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with special thanks to Christopher Danielson and his Which One Doesn’t Belong - A Shapes Book.

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with special thanks to Christopher Danielson and his Which One Doesn’t Belong - A Shapes Book.

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When you think about teaching math to your students, do you cringe or get excited? Honestly, I used to cringe when my math block would roll around every day. It was the worst time of my day, yet I LOVED math... I just didn't love teaching it.

Picture this... I am standing up in the front of my classroom teaching a math lesson on my Smartboard with my students seated in front of me for almost 30 minutes. I expect them to sit, listen, attend, and learn for 30 minutes straight... maybe more. Then I expect them to practice the skill that I just taught them, which would require an additional 15-20 minutes of my littles sitting at their desks.

What in the world was I thinking for all of these years? This is virtually impossible. My little 2nd graders should not be expected to sit in their seats for almost an hour, yet this is how I taught math for many years along with thousands of other teachers throughout the country. Then four years ago I had an epiphany! I have been teaching my students how to read during my small guided reading groups every day since I started teaching. Why in the world didn't I think about doing this for math? And suddenly, all of my math issues faded away! I was on a mission to completely transform my math block to ACTUALLY meet the needs of ALL of my students... and to help me stay sane.

I researched and read, and then read and researched some more. A week later, my math block was transformed from a stressful daily event into a FUN, INVIGORATING, EXCITING, and RIGOROUS hour of learning!

Guided Math was the answer to my prayers!

I have seen huge improvements in my students' math assessment scores over the past few years and I am SURE it is because I am instructing each of my students on their level. I am ensuring that I enrich the students that would benefit from a challenge and truly support my little struggling learners that need additional time learning specific skills. Not only have their scores increased, but the level of motivation and student engagement was incredible! I was hooked.

If you have ever thought about implementing Guided Math, here is your chance. I am going to share with you each of the components of Guided Math and how you can quickly get it up and running in your classroom in no time at all!

There are basically 9 main components of Guided Math. If you would like to get Guided Math up and running in your classroom, you will need to focus on these components:

Now - let's get down to the nitty gritty and learn about each component!

A well-organized classroom = a well-organized math block! It is extremely important to have all of your math materials and manipulatives organized and labeled so that the students know exactly where to find what they need and where to put it back. Everything in my classroom has a "home" and my kiddos know that all of our materials always go "home" when they are done with them.

I have a 10-drawer cart for my Spin-Its Math Stations.Each of my Spin-Its Math Stations is inside of a clear snap-close document holder. There is a number on each document holder that matches the number on the drawer cart.

On top of the drawer-cart is a small bin that houses all of my Math Journal Word Problems for the unit of study that we are currently working on.

There is a white bin on top of my manipulatives shelf that houses all of my students ½ cut composition notebooks. My students glue their Math Journal Word Problems in these ½ cut composition notebooks.

All of my math manipulatives are stored in covered bins and are clearly labeled.

My Fact Fluency materials are stored in the small white Steralite drawers. I house my Hot Dots, my Beat the Clocks, and my Fact Fluency Math Muscles folders.

Near my desk, I keep a basket filled with all of the different materials that I need for my small group math instruction. I have dry-erase boards, markers and erasers, tons of clear sheet protectors for my Lesson Workmats, small baskets for manipulatives, pencils, and my bell for transitions.

Flexible grouping is a very important part of your Guided Math instruction.

Prior to starting a new unit of study in math, I pre-assess my students on the content we are going to be learning and what learning outcomes I have for the unit as a whole. My 2nd Grade Common Core Assessments are short and quick. They are usually only about 5-10 questions. Based on these pre-assessments, I will create my Guided Math Groups for the unit.

This is a pretty powerful part of Guided Math, because your students move around from group to group throughout the year. You will be surprised by what your students know prior to beginning your unit of study. I use a dry-erase marker on my Guided Math Rotations Board group cards to organize my students into my 3 or 4 groups. Ideally, your Guided Math groups should have no more than 6 students in each group.

