This is going to be a shorter post as we are in the midst of training for a new math curriculum this year. The past several years we have been using Investigations mainly and I was also using EnVisions which was a supplement with Investigations. I really enjoyed the Envisions for Kindergarten but I know that is not a favorite of many and that's okay!
So the way that I run my math block, and I'm hoping I can continue to run it this way with our new curriculum, is I start off with some whole group. I am a teacher who really enjoys whole group teaching. So we will do a whole group lesson which usually consists of a quick review of what we learned before and then introducing the new lesson/game. When we review, we usually do a quick GoNoodle video since it is fun and gets the kids moving a bit before sitting.
Our game might be done in a circle where we pass cards or it might be a whole group game that I teach under the document camera and have kids come up and take turns. Once we do the game or activity (I always call it a game because then it gets the kids more excited to do it) as a whole group, I dismiss the kids back to their tables to play in partners. I have the kids do the game for about 15-20 minutes, about the same time as we do stations. After the activity then the kids will clean up and we move into the math stations. I have 12 tubs of math stations plus Osmo numbers, iPads with math games, and this year I am adding in Tiggly numbers. For math, I group my students by mixed ability so some kids that are a little stronger can help their partner if they are not as strong. I do have my tubs 7-12 with slightly more difficult activities so those that need more of a challenge will have it.
I do pull small groups and we just play math games and work with numbers. One of our favorite math games to do together is Deedee's Math Fluency game. You can get a FREEBIE here.
GoNoodle is great for review as I said but it is also great for assessment as well. I have GoNoodle Plus so I can add my own questions into certain videos and we'll take turns coming up and answering questions.
Another great assessment activity that I have used is a Jeopardy type game that is very Kinder-friendly. It's FREE and you can download that here.
So I hope that answers some questions on how my math block is run. Feel free to comment with any questions!
Monday, July 31, 2017
Friday, July 28, 2017
Stations, Schedule, and Freebie!
Lots to cover, so sorry for the long post.
I know lots of teachers are starting to get ready to head back to school and some are already in their classrooms setting up! I've only been on summer break for about 3 weeks, it was a long year. :)
So because it was a long year, I had to tweak a lot of things. In my last post on stations I mentioned that we would do them before recess and usually had time for 2. Well after about 2 months of doing that and getting frustrated with my Title students missing their stations and time with me, I went back to running our stations after recess. This was a really good choice because it gave me a chance do grab things at recess if needed and also to change the chart if I forgot to do so the day before, which my students were always more than happen to tell me; "we did those stations yesterday!" ha!
Looking through the posts on the Kindergarten group, I can sympathize with those of you that are getting high numbers of students. Our school merged with another school several years ago and since then our numbers have gone from the low 20s to the high 20s and 3 full classes. So I have always had to try and figure out how am I going to accommodate this many little ones while I still pull groups. I am not a person that likes to have 6 kids with me at a table, I have never felt like everyone is progressing with I have this many with me. So I pull 2-4 students at a time; I am fortunate to have an aide with me in the mornings so I can have her pull a group of 4 as well. There are times though when I don't have her and it's me and all 26-28 of my kiddos. So here is my board again:
As Deedee said in her Live video, she keeps the writing, predictable sentences, games, puzzles, stamping, playdoh, poetry, (and probably a few others) consistent throughout the year and the theme just changes. This is the same for me and keeps things really easy from month to month for the kids. I change the station themes out monthly and the activities in the tubs about bi-weekly depending on the activity. In her freebie station cards and also in her Literacy Station Management, she has Word Study A-E. I found that for me, this was not enough and I wanted to stretch a few more out so I could divide the stations up a bit more.
What I do for the Word Study tubs which has worked well for me, I keep Word Study A playdoh all year and change the letters in it as we learn them. From B-H, I put certain things in each tub so that it does stay fairly consistent for the kids. These are not based on their level of reading, just a way for me to keep things organized and consistent for them. So here is how I (try) to keep it set up:
Letter B - beginning sounds, letter matching, ending sound
Letter C - rhyming, syllables
Letter D - blends, digraphs
Letter E - word families
Letter F - CVC words
Letter G - sentences
Letter H - sight words
So for the start of the year, Word Study D-G are closed until we are more ready for those skills. If you have students that are ready for them, then they can be available for them. For all of these tubs I use Deedee's monthly Literacy and Math activities. If you would like to see more of what is in each tub, you can find that post here.
