Check In With My Guided Math Program

I have been back in school for 8 weeks now. So, I wanted to take time to evaluate how my Guided Math is going this year.

I moved up to 2nd grade and decided to try a more structured approach to my Guided Math time this year.

The first couple of weeks of school, I was just trying to get my classroom running smoothly- establishing routines, introducing Centers, and getting to know the children.

I introduced Centers one at a time and we practiced them as a whole group at first. Now, I introduce the new Center games on Mondays and they run pretty smoothly. The children have learned what they are expected to do at each Center, where to put any completed papers and what to do when they are finished.

I use these black bins I got from IKEA. I numbered them (1-4).

When the children are working at the Centers and/or Independent work, I am able to work with my Guided Math groups. I have 5 groups that I work with every week. Luckily, I have interns in my room 4 days a week so I sometimes have them working with groups also.

Here are some activities they are working on during Center time.

I have a Low group, 2 Middle groups (They are pretty much on the same level but there are so many of them I put them in 2 groups.), a High group and an Enrichment group. My Enrichment group consists of the 5 students I have who have been identified as Gifted. The group labels are just for me. I don't tell the children which group they are in and I try to act like I randomly call them to work with me. My groups are not a part of the Center rotations. I just call the students as I need to work with them.

I call one of the groups each day. I usually start with the Low group on Monday to review what we did last week and give them a head start on this week. It depends on which students are absent that day. I have had many absences and try to call a group that has everyone there that day and hope the other children come the next day,

I have grouped my students in 2 ways.We are using the iReady Math program on the computers. So, after their first Diagnostic test, I grouped the children according to the skills they need. I also look to see how the students are doing in our Math Curriculum work. Since I have so many interns, I am able to have them also work with groups. The iReady lessons are very scripted and easy to follow so it is easy to have them work on those lessons with groups. I also have the children who need to be challenged more working on projects with my interns. Right now, they are doing a Math project using the Scholastic Book order form.

Right now, I feel like the smallgroups are running smoothly and all the groups are being worked with on skills they need. It will be more challengng when I don't have interns 4 days a week, which will be in a couple of months.

Next, I want to work on my record keeping. I have the groups listed on my Weekly Lesson Plans, but I want to include the lessons and my observations for each group in my Guided Math binder.

Monday Made It

Fall Tray

I recently bought this wooden tray for $5 from Walmart. It was unfinished and I painted it turquoise to match the colors in my house.

However, when I put out my fall decorations, it didn't match.

So, I lightly glued on black burlap and orange ribbon around the outside of the tray.

Photo Collage

I got this wooden tray/frame from Hobby Lobby over the Summer.

Previously, I made a collage with pictures of my mother's family.

This weekend, I finished the collage for my father's family.

I printed out the pictures so they were about 2 inches by 3 inches.

I made small cards with each person's information. 

I added their names and birthdays on small cards.

I printed everything on photo paper and put Mod Podge over everything.

5 for Friday

We are starting our Science Unit on Rocks & Soil next week. I created this page to send home and have the children collect rocks for us to examine and sort in class.
You can click HERE for a free copy.






I created this Math Center to help my Second Graders with the concept of using 10 to subtract. I laminated the cards so the children can write on them You can click HERE to look at this Center.



Our "Career Collages"

We finished our Social Studies Unit on Goods and Services. To end our unit, the children created Career Collages at home and presented them to the class. They had a rubric to follow in order to get a good grade. They had to state what career they would like to have when they grow up. They needed at least three pictures or drawings of people performing that career. They had to describe the career and state whether people in that career produced a good or provided a service (or both). Here are a few of their posters. They did a great job!

I have been letting the students have their own Checklists for the past week during our Math Block. It has really helped many of my students who had been very unfocused. They were having trouble remembering what to do while I was working with my small groups. They were interrupting me a lot. It has also helped us to be sure everyone gets their time in on our iReady computer program each week. I made different Checklists for each day of the week. It took about 3 hours to figure this out, print the lists and laminate them. However, they have been very effective for my class. Here is what they look like:

I printed them on a different color paper for each day of the week so I can keep them organized. There is room at the top for 2 names. The kids in both of my Math Blocks are sharing the cards. This way I only had to make one set.



Food for Thought:


You never know what someone else may be going through. A small kindness may just help get them through the day.