My Guided Math Rotations last between 15-20 minutes. When I had 4 rotations they were only 15 minutes because I only had a little over an hour for my math block. This past year I only had 3 rotations and each rotation lasted between 15-20 minutes long. My rotations are called Teacher Feature (small group instruction), Elation Stations (Math Stations), and Workbook Nook (Independent Activity). In past years I have used Tech Time (ipads) and Fact Fluency (fluency practice) as rotations as well. These rotations are part of my Guided Math/Math Workshop Rotations Board.

My Advanced students always start at Workbook Nook. They will be working on an independent activity from the prior day's lesson (Yes, I promise.. they can do it!)

My Strategic Intervention group always starts at Teacher Feature for their daily small group instruction. My On-Level group begins their math block at Math Stations. In 20 minutes, I ring my doorbell and my students transition to the next round. (Please see the rotation board picture above.) I use a doorbell that plugs into an outlet for my chime. We rotate three times during my math block. I will get to see all of my groups each day!

Remember I told you that I used to cringe when I had to teach math? Well, that's because I was teaching math ONLY through whole group instruction! That was the problem. There was no true differentiation because I was teaching whole group.

When I am first introducing a new unit of study I will do a whole group lesson and read a mentor-text that aligns to the unit. We also make an anchor chart to start the unit and add to it as we progress through the unit. The only other time I use whole group instruction is when we are playing a scoot game or partner games. Sometimes we do a Wrap-It-Up session where we meet on the carpet after our rotations are over and we share a strategy we used during Math Stations or during independent work time. I also ask a few students to sum up what we learned during our small group instruction time.

It's important to make Guided Math work for you and for your students. Be creative and do what you feel is necessary to help meet the needs of all of your students.

My Small Group Instruction takes place every day. I meet with each group for 15-20 minutes. I always start with my Strategic Intervention group. All of my small group lessons revolve around one of my Guided Practice Workmats that is directly correlated to the skill that we are working on. All of my workmats are put in clear page-protectors and my students use dry-erase markers and math manipulatives on top of the Guided Practice Workmats. Every single lesson I teach has a workmat that I use during small group instruction. You can see my 2nd Grade Guided Math Yearlong Bundle to check out all of my workmats/lessons/activities for each unit. I always put the math manipulatives that we are working with in small baskets so that my teacher table stays organized and neat while I am guiding the lesson and the students are working. Each of my three groups are differentiated.

After my students meet with me at Teacher Feature for their small group lesson, they will rotate to the next round called Workbook Nook. This is the rotation where they work on an independent activity based on the lesson I just taught in small groups. Almost all of the activities that my students complete during Workbook Nook are Interactive Notebook activities.My students LOVE doing Interactive Notebook activities because they are active while they are working. They are cutting, gluing, coloring (great for fine motor skills) and thinking. They are completely engaged and they always say how much fun they have at Workbook Nook. At the end of my small group lesson, I give instructions on what they are expected to do during Workbook Nook. I give them their activity, they go to the math manipulatives station to get the materials that they need and they can go anywhere in the room they would like to work.

The main reason that Guided Math runs so smoothly in my classroom is due to one thing - CONSISTENCY! My independent activities are consistent so they always know what to expect and how to accomplish it. My small group work is consistent. They always know what to expect during a lesson because my expectations and lessons are consistent. I no longer have to review directions by mid-October because they understand and know what is expected and what they have to do because everything they do is CONSISTENT.

Pro Tip: One question I get ALL THEM TIME is how do you correct all of their work? Take a look at the small picture on the bottom right above... do you see the notebooks all stacked up and open to the page they just did? That's the answer! When my students finish their independent work, math station, or math journals, they stack them up in a pile opened to the page they just completed. It takes me less than ten minutes to check all of their work because each book is already opened to the page and they are stacked up. This saves me hours of time each week!

