I created my own version of math Rotations a few years ago when I just couldn’t meet the needs of all of my students doing whole group instruction. I found that my high kids were bored and not listening, my middle of the road kids were mostly listening (I mean, I was teaching to them!!), and my low kids were staring off in space. Not good. That’s when I did some research and decided to do Differentiated Math Rotations. Here is a quick overview of what I do. I am NOT claiming to be an expert at all!! This is just works for me (and my kiddos’ state test scores) I will also add that I DO NOT do rotations EVERY SINGLE DAY! I still find it incredibly valuable to have students participating in Math Talks, completing Performance Events, playing Games, and figuring out difficult problems with students who are not on their level. Their conversations are so important This blog post describes the majority of my time. So.. how does it work you ask? I pre-assess my students at the beginning of each unit. Make it easy on yourself and just give them a five question multiple choice sheet that covers the topics of the unit. That way you can QUICKLY assess their strengths and weaknesses. I have to use our district Common Assessments, but it accomplishes the same thing. Next, I group them according to the results. I use the Cardinal Directions as groups because it is a Compass Rose, shaped like a cross. There is not really a top or bottom because all four sides are important to find your way. All 5 correct: West (advanced) 3-4 correct: East 2 correct: South 0-1 correct: North (low) I usually play around a little bit with the East and South groups to even out the number of kiddos. I also assign each student a partner who is in their group to play at the game station. Now remember, these groups are flexible. I am constantly monitoring my students to see if they need to change groups. I will usually get a few kids who can move up to West (advanced) and some kiddos who move up from North. I have had a student or two who has moved down to North for a few lessons. You are meeting your kids where they are. I also DON’T do stations EVERY Day. I do it MOST days!! Notice that North group begins with the Teacher. This is so your low group is the first group of the day and they go directly to their desk to practice after meeting with you. West group on the other hand, meets with you last. The first thing that they do is practice. These kiddos can usually start an inquiry based activity alone and then meet with you later to discuss it. Or you can have them practice something from yesterday’s lesson. Since the groups are flexible, I use a sticky note to record the group members’ names. I also use pencil so that I can erase. Your groups will not always be even. You may have to have two low groups for example. I hot glue the other labels to a white board. I write the materials needed and assignments students will complete at each station. Once I have all my little honey buns in groups, I teach them about the rotations they will be making each day. Each rotation is "supposed" to last for 10 mins. I have been "flexible" with my timing for each group, depending on their understanding of the lesson. There are four rotations: Teacher, Desk, Game, Fast Facts. While I don’t do a whole group lesson at the beginning, we do come back for share time to talk about our new learning. This is when the kiddos come to me at the carpet or small group table for the actual lesson that is presented on their level. Your middle groups are easy to plan. You just use your Math Program. North and West are more tricky. You have to plan specifically for them. I do A LOT of hands-on activities with my North group. While I am teaching a modified version of the curriculum, I am still expecting to get them to be successful on the grade level assessment. This takes flexible planning on your part. I KNOW my end goal and how I need to get them there, but I have no idea if this group will “get” the lesson or if I will need to reteach in a different way. I am prepared either way. West group needs a challenge. These are most likely your gifted learners. They do NOT need MORE work. They have already proven to you that they have met the grade level expectation. These kiddos can work on performance events and projects. You will still be teaching them, but something more advanced. Where do I get my resources? My TPT Store www.commoncoresheets.com www.superteacherworksheets.com http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/me5l/html/math5.html www.frontrowed.com At practice kiddos work on the practice assignment at their desks after the lesson. This is usually a worksheet that students work on to continue the learning they just had. (West group starts here first since they are the advanced group. They get an assignment before the lesson.) I have a game for each skill. I usually keep the same game for one week so that I only have to explain it once. Some games are differentiated and some games are not. We may play a game from the current unit or we may play a game from a previous unit to review skills. I play around with a couple of different activities for Fast Facts and what you do will depend on the availability of technology in your building. If you have tech, keep reading, if not, scroll down. For those with tech I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend Prodigy! It is AMAZING! My kids beg me to play it and they even go home, call each other, and play online! This is a computer program that allows you to choose the standards, assign quizzes, and it grades it for you. The kids love it because it lets them create a wizard avatar and they go around a magical world battling and earning coins and pets! It’s free unless parents want to pay for their kiddos to be able to “win” more things. Some have purchased it but most have not. I have also had students use www.xtramath.org for math facts. I highly recommend this site. We use it for homework now instead. Before Prodigy I would have recommended www.frontrowed.com This site is AMAZING! It gives pretests for all CCSS standards and builds a program for each student! If you do not have technology, We create these Fact Folders. We create them at the beginning of the year and use them for Fast Finishers. Watch this ten second video. You can pause if you need to! I really hope this helps give you some ideas for Math Rotations! If you want the already created board, check it out by clicking the pic below! Have a great year!
These differentiation strategies in the classroom are perfect for middle school and high school students. I use these ideas in secondary math, but they would even work in elementary.
Differentiation is a word that is used a lot in teaching. We know a good teacher uses differentiation strategies daily to meet the needs of…
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When trying to differentiate instruction for our students, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. Here are 6 Easy Ways to Differentiate Instruction
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Save your sanity! Read to find no-prep centers for math ideas that will engage your students and give you back your time.
