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.

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.

Math Plan

I have been reading more about Guided Math and been thinking about how to plan for my Math classes this year. I will have two Math classes again this year.

I set up a Calendar area in my classroom. Here is a picture of what I am starting with:

The first week of school, I will introduce the elements of our Calendar Area. On the first day of school, we will look at the Calendar to determine the date and what day of the week it is. I will have the students determine what day was yesterday and what tomorrow will be. We will begin counting the Days of School on the chart. One popsicle stick goes in the pocket for the Ones each day until we trade them in for a Ten. We will review Fact Families with the Fact Family chart. That will be all we do with it the first day.

On the second day of school, we will do the elements from yesterday and we will write the time on the clock (I will start with the hour and half hour since it will be a review from 1st grade.), I will introduce the "Show Me the Money" chart and have the children show the money with coins.

On the third day, we will do the elements learned so far and add the large numbers next to the Calendar. I am going to put up a 3 digit number (I have the numbers 0-9 on each ring so I can just flip the numbers). In the blue pocket chart we will  show the number by adding the Hundreds, Tens and Ones. For example, 124 will be shown 100 + 20 + 4.

On the fourth day, we will do all the elements and add in a Word Problem. I have a Word Problem box of cards someone gave me from Lakeshore. I am going to clip a card on the small white and chevron paper above the Calendar. We will discuss the Word Problem and I will record their different ways of solving the problem.

On Fridays, I don't plan to do Calendar skills. I want to spend more time on Fridays with challenging Word Problems they solve in pairs or groups. We will then discuss the different ways they solved the problem.

For the first few weeks, we will do the Calendar Mondays through Thursdays with both of my Math classes. Then, I plan to alternate Calendar days with my classes. So, one class will do it on Mondays and Wednesdays and the other group will do it on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I plan to add more measurement-type skills in another area and the students will do those skills on the days they don't do Calendar skills.

I plan to give a whole group lesson and instruction on new Math Centers and games on Mondays. So, I may not pull groups on Mondays. On Tuesdays through Thursdays, I plan to give a short whole group lesson and the call my Guided Math groups during Independent work time and Centers. On Fridays, we will focus on cooperative group work. When I get my Centers going the second week of school, I will post about how I manage the Centers and keep track of all the supplies.

I use Math Journals regularly, so we will be involved with those almost everyday. I plan to introduce those the second day of school. 

Monday Made It

I am excited to link up with 4th Grade Frolics again for "Monday Made It".

I hung these in my class computer area. The sign that says "computers" is a recycled wood picture. The larger piece is a 10"x14" canvas. The 2 smaller pieces are cardboard shapes I got from Hobby Lobby. I painted all of them with chalkboard paint. I glued on labels from Schoolgirl Style and added 2 tissue paper flowers, ribbon and clothespins. I am going to hang the daily computer schedules on the signs.

The picture is from Schoolgirl Style. I mod podged it onto a canvas that I painted turquoise. I hung this on a cabinet in my class.

I found this "friends" cardboard sign at Hobby Lobby. I painted it turquoise and hung it above the sink area in my class. I painted a canvas and glued clothespins on it. I plan to hang pictures of the children in the class on the canvas throughout the year.

I made the "Class Jobs" sign by gluing a cardstock paper onto a cardboard shape i got from Hobby Lobby.

I am going to use these drawers to help organize my Guided Math groups. I found 3-drawer bins that are larger than the others I have. They hold scrapbook paper so they are about 12" x 12". I think the larger size will be better since I like to keep manipulatives and other materials together with papers I need for each group.

Since I will teach Math to 2 different blocks of students, I got two bins (one for each group). They can stack together.

Guided Math Part 3: Organizing Manipulatives

I have been working on my new classroom and took some pictures of how I am organizing my Math manipulatives and materials that the student can easily access. (I am still in the process of labeling all the bins.)

After reading more about Guided Math, I plan to add small labels to the shelves under the baskets so the students know where each bin should go.

The labels are from Schoolgirl Style.

Guided Math Part 2

I have been busy planning how I want my Math block to run for this new school year. Since I am moving up to 2nd grade from 1st grade, I want to make the Centers and small group time more challenging for the students.

With the help of the book Guided Math: A Framework for Mathematics Instruction, I have been outlining some changes and deciding which elements work well for me that I want to continue.

Since I am changing classrooms, I have been up at school several times arranging furniture and organizing. As I read Chapter 2 in this book, I was happy to realize I have already been doing several of the suggestions.

