Math Workshop - How and Why
My goal for math has always been to organize my math block using a variety of engaging hands-on tasks rather than focusing on worksheets and whole group instruction. I didn't do such a great job at that last year, in fourth grade, so I'm looking forward to setting up independent workjobs in my first grade class in September. I plan on having 12-14 workjobs available at a time. Each job will be available for between 2 and 4 weeks. Some of them will change completely, while others might simply have extensions added. The workjobs will cover our math goals for the month, as well as review old skills. While this was a lot of work to plan up front for September, it will be easier to maintain throughout the year, as I won`t have to change all of the jobs at once. I can just replace and introduce one job at a time.
I have a 6-shelf unit for my math manipulatives. I’m planning on putting away the big buckets of manipulatives and instead setting out two workjob trays per shelf. While the trays will take up more space, I also think they’ll be more appealing and interesting to students. I`m hoping that they will also be more inclined to keep them tidy and well-organized. I plan on spending a lot of time at the beginning of the year modeling and practicing how to choose, carry and put away trays. The idea of using trays was inspired by the amazing blog My Montessori Journey. Warning…if you click on the blog, expect to spend several days straight exploring it. Also, it might make you want to retrain to become a Montessori teacher. I know that I’ve been researching programs over the last few days!
Anyway, each daily 50 minute math workshop will begin with a 15-minute math meeting, where we might work on problem-solving, learn and play a new game, build a graph, do guided practice with manipulatives, model new concepts on the Smartboard, etc. Then, students will move into workjobs for 30 minutes. Sometimes I will assign a short "must-do" task before choosing a workjob. As they finish a workjob, children can either repeat it or move to a new one. During this time, I will observe, assess, teach/extend individual students’ work or pull small flexible groups as needed. Then we’ll come together for a 5 minute sharing session at the end.
I'm also considering trying a new way of organizing my afternoons. I'm thinking about having a 15-minute math meeting, followed by a 30 minute work session (kids choose between math shelf OR art/social studies shelf), then we regroup for a short 10 minute whole group lesson, and children choose for their second 30 minute work session (math shelf OR art/social studies shelf, whichever one they haven't done yet). This would free me up to do more small group work in math, because children would be working independently for 60 minutes in all. I haven't fully decided what I'm going to do yet.
I made the first round of workjobs (Sept/Oct) using materials that I already have at home or at school, along with some printables that I made or found online. It took me the better part of three days to choose the centres, gather/make the material, photograph and upload them. While this might seem like a lot, keep in mind that these workjobs will be the bulk of our math for the first 5-6 weeks of school. Also, keep in mind that I spent a ridiculous amount of that time making this website. But I had fun doing it! Ask me to clean my house? Blah! No way! But making math centres…fun, fun, fun!
The only purchases I made specifically for the workjobs were the trays (one dollar each at Dollarama; I bought 8 of each size in a few different colours/patterns) and the small bins (three for a dollar, also at Dollarama; I think I bought 18 small bins in all). My room colours are lime green and bright blue. I hope I’m not going overboard with my theme, but these colours really make me happy! I apologize if the pictures aren’t of the highest quality, but they were all taken on a cell phone.
Some questions and answers
Most of these questions and answers are from a discussion thread on Proteacher, my absolutely favourite website in the whole wide world. Since I took the time to type out my thoughts, I figured I may as well post them here so I'd remember them later!
How do the kids know when and which workjob to pick?
They pick the ones they want to do! So long as it's on the shelf, they can use it. This is one of the reasons I'm really excited about trying out trays...when I taught second grade, sometimes "that kid" would try to pull out a bucket of manipulatives and just start playing with them. With trays, I think it will be clearer and easier to control through structured choices. We'll be doing LOTS of interactive modeling and practicing at the beginning of the year to learn how to choose, use and carefully put away workjobs.
I don't keep careful track of who visits each station, mainly because when I did this, it didn't actually help me much with planning or assessing. I will, however, jot quick anecdotal notes during observations, so I'll have an idea of who is choosing which workjob. All of the stations are carefully chosen to meet our math goals, so I'm really not worried about which one each child chooses to work on. If I notice the same child choosing the same thing again and again, then I'll guide them to other choices. I'll also sometimes pull small groups to work with a station if I see that no one's picking it. Sometimes they just need a bit of extra exposure.
Often we'll have a "must-do" activity to complete before moving on to workjobs (when I taught grade 2, this was often paired problem-solving - words, pictures, numbers - that we then took up as a class at the end of math time). But sometimes they'll just move right into stations. In this case, I will dismiss a few kids from the carpet at a time to keep from having a mad rush.
We'll also have daily whole group and small group instruction time, so I can make sure that everyone's exposed to the skills and strategies that they need. I do a lot of quick one-on-one assessments while circulating the room, so that helps too.
How will you keep students accountable?
Honestly, I've found that accountability in math workjobs comes from a quick sweep of the room. I can see at a glance who is engaged and who is just wasting time. I don't rotate through small groups on a set schedule, but prefer to pull flexible groups as needed. This means that I'm free to walk around the room and quickly interact with students in between groups. I try to make my stations as self-correcting as possible, so that I don't need to "check" all of their work - kids can check their own work. Some of the workjobs have recording sheets that I will check. I also read an idea on a Daily Five board of having students take digital photos of their work. I think this is a fantastic idea...I just don't know what to do with the photos. It might be that the simple act of taking a picture would motivate students to work even harder. I'll do some more thinking about this and let you know what I decide to do!
What if someone is off-task?
Because the stations are hands-on and self-selected, children are generally very motivated and on-task. If someone's off-task, I'll quietly and calmly redirect them. If it happens again, they lose the privilege of choosing their spot and/or their activity for the period. The other issue that sometimes comes up is the child who tries to just jump from activity to activity without finishing anything. I'll check in with children like that more often, and limit their choice of workspace or activity until they're ready to have more choices:
"Would you like to work on this patterning job or on this dice game?"
OR
"Would you prefer to complete this counting job on the floor or at this table?"
How do you decide when to change workjobs?
I'm honestly not organized enough to plan too far in advance, so I can't say that certain centres will stay out for x amount of time. As I begin a new unit, I'll pull out the manipulatives, games, ideas, etc from that drawer. I'll choose the ones that I want to have as stations, and then I'll use my observations of station time to decide which old ones to pull. The stations that are still being used every day, I figure kids need the practice, so I'll leave them out. Once I get started, I don't usually change more than three stations a week, so it's actually not a big deal to prepare and introduce them to the class.
Some of them will be "permanent". I like to always have something with pattern blocks, since they're so versatile and kids love them so much. Once kids have a good grasp of counting higher numbers, I'll add a permanent estimation station that will have new stuff to count every week. This year, I'm also planning on trying out jigsaw puzzles as a permanent station for the first time. I may limit the number of times that children can choose jigsaw puzzles if I see that some children are only working puzzles and not choosing the other workjobs.
Other than that, sometimes I put away an old station but then take it out again a few months later. This gives kids a chance to revisit skills and it also keeps things interesting.
Will you have enough workjobs for each child?
NO! There's no way I'd have the space - or the mental clarity - to have 20+ trays out at a time. I plan on having 12 trays out at a time. Some of the activities are games for 2 people. Some of the individual activities can be used by more than one person at a time. I also have a Smartboard and a computer that will be used on rotation, since they're very popular. Since we'll have five math workshop periods per week, every child will either work at the Smartboard OR at the computer with a partner once a week. Keep in mind that I'm also pulling kids for groups and sometimes giving them practice work to complete, so not everyone is necessarily at stations at the same time.