Remember when I said CONSISTENCY IS KEY to Guided Math Success? Well... That is 100% true especially when your students are working on Math Stations. How many times have you put out Math Stations or Centers and your students constantly come up to you with question after question, even after you explained the directions? Yep... I know the answer is A LOT! There is a solution to this, though. It's all about CONSISTENCY. ALL of my Math Stations are similar. The content is different and the learning targets are different, but the process is the same.

I have created a brand new line of Math Stations called SPIN-ITS Math Stations: Every single math station is based on a spinner activity.

Not only do the students LOVE them, but there are ZERO QUESTIONS about how the stations are completed, what they have to do, what is expected, nothing... no questions at all due to CONSISTENCY.

One more important aspect to Math Stations is that EVERY math station that you have out during a unit is REVIEW! Never add new material into your math stations until you have FINISHED teaching that unit. They are not meant for students to practice new material. Expecting students to complete new material during their math station rotation will cause confusion and chaos in your classroom because the students will be constantly asking questions and interrupting your small group lesson. Math Stations and Math Journals are ALWAYS REVIEW from the prior unit you taught.

Just remember... the most important aspect to smooth running math stations is Consistency and Review!

When my students are in Workbook Nook (independent work) or Math Stations, they have about 15-20 minutes to finish their activity. Many times they finish their work prior to the end of the rotation, so it is important that the students have additional activities to fill the rest of the rotation time. One of the activities that I expect my students complete every day is a Math Journal. I organize my math journals in file folders (that I cut down). I number the file folders from 1-15 and I store all of the file folders in a cute little chevron box that sits on top of my Math Stations Cart. When they are ready to complete a Math Journal, they get their ½ cut composition notebook and the next Math Journal prompt they have to do and work on it at their desk. When they have completed the math journal, they leave their book opened to the page and they place on a stool next to my desk (see the picture above). This cuts down tremendously on the amount of time it takes me to correct their journals. If they make a mistake on their math journal, I add a post-it note to the page and put it back on their desk. The next morning when they come in, they know that they have to correct their journal if they see it on their desk.

Pro Tip: The question that I get asked most often is, "What do you do for your struggling learners that never get to Math Journals?" This is a great question - we all know that this happens in our classrooms. About two times per week, I will call over some of my struggling learners that I know have not been able to complete a math journal that week and we will work on a few together during morning work time. This allows me to do a short mini-lesson on the problem we are working on and gives me the opportunity to see if I have to do any re-teaching on a particular skill during small group instruction.

Another activity that I expect my students to work on when they complete their Workbook Nook work or Math Stations work is to practice their Fact Fluency. This year I am SUPER EXCITED because I will be utilizing my brand new resource called Fact Fluency Math Muscles. These Fact Fluency Trifolds will help my students master their addition facts while still having fun. Each trifold has 5 fluency assessments inside. There are either 20 or 40 facts in each of the Fact Fluency Trifolds.

When they complete one of the trifolds they will color in their data-tracking sheet on the Ring-the-Bell carnival game. All of their work will be put in file folders to be kept neat and organized.

I know that is a lot of information to digest. However, if you would like to dive in a little more deeply into Guided Math, please join me for one of my FREE ONLINE Guided Math Webinars! Click the image below to register for one of my upcoming webinars.

Thanks so much and I hope you get excited about implementing Guided Math in your classroom this year!

***

Anna DiGilio is the Teacher-Author behind the blog, Simply Skilled in Second and has been a classroom teacher for 23 years. Anna has a passion for creating engaging, interactive, and rigorous resources for primary educators. She loves creating resources for 2 nd-4 th grade teachers. She loves sharing her teaching ideas, resources, and teacher tips and tricks in her TpT store, and on her blog Simply Skilled in Second, Facebook page, Instagram, and on Pinterest.

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How to Easily Implement Guided Math | The TpT Blog

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When you think about teaching math to your students, do you cringe or get excited? Honestly, I used to cringe when my math block would roll around every day. It was the worst time of my day, yet I LOVED math... I just didn't love teaching it. Picture this...

