The Giant One with Math Centers

Blame it on the week before Spring Break or blame it on Spirit Week (dress up days) or blame on my March Madness heartache…it’s been a long week! And it’s only Wednesday! 

I’m sure you’ve felt that way before so I decided to share my *almost* fool proof math block and math centers! Just a little bit of positivity and some ideas on this Wednesday! 

First, my math centers continue to be an ever-evolving process but for the most part they boil down to 6 types of rotations.

We only ever do four types a day and usually stick to those four the whole week. Our schedule for math block goes one of two ways:

 

Math fluency is a quick review of either multiplication or division facts, Problem of the Day comes from CCSS in our current district interim cycle, and Whole Group comes from our school-wide curriculum, Math in Focus.

Math Centers takes all of that and piles it into one!

If you’re a person who doesn’t do math centers I highly encourage you to try! Fair Warning: I love all centers everything. BUT STILL! They are great and I will share with you why J

First the logistics (this is both necessary for your sanity and for their learning)

Each rotation was at least introduced whole group twice before becoming a center. Introduced as in I explain, have a small group show quickly, and we try it from there. Sometimes this does bite me in the youknowwhere but for the most part it works and saves time! 

Most importantly, our PowerPoint is on a timed rotation and chimes when it rotates. This is SO necessary for me because if there wasn’t a sound I would have 23 kids yelling at me the picture changed and I would still be teaching!

This is also where I show what iPad app or Computer program to use. I tell them at the beginning but it’s a needed reminder.

I’m long winded sometimes so the best way to explain my rotations is with pictures!

Seat Work

Admittedly the most “boring” of my centers but holds students accountable for the whole group learning of the day. Students cannot rotate until seat work is done (designed to only take the time allowed) they also must fix their answers from the day before at recess (really only necessary the first few days to set accountability.) 

If they finish Seat Work early they know to immediately start a Today's Number. It’s allowed me to always have students learning!

Partner Game

This is the most versatile center (like how I say that over wishy-washy?) Games vary from Scoot, to multiplication war, to this week – white board challenge – all of our review problems cut up and put in a basket. It’s funny how the same problems can be done in seat work but add a white board and tally marks and it’s a competition! 

Work With Teacher

This is a differentiated lesson based on the day’s whole group lesson or on students’ target skills. I always like to start with my most struggling group (hippos) and work my way to the more advanced (toucans) so they get more instruction before seat work.

Interactive Notebooks

I previously wrote about those here, so I won’t go into anymore detail except the kids still LOVE them and I am still indebted to Not So Wimpy Teacher for all her hard work making these resources!

iPads

I’ve also shared my love for certain apps previously and you can check it out here! Lately we’ve been doing SplashMath a lot because I finally splurged for the full access account. Students also love Penguin Math to review facts. 

Computers

We used to do a lot of SumDog and other random skill sites (which I’m still a fan of) but lately I’ve been trying Edmodo in math. I’m really loving everything about Edmodo except my student usernames! With so many students on Edmodo our usernames look something like a computer code and you can only imagine how many times it takes to get it right! 

I love the Snap Shot feature! This allows me to pick and choose CCSS to quiz students on. Edmodo creates randomized quizzes for these CCSS and provides me with amazing data after! You get 5 free snapshots a month so use wisely! I think I’ll do one a week once we get in a groove. 

Beyond the snapshot I can create and send quizzes, (whole group or personalized) take polls, and send discussion questions.

Here’s a “snap shot” of Edmodo Snap Shot!

I hope this post gave you a few ideas on how to start Math Centers – if you use math centers I’d love to hear your expertise as well!

The One With a Preview of Our Future!

This week we started a new unit in information writing…colleges and universities! I can honestly say I’ve never seen my students more excited about learning! SO many students are wanting to stay in at recess to research more about their university! How great is that?! I’ve had parents come up to me and say, “I hear ________ is planning on going to the University of Wyoming!” Here’s how we started our researching and built the excitement!

  

This is just a preview since we are only in the research phase:

First we thought aloud about what a college and university is. After a few partner and group shares we were able to create good background knowledge on what college is. Since many of my students haven’t thought that far ahead and many will be the first in their family to go to a university we did a preview of about 45 colleges and universities. 

I wanted everyone in the class to be able to identify and feel truly interested in a few different schools. Here were our categories, each had 4-7 universities. 

 

Colorado Schools - Where we are! Each school represented is being researched in our class!

Iowa Schools - Where Ms. Buikema is from! Each school in this category is being researched and MANY wanted UNI! *proud alum*

Near Colorado – Many students picked schools nearby in Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming.

California – So many of my students take trips to California so it was no surprise that all the schools in this category were picked.

High in Academics – We have a few students researching Yale, Princeton, and MIT!

Related to the Military – This was a category that was quickly scooped up and I had to rush to google and find more schools. I thought about having them choose from the other 20 schools still on the table but I really wanted them to love and be interested in their school.

Football/Basketball Schools – Some big name schools in the country, sports aren’t everything but it’s a first step in getting certain kids interested. Two boys in this category have been in every recess learning more about Duke and Baylor! My evil genius plan worked.

After we received our schools, students also received their new portfolio for this unit. For some reason manila file folders help students feel more like “writers” it also is a better organizational piece for me! Everyone’s folder is kept in a hanging file folder based on their table color. They can pull it outside of writing time independently. Independence + Organization = My Happy Place. 

 

 

The first two days of researching we were all in the computer lab. Before going into the lab I showed an example of a school website and how to navigate. WOW! I have a bone to pick with some school website creators. So many were pretty ridiculous to navigate. BUT the overall objective of learning bits and pieces and getting excited about our schools was still achieved. 

Our last two days of researching students were in the classroom. I printed (in the most tree friendly way) everyone a few pages from their university’s Wikipedia page. I know, I know…Wikipedia. It’s better than it used to be and, to be honest, has more valuable information than some school websites. 

In addition to our printouts students who were researching diligently were able to use the iPads or computers in our class to find information online. As a class I think the interactive maps/campus tours are our favorite! 

Looking Ahead:

A project that I will share another day that coincides with our research is the “Cardboard Challenge.” It’s a STEAM project where students create something out of cardboard and then have a chance to present at a district wide fair. As a class we are participating and choosing one prominent building, statue, or symbol on our college campus to create! Students have started to pick their buildings and do more research on the look and importance of their building.