* "A numeracy-rich environment"- I have a lot of Math manipulatives and a Calendar/Focus Board area.
* "A social process"- I have already arranged the student desks in groups of 4 to facilitate collaborative learning.
* "organized classroom environment"- I am still in the process of labeling many things in the room so the students know where to find what they need.
* I have a designated small group area. Students have their own desks where they can keep their personal supplies and group bins where they can keep their Math Journals and other supplies. I have a large bookshelf with lots of bins of Math manipulatives. I have 2 areas in the room with large rugs so we can do whole group lessons on the floor- one in front of the Smart board and one in front of the Calendar.
* Math Centers- I have a lot of Math Centers already prepared. Since I am moving up a grade, I will be adding to what I already have to go along with the second grade standards. I feel very comfortable managing Math centers, since I have done them for 18 years. Even when I taught 1st grade, I started them the first week of school. I put the students in pairs and we practiced one new center game a week for a few weeks until they knew enough games to rotate through the regular Centers.

This is one of the Centers I started with the past couple of years with my first graders. It is addition. They roll the 2 dice and add the numbers. Then, they color in a box above the sum. When a row gets to the middle, they get to color in the box with the picture in it. I have a lot of games in this same format, but using different skills. I made them to get more challenging throughout the year.

Here is a link to one of the games if you are interested. (Just click here)

Areas I want to be sure I prepare for:
* Each student needs their own Calendar that they work with daily. Since I already have binders for all the students, I will put a copy of a Calendar in all the binders.
* Problems of the Day/Week- I periodically had Problems of the Day, but I want to make sure I do them more regularly.
* Tools for measuring- I need to get some yardsticks and make sure to have the students regularly use the measuring tools. This is easy to carry over into Science, which I will also teach.
* Math-related literature- I have several Math literature books, but I want to have more available for the students. I also want to encourage them to write their own Math books.

Guided Math Part 1

Yesterday, I received the Guided Math books I ordered from Amazon. Here are pictures of them.

So far here is what I learned/reviewed in Chapter 1 of Guided Math:

1. The elements of Guided Math are:

     * Classroom Environment of Numeracy

     * Morning Math Warm-ups & Calendar

     *Whole Group Instruction

     * Guided Math with Small Groups

     * Math Workshop/Centers

     * Conferences with Students

     * Ongoing Assessment

2. "children learn best through active engagement in authentic opportunities" (p.18) 

     I have tried to involve my students in "authentic opportunities", but this is an area I would like to improve. I would like to find resources to help me plan these authentic experiences at their age level.

3. There is a sample Weekly Schedule to help see how this might work in your classroom. I was pleasantly surprised that the author doesn't suggest that you can fit in all the elements every single day. The Schedule provided makes it seem much more manageable.

I'm looking forward to the next Chapter on the Classroom Environment, especially since I am busy setting up my new classroom.

This morning I finished sorting the Math manipulatives in my classroom. My husband made this wonderful bookshelf for me a few years ago to hold all my baskets of manipulatives. I finished transferring the manipulatives into the turquoise baskets I got from the Dollar Tree. I still need to print some labels for some of the baskets.

Second Grade

Positivity
I am very excited to be moving back to Second Grade this year! I last taught Second Grade 8 years ago, which was before the Common Core Standards. I have spent the past couple of months looking over the Common Core Standards and gathering resources. This Summer, I have been busy moving to a new classroom. I posted some pictures in the "My Classroom" section. It is a work in progress.

This blog will focus on the "positivity" of teaching Second Grade. In my "About Me" section, I wrote a little bit of why I want to focus on the positive. Life is short. We might as well try to be happy and have fun.

In the "DIY" section,I will post about crafts and projects I make for my classroom and home. Maybe you will find something there to inspire you. In the "Quotes"section, you will find quotes that are meaningful to me. Inspirational quotes inspire me when I am feeling down or to continue on the way I am going.

This year, I will be teaching Math, Science and Social Studies. I will have 2 different groups each day. I am so excited! I love these subjects. I plan to continue a Guided Math model and improve upon what I have been doing. I just ordered the books Guided Math: A Framework for Mathematics Instruction and Guided Math Conferences by Laney Sammons. They both had great reviews. I hope to learn many things I can incorporate into my Math block.

I will be posting what I learn, and what works for me, in my Math Block. Maybe you will be able to use some ideas to help in your own classroom.

This quote below is so true. :) I have pinned so many ideas this Summer. Now, I need to go back and choose the ones I want to start working on. I have pinned so many class decorating ideas from so many great classrooms!