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social topics - self-esteem & self-reliance

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juvenile nonfiction / social topics / self-esteem & self-reliance

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juvenile fiction / social themes / new experience

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From the same author and illustrator as the #1 nationally best-selling What Do You Do With an Idea? comes a new book to encourage you to look closely at problems and discover the possibilities they can hold. This is the story of a persistent problem and the child who isn't so sure what to make of...

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Figure This! Math Challenges for Families - Challenge Index

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Home · Take a Challenge · Challenge Index · Math Index · Contact Us · About Technical Requirements · Printing the Challenges · Family Corner · Teacher Corner PowerPoint Presentation · Contact Us!

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Though Daily 5 is a flexible framework, certain elements are essential to its integrity and success. These elements fit into four stages: Understand, Prepare, Teach, and Support. The self-assessment is not intended to be used for evaluative purposes, but as a tool to help you assess your knowledge and application of each element and its supporting behaviors.

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Subitizing!

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Steve Wyborney's Blog: I'm on a Learning Mission.

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Welcome to Splat! You are only moments away from a VERY POWERFUL, highly interactive number sense strategy that can be used at any grade level!

This post includes 50 (fifty!) free, downloadable PowerPoint math lessons!

Watch the video, download some (or all) of the lessons, and experience what happens when you unleash this resource in your classroom!

I've been excited to click the Publish button on this post for several weeks! It's time!
UPDATE: The Fraction Splat! Series (with 20 more downloadable lessons) is now available!
After reading this blog post, take a look at THE 12 MOST POPULAR MATH STRATEGIES AND DOWNLOADS ON THIS BLOG.

Splat Through 10
How many dots are under the Splat?

Splat Through 20
How many dots are under the Splat?

Multiple Splats
(Note: Splats that are the same color must cover the same number.)
Splat 3.1 - multiple splats Splat 3.2 - multiple splats Splat 3.3 - multiple splats Splat 3.4 - multiple splats Splat 3.5 - multiple splats
Instant Multiple Splat
(Note: An additional feature of this level is the opportunity to ask, "What could the total be?")

Splat 4.1 - Instant Multiple Splats Splat 4.2 - Instant Multiple Splats Splat 4.3 - Instant Multiple Splats Splat 4.4 - Instant Multiple Splats Splat 4.5 - Instant Multiple Splats
2-Color Splat
(Splats of different colors must have different values.)

Splat 5.1 2-color Splat Splat 5.2 2-color Splat Splat 5.3 2-color Splat Splat 5.4 2-color Splat Splat 5.5 2-color Splat Splat 6.2 Instant 2-color Splat Splat 6.3 Instant 2-color Splat Splat 6.4 Instant 2-color Splat Splat 6.5 Instant 2-color Splat
Instant 2-Variable Splat
(Splats of different colors must have different values. Splats of the same color must have the same value.)
Splat 7.1 Instant 2-variable Splat Splat 7.2 Instant 2-variable Splat Splat 7.3 Instant 2-variable Splat Splat 7.4 Instant 2-variable Splat Splat 7.5 Instant 2-variable Splat
Number Splat
(Note: Only the numbers circled on the screen may be used.)
Splat 8.1 - Number Splat Splat 8.2 - Number Splat Splat 8.3 - Number Splat Splat 8.4 - Number Splat Splat 8.5 - Number Splat Splat 9.1 - Instant Number Splat Splat 9.2 - Instant Number Splat Splat 9.3 - Instant Number Splat Splat 9.4 - Instant Number Splat Splat 9.5 - Instant Number Splat
Instant Number Splat with 2 Variables
(Note: Only the numbers circled on the screen may be used, and Splats of different colors must have different values.)
Splat 10.1 - Instant 2-Variable Number Splat Splat 10.2 - Instant 2-Variable Number Splat Splat 10.3 - Instant 2-Variable Number Splat Splat 10.4 - Instant 2-Variable Number Splat Splat 10.5 - Instant 2-Variable Number Splat
NOTE: I wrote each of these lessons using PowerPoint, so I recommend playing them in PowerPoint. If you do not have PowerPoint, you may want to download the PowerPoint viewer so that you can play the lessons.

