We start each day working through a math story problem. We treat it like a story to start with, finding the characters, setting and main topic. We give it a title and even draw an illustration to go with it.
As the week progresses, we start thinking about the math-what are we supposed to figure out? What strategy might we use? Does the problem have an extra information we don't need? On Thursdays, we try our hand at solving the problem. We see how other kids approached the problem and we talk about some reasonable wrong answers as well as the correct one.
On Fridays, students get a very similar problem to work through on their own. They use their math notebooks with the problem we worked on all week together to help guide them and they see if they are able to independently find a solution!
We also do whole-class and small group math instruction every day, working on concepts, skills and knowledge as guided by the Common Core Standards. 
Finally, we do math stations (centers) every day. It is in these math stations that the kids are given time to practice math skills. One station is working on the computer, on Sumdog, a program that tailors math activities to each student's ability level; (starting next week, students will also be using our two iPads with math apps to practice skills!); another station is playing a math game with peers at their table; and finally, students have time to work in small groups with me on practice problems that follow the lesson of the day! Even the homework each night is related to the concept of the day and gives each student more time to master the concept!
If students finish the practice pages early, they work on math facts with flash cards. Right now we are all working on getting lightning fast on our zero and one addition facts!!
0 comments:
Post a Comment