So these are very helpful to have for when I have a class size in the high 20s. Some other stations that I have are:
I know lots of teachers are starting to get ready to head back to school and some are already in their classrooms setting up! I've only been on summer break for about 3 weeks, it was a long year. :)
So because it was a long year, I had to tweak a lot of things. In my last post on stations I mentioned that we would do them before recess and usually had time for 2. Well after about 2 months of doing that and getting frustrated with my Title students missing their stations and time with me, I went back to running our stations after recess. This was a really good choice because it gave me a chance do grab things at recess if needed and also to change the chart if I forgot to do so the day before, which my students were always more than happen to tell me; "we did those stations yesterday!" ha!
Looking through the posts on the Kindergarten group, I can sympathize with those of you that are getting high numbers of students. Our school merged with another school several years ago and since then our numbers have gone from the low 20s to the high 20s and 3 full classes. So I have always had to try and figure out how am I going to accommodate this many little ones while I still pull groups. I am not a person that likes to have 6 kids with me at a table, I have never felt like everyone is progressing with I have this many with me. So I pull 2-4 students at a time; I am fortunate to have an aide with me in the mornings so I can have her pull a group of 4 as well. There are times though when I don't have her and it's me and all 26-28 of my kiddos. So here is my board again:
What I do for the Word Study tubs which has worked well for me, I keep Word Study A playdoh all year and change the letters in it as we learn them. From B-H, I put certain things in each tub so that it does stay fairly consistent for the kids. These are not based on their level of reading, just a way for me to keep things organized and consistent for them. So here is how I (try) to keep it set up:Letter B - beginning sounds, letter matching, ending sound
Letter C - rhyming, syllables
Letter D - blends, digraphs
Letter E - word families
Letter F - CVC words
Letter G - sentences
Letter H - sight words
So for the start of the year, Word Study D-G are closed until we are more ready for those skills. If you have students that are ready for them, then they can be available for them. For all of these tubs I use Deedee's monthly Literacy and Math activities. If you would like to see more of what is in each tub, you can find that post here.
So these are very helpful to have for when I have a class size in the high 20s. Some other stations that I have are:
- Stamping - There are monthly ones I use quite often, but I also use the Stamping Phonics Beg. Sound, which is wonderful for our weekly letters and for those that continue to need it all year.
- Write the Room - I use Deedee's but I also use Stef Swanson for words, Elizabeth Hall's
- Writing
- Pocket Chart (using the Predictable Sentences)
- Puzzles - these can be any fun puzzles you find, this station is more of a Friday fun one or just if I need to assess.
- Games
- Library
- Poetry
- Listening
- Laptops
- iPads (I am fortunate to have a set of 7 iPads so I use
- 2 for Tiggly
- 2 for Osmo
- 2 for buddy reading
- LeapFrog - which over the years I have gotten grants to buy the pens and books, and also spent my own money on them as well. I have had 8 in the past but now I have 6.
So those are all of my stations; I did not totally realize how many I have until I wrote them all down! Goodness! But like I said, I like choices. :) I don't keep track of which stations I have kids do. I just move them down for the groups and change cards out if needed.
I also wanted to share my schedule. I am always looking at people's schedules and with our school it is a little difficult because we do have 3 recesses; yes it's great so the kids can get out and play, but then we are WORKING when we are in class so I can make sure they are ready for 1st grade. As a teacher it can be a little stressful but we have made it work. So here was my schedule for the last part of the year. You can click on the top image to see it bigger.
So I hope that is helpful. If you did not download the Word Study cards, you can HERE
I am also all about re-using things so here are some Exit Tickets you can print on bright paper, laminate, and ask any question you would like kids to answer and write down with Expo pens. You ca download those HERE
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