UPDATE: The Fraction Splat! Series (with 20 more downloadable lessons) is now available!
Other Posts and Resources Which May Be of Interest Tiled Area Questions The Maze Hundreds Chart
Introducing Cube Connectors
Provide Massive Space to Notice
Primary Tile Questions
3 Powerful Tile Strategies (and 40 new downloadable pages)
Please take a moment to subscribe to the blog so you'll be notified each time new resources are posted!

I would treasure hearing about your experiences using Splat! to promote number sense in your classroom!

All my best,
Steve

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Splat! - Steve Wyborney's Blog: I'm on a Learning Mission.

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Welcome to Splat! You are only moments away from a VERY POWERFUL, highly interactive number sense strategy that can be used at any grade level!

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Daily numbersense

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*Teaching phonics to early learners instead of sight word memorization

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The Importance of Phonics in Decoding

Knowing the Secrets empowers kids to decode approximately 95% of the most commonly memorized sight words by applying what they know about letter behavior to predict their most likely sounds.

This study, however, may seem of little value to those teaching without the Secrets in early grade classrooms, where overreliance on sight words is far too frequent, due to early learners' gross lack of skills in comparison to the required text level assessments. To compensate, beginning readers must memorize hundreds of sight words before the end of second grade, often forcing teachers to prioritize teaching the "reading" over teaching the reader.

Beginning grade learners own so little of the alphabetic code that it's virtually impossible for them to make sense of the many different sounds that letters make when they come together in words. To compensate, teachers will often rely on the rote memorization of sight words to help students "read."

Rote memorization is not only developmentally inappropriate for early grade learners, but requires a vast amount of instructional time, energy and resources (assistant and volunteer time, activities, material, etc.) It is also far from ideal from a brain based learning perspective.

The Brain On Sight Words

"Quite apart from anything the teacher does... the student, being human, is a pattern finder, and a pattern maker..." - Dr. David Bronson

The brain is often referred to as the ultimate pattern-making machine, seeking and storing memories based on patterns, or repeated relationships between ideas. Simply put, patterning is the brain's way of doing things... and Secret Stories® takes full advantage of this.

Secret Stories® feeds the brain's natural inclination to seek patterns when learning to read by aligning patterns of letter behavior to patterns of kid behavior. Developmentally, it is much easier for very young learners to pattern-out (i.e. make sense of) "behaviors" than abstract phonics patterns. Knowing the "secrets" about letters' behavior allows beginning and struggling readers to easily predict their most and next most likely sounds in unknown words, just as they would the behavior of their friends and classmates.

Secret Stories® "feeds" the brain's hunger for patterns when learning to read.

Why Sight Words Don't Always Work

While many of the listed pre-primer and primer words are easily decodable with letters making sounds that beginning readers would expect, those that are highlighted contain Secrets, which when taught traditionally as phonics "rules" span three to four grade level years to learn. This is far too long to make learners wait for the whole code (Allington, 2012).
"Typically, the first 100 high frequency aren't mastered by most kids until Thanksgiving or so of first grade... and that is with considerable effort." -Dr.Tim Shanahan
For example, some children do not even have a concept of a word or understanding of the word boundaries in print and how these map to letters, and yet they are memorizing letter sequences in "sight words."

Additionally, a great deal of sight word instruction occurs before children even have a concept of how letters actually come together to make words. Instructional emphasis at the earliest grade levels is on memorizing random letter sequences, rather than learning how to decode easily decodable text. Before beginning learners even understand the alphabetic principle they are "calling" words. Without a concept of word or alphabetic insight, children will have the mistaken impression that words are unsystematic, making learning not only inefficient (Duke, 2016), but in total opposition with how our brains learn best, which is patterning.

Additionally, rote memorization requires brain storage, which is not limitless. In deciding what to remember, our brains ask "Do I need this?... Does it make sense?" If not, the information is relegated to the "use it or lose it" system, for which every learner has a unique threshold for how many times they must use a skill so as not to lose it.

