups. Teaching first grade, we do not have to take the Georgia Milestones test, so this is our main assessment to guide guided math groups along with classroom assessments.

Here is a general math block schedule.

For my personal math block, I start with an opener, move on to the whole group activity (which is always hands on) and then we have two 20 minute groups. Every day the students check off which group they will visit.

Their teacher time group is scheduled so they know what day they go and if they go first group or second. I also write their technology time on the board too. My kids have iPads, so they get free time and then they also have to create on the ipads as well. Before I had ipads, the kids used the computers and I had a schedule for them to use the computers so there were no arguments.

Here is how I organize the groups colors. Each groups math by myself is in the color folders, colored ziploc bags, and colored baskets. (Baskets are from Really Good Stuff, folders are from amazon, and colored ziploc bags are from Walmart)

During Teacher Time, I work on a specific portion of the MAP test. I go into the Learning Continuum and pinpoint what I want them to work on. That is how I group the students, and that is also how I differentiate. Some students may know a lot about money, while others are just beginning. It shows my administrators how I differentiate easily as well.

My kiddos love teacher time. They complete many different activities including working in their journal, hands on activities, and technology. This is the time for remediation and acceleration!

During Math with a partner, students work with a partner of their choice and complete any activities. The students do not have to work with someone in their group color. I had that question during my PD session. I think they should be able to work with anyone. They meet on their sit spots to choose their partner. Math with a partner activities are always review!

For Math with Technology, the students create products and also have some free time.This is the hardest one if you don’t have ipads. You can make it work with computers, you just may have to have a schedule and less time with technology.

Math by myself is often differentiated. Sometimes it is not, and I take a class grade on the activity. Sometimes it is differentiated interactive journals or worksheets. (Perimeter cone by Step into Second Grade, Mystery Place Value by Cara Carroll, and Letter name activity by Jennifer Oyler) You can really do anything the kids need here. 🙂

Writing about Math is something I do with my advanced groups. I also think it would be great for grades 2-5. We completed those in our journals or on paper.

I hope this helps you guys! I made this planning sheet to help me plan for my groups. Download it here to help you plan!

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