This activity is a quick check on students' understanding of ratio relationships and equivalent ratios ( 6.RP.A.1). Two templates are included (one includes definitions for differentiation) along with a Ratios Note-taking handout. Students simply write their names in the box to get started... enjoy!
Check out this list of tools that will help you organize differentiated instruction in your classroom.
We all have students who struggle and require differentiated activities to access grade-level concepts, but how many of you put the same attention into
We had another class Monday night with our new dual/ELL staff members, and this time we focused on differentiation and what that may look like across the subject areas. As we have done in the past, we had the teachers participate in a gallery walk and thus rotate around with their groups to add to a series of posters focused on this topic of differentiation. Yet again, our wonderful staff did not disappoint and came up with a wide assortment of ideas as to how instruction can be differentiated for our students! I typed up their ideas on a nice one page spread for them, and thought you all may find it useful as well! Click on it to grab a copy for yourself or a friend. Graphics/Fonts: Scrappin' Doodles, Rowdy Fonts, My Cute Graphics Also, (as if you haven't already heard ;)), I wanted to let you all in on the big secret. TpT will be hosting a "3 Million Teachers Strong" sale February 27-28th. In using promo code TPT3, you can get up to 28% off at my store along with so many more! How exciting is it to see this community of teachers growing and working together :)!
Upper grade teachers... use engaging math project work as a tool to provide concept-based, real world math challenges to your students.
It can be difficult to learn how to differentiate instruction for the variety of learners in your classroom. Come see how we do it.
This activity is a great starting point to get your students’ eyes into spotting and continuing patterns. They will head outside with the differentiated task cards to create and continue. read more...
I'm going to share a differentiated lesson plan from start to finish. In the article Begin with the Highest Level Learner in Mind I promised that I would share the process, and here it is.
This community signs themed life skill math pack is great to reinforce environmental print and adds structure to your math lessons while making sure your students get the life skill practice they need. You'll love this PRINT and GO math pack, already differentiated for three different skill levels. ...
We all have students who struggle and require differentiated activities to access grade-level concepts, but how many of you put the same attention into
These FREE Math Folders for K-5 learners are jam-packed FULL of helpful resources to help your struggling learners. Wow! When we think of math and literacy, we think of them as two separate things. I mean numbers are numbers and letters are letters. Right? Well, sort of… This is subscriber freebie. Not a subscriber? Subscribe HERE. ... Read More about Free Math Folders for K-5 Learners
Make your math instruction time work for you with the help of Math Adapted Work Binders! Here's how they can make your teaching life easier!
A collection free math cheat sheet pdf printables that can be given to students for their math notebooks or enlarged into anchor charts.
Worksheets are a snoozefest...try this Super Fun Engaging Activity for ANY SUBJECT + a freebie!
FREE response to intervention forms and how to use them
Teaching multisensory math techniques as well as incorporating multisensory math activities into lesson plans is not only best practice for students
A fun, processed based Fibonacci art project for kids. Great for S.T.E.A.M. learning at home or at school.
As a math teacher, you want all of your students to reach their highest potential. However, with increasingly diverse student needs in today's classrooms, it can be difficult to determine how to meet your learners where they are. This is where accommodations come into play! These small adjustments can make a world
Personalize the content, process, product, or learning environment.
When planning lessons, I always ask myself, “Are all of my kids doing the same thing?” If that answer is yes, then I am not differentiating appropriately. It’s kinda of a nerdy passion of mine to maximize differentiation. That being said, my room is not differentiated 100% of the time. There are times when time […]
Your math block is likely a time of day when your advanced learners stand out like a sore thumb if you don’t have the resources to keep their brains stimulated. Often times, these learners become disinterested or disengaged because they are bogged down with busy work when they meet expectations and demonstrate mastery early on in a unit. At times this can result in a subject where they demonstrate great talent and ability becoming a student's least favorite time of the school day.
Do Math Centers mystify you? Well, let me simplify them! I was never satisfied with how my math rotations went, but NOW I LOVE my math class setup!
One way I keep students engaged is to take them outside, so here are some of my favorite activities for teaching math outdoors.
So if you have followed my blog for long, you have heard about my use of what I call a “Bubble Page.” With moving from the special education setting, where I used this in strictly reading, I had to find a way to use this in general education math. As I worked my way through this, […]
UPDATE: Check out my new Interactive version of this game! Today I am writing about my absolute favorite (and my students’ favorite) review game: Attack! Let me start by listing the …
Teaching multisensory math techniques as well as incorporating multisensory math activities into lesson plans is not only best practice for students
I have to share this rockin' activity inspired by an awesome math teacher and blogger, To The Square Inch. In fourth grade, we learn about tenths and hundredths. It's a hard one for kids to get! Once we understand these place values, we turn them into fractions and put tenths on numberlines.... It's a lot. For students AND teacher.... Anyway, I saw this activity a few years ago on Pinterest and tweeked it for my kiddos since it originally had the students working with percents and fractions. It's now our "Hundredths Design Square". First, the students color a square hundredths model using four different colors. Then they count the colored squares and record each color as a decimal. After that, they turn it into a fraction. The kids LOVE IT! And it sure is fun! Check out these awesome designs!