Most often, it is the learners who need the most "use-it" time who get the least, marking the beginning of what quickly emerges as an "un-level playing field" for struggling readers. Kids who can seem to be learning to read can suddenly hit a wall in second grade or third grade when the brain's finite storage for memorized words runs out. But kids who know the Secrets don't have to memorize sight words. They can just read them.

The "prize" for memorizing a sight word is ONE word.

The prize for learning a Secret is HUNDREDS!

Kids who know the Secrets have early access to high leverage phonics skills that would otherwise take years to acquire. Underscoring the traditionally slow pace of phonics skill introduction in the reading series (or adopted phonics program) with Secret Stories® saves teachers and students countless hours of instructional time, allowing them to get twice as far in half the time, and with half the effort.

Wanna Know the "Secret" for Making Sight Words Stick?

Don't Memorize them....just READ Them!

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Sight Words vs Phonics | The Secret Stories

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Knowing the Secrets empowers kids to decode approximately 95% of the most commonly memorized sight words by applying what they know about letter behavior to predict their most likely sounds.

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literacy games for ipads

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Boom Learning | Empowering teachers and students

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Boom Cards transform the classroom into an interactive, gamified learning experience with data to track progress and identify learning gaps.

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For teaching reading - has a scope and sequence
- blends and diagraphs
- vowel combinations
- etc

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﻿The Road to Reading is a Tier II intervention program designed for students in Grades K-5 who have fallen behind in the basic reading skills normally taught in Grades K-2. Based on Common Core and state standards, the program focuses on 12 Mastery Objectives, the main building blocks of the phonetic structure of the English language. A teacher or aide works with students in small groups of 2-4 to master these key objectives, as well as objectives in multiple focus areas, or Program Strands. The Road to Reading can be used as a stand-alone intervention program, or to supplement and support a basal series. The Scope and Sequence chart allows the tutor to tailor instruction to the needs of each individual child.

The Road to Reading approach is based on best practices and well-accepted research into the most developmentally appropriate, effective methods for teaching basic skills to struggling learners. The systematic, sequential, hands-on approach used in the program scaffolds learning, so each lesson and skill builds on those previously mastered. Diagnostic testing places students in the correct place in the continuum, while unit mastery tests ensure that they have mastered each skill before they advance to the next. Observational assessment points within the lessons allow the tutor to discover and work on not-yet-mastered precursor skills that would otherwise hamper achievement.

Designed to be easy to use by aides or teachers, each detailed lesson offers objectives, complete instructions, and an illustration of the activity.
A full Resource Kit of manipulatives, included with the program, provides hands-on materials for up to 4 students.

To try the program yourself, download sample lessons.

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﻿The Road to Reading is a Tier II intervention program designed for students in Grades K-5 who have fallen behind in the basic reading skills normally taught in Grades K-2. Based on Common Core and state standards, the program focuses on 12 Mastery Objectives, the main building blocks of the phonetic structure of the English language.

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coding

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Scratch is a free programming language and online community where you can create your own interactive stories, games, and animations.

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Beanie Baby Reading strategies
- Eagle Eye
- Lips the Fish
- Stretchy Snake
- Chunky Monkey
- Tryin Lion
- Brainy Bee
- Helpful Kangaroo
- Skippy Frog
- Flippy Dolphin
- Endie Elephant
- Word List Ladybug

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Phonics Program - $150
Has a scope and sequence, lesson plans, etc.

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From Sounds to Spelling is a Science of Reading based phonics program for K-2 that provides explicit instruction in phonics and phonological awareness.

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Daily 5 rotation format - individual free flowing stations, not teacher monitored.

Stations are specific and intentional to the needs of the students.
Kids can go back and forth between between stations at their own time.
Looks similar to explorations. No time limits on stations.

Teacher "scoops a group" to do direct intervention/guided reading during this.

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Fluency Tutor® for Google™ helps busy teachers bring struggling readers up to speed.

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HearBuilder software builds following directions, phonemic awareness, sequencing, and auditory memory skills.