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.