Math Workshop!

Now that I am in my second year of teaching (WOOO!) a split-grade class (a 3/4 split last year, and now a 2/3 split), I think I can confidently say that I LOVE MATH WORKSHOP and I am NEVER GOING BACK.

I have made various changes to my math workshop and am continuing to tweak it, but this is the system that absolutely works for me! A lot of the motivation behind my refusal to teach math in any way other than centers is because of the challenges inherent in teaching two math curriculums, but hopefully you can put some of my system to use in your room!

My district uses the Eureka Math curriculum, which conveniently enough is split into 4 sections: the concept development section, which is around 30 minutes of direct teaching instruction; a fluency/math facts portion; an application problem; and a workbook page. Well, I have four math centers! I begin centers by bringing one entire grade to the carpet for their concept development lesson of the day. With 10 third graders and 11 second graders, this makes for a pretty small group, which I LOVE!

While I am teaching one grade level, the other grade level rotates through their centers. Because teacher instruction isn't a center (I'm busy teaching the other grade level), I do not differentiate my groups - in fact, they're pretty random. At the beginning of the year I printed up color-coded nametags (I used an awesome freebie from TPT but I can't remember the name of the seller! If you recognize them let me know so I can give credit!).

The color is a reminder of their math group (I also use these groups for class management things like book swaps and rotating through iPad privileges).

Now, I used to have an ugly pocket chart where I kept the centers, and I wrote their assignments for the day up on the board with their goals, where it got all squished and hard to find. Well, after our work day yesterday, that ugliness is NO MORE! I am super excited about our new centers chart:

They just follow the numbers in their color! AND their assignments for the day are super easy to find! 

(Side note: I have found that color coding SAVES MY LIFE in a multi-age classroom. EVERYTHING for second graders only is blue; third grade only, orange; and both grades is purple. Seriously- EVERYTHING. So much easier to keep things straight.)

So, now all they need to do is check the centers board for their assignments for the day!

Here's a quick rundown on their centers:

Facts: This is their fluency center, and it's the one with the most variants and the most prep. It's typically some kind of math game, but can be anything from building numbers using manipulatives, using flash cards, or, like last week when we were studying liquid capacity, filling up different containers to compare how much they held. This is the only center that I ask them to do in groups, and it takes place at my kidney table.

Journal: I use the application problem from our curriculum as their math journal problem for the day. Last year, I had them glue the problem and then write, draw, and calculate in a spiral bound book; with the younger kids this year, I wanted to cut down on the time spent gluing the problem into their notebooks and increase the amount of time thinking hard about math! So, I made each student their own math journal, with the problems written on top and using the template the fabulous Shannon Samulski gave us at a numeracy PD. I don't have a digital copy or I would upload it here! I think math journaling is so important not only because it adds in a writing component, but also because it forces kids to EXPLAIN their thinking, and not just do a math problem for the sake of a math problem!

Workbook: Our district provides a spiral-bound workbook for each unit that goes along with the curriculum. There's usually 2 pages of independent practice per lesson.

Computer: Since only half of my class is rotating through centers at a time, AND there's 4 different groups, that means that only 2 or 3 kids are at a center at one time - which means that my 3 student computers are the perfect amount! I usually have them use MobyMax, which is an online curriculum provided by my school, but sometimes I'll switch it up and have them go on another website through our brand-new class website!

I typically ring the chimes every 8 minutes to transition them to the next center, which gives me 32 minutes to teach the concept development lesson to the group on the carpet. If I had more flexibility with my schedule, it would be great to give them 10 minutes per center - but we make it work! Sometimes I pick and choose which problems I want them to work on for their workbook, so we can fit everything in.

My only regret about my math centers is that I can't meet with small groups as a Teacher station... Maybe someday, if I have only one grade level, that will happen!!

How do your math centers work?! I'd love to hear it!