Math Workshop Monday Pt. 1

I am not ashamed to admit that it took me several trials and errors to figure out the best way to teach math to my little friends. Having spent the last three years in 4th grade, 1st grade math was a big change. Especially given the level my kiddos were at at the beginning of the year.... it was a challenge. I can happily say that we are now rocking it out every day in math and I couldn't be happier with their behavior and progress. This is how we do math in my 1st grade classroom.

15 Minutes- Mini Lesson
We meet together in front of the smart board and I do a quick lesson (no more than 5 minutes) about what we are learning. We then do a practice problem or two together (again, no more than 5 minutes). For example, when talking about numbers to 40, I introduced them to numbers 11-20, we looked at each number in a ten frame and how each number is ____ more than 10. We made a few number bonds demonstrating this concept. Last, we typically play a quick class game or listen to a song/animated module to further explain the concept. The game can be hands on, a quick review, or a game on the smart board (like with ABCya). I do this for two reasons;
1) it's super engaging and I often notice the students signing the songs while they are working. On Friday we took our data unit test and almost all the students were singing "1, 2, 3, 4, number 5 shuts the door" while making their tally marks. And guess what?! All of them passed the test!
2. it's interactive- their little minds can't listen for that long. When we are playing a game or singing a song, they don't even know they are learning!

60 minutes - Workshop

There are 4 centers- Computers, Intervention Binders, Fact Fluency, and Math Tubs. The students rotate through each of the 4 centers for 15 minutes EVERY DAY! This ensures consistent practice and growth in all areas. 

COMPUTERS

Computers are very simple. The students log on to Moby Max Math and work through lessons that I have assigned them that align with our unit of study. The wonderful thing about Moby Max is it's grades K-8, so if a student is really struggling with the concept, I can assign them a lower grade level lesson until they understand. Plus I get constant progress monitoring data! SCORE!!!!

FACT FLUENCY

At this time, students are practicing their addition and subtraction facts. The goal is for them to become fluent mathematicians. They have many options here.... 
They may play a game with others in their group- Power Tower, Kaboom, Bingo, and Math Wars are the most popular in our room
They may use manipulative activities like using dominos to add and subtract, hands on number lines, or counters and word problems. 
Some choose to time themselves and continue practicing how fast they can solve the problems. 

Math Tubs

The math tubs contain activities (most of the time hands on) for the students to do to reinforce the concept we talk about during our mini lesson. Sometimes, a math tub may be as simple as a workbook page and some manipulatives. As you can see in the photo above, student's are very engaged. 

Math Binders (Intervention Binders) 

I was beyond excited to find Miss Decarbo's No Prep Intervention Binder. I printed a few, placed them in dry erase sleeves, and placed them by the manipulatives. The kids LOVE them! They are engaged, and have grown so much. The little one in the video above couldn't identify numbers past 19 and was very behind. As you can see he is rocking it OUT! If you don't own this and you teach K-2 you are missing out!!!! No Prep Math Intervention

Thanks for stopping by to read all about how we organize math workshop in our room. Next Monday I will share how things are set up, organized, and scheduled. I will also share what I am doing while the students are rotating through areas.