Talking Math with One Basic Teacher

Math games are the best! Many excellent math center activities practice addition and subtraction. They are great because students love playing math games, and it gets them talking to each other about math in a fun way. 

In this episode, I will share with you four math center activities that you can use to practice addition and subtraction. 

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It’s that time of year when I teach my students to add and subtract. It can be a fun time (there are so many great ideas out there to use)! 

One of my favorite parts of teaching addition and subtraction is Number Talks. There are many great activities that get kids warming up their brains and getting ready to solve problems. Number Talks are like a puzzle for students to solve, and they get to talk about how they solved them, which is a bonus! Any time they share how they solved a problem makes them happy!

So, in this episode, I will share with you three fun ways to use number talks in your math workshop! So let’s get started!


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Math Games are a great way to engage your students in meaningful math activities and are so fun! They are great because students love playing math games, and it gets them talking to each other about math in a fun way. However, on the prep side of things, coming up with games to do for any unit can be a pain.

So, in today’s post, I will share with you three math center games that you can use with almost any unit and that your students will love. Also, they are very low prep!

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Guided math groups are fun! You get to work with students in small groups and see their thinking in a small group. It's easier to understand if a student understands the math skill you are teaching. It can tell you so much about them as a mathematician. 
Guided math is focused on teaching in small groups that make it possible to provide appropriate instruction. 

Meaning:  Small group instruction = differentiation

You can address individual students' needs, keep them engaged, understand their strengths and struggles, and use that to build their confidence in math!

In guided math instruction, students share their strategies, explore a math skill, and talk with each other (meaning, you are not talking, they are). 

So, in this episode, I will share with you what guided math is and three ideas that work efficiently so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. 

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When I first started teaching my math block, I have to say that most of my block was whole group with a bit of time for my students to practice at the end of the block. We would practice the same skill over and over and over. There wasn’t a lot of time to enrich students or remediate either. 

Then I moved to the Math Workshop Model and had problems keeping my focus lesson short to get to my math stations. It was a hot mess!

Then I started focusing on my time and how I could reduce my whole group lesson to just 15 minutes. It took a lot of time to figure out, but I can now keep my lessons to about 15 minutes. 

So in this episode, I will share how to get your whole group lesson down to 15 minutes or less.

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My favorite part of the math workshop is the Number Sense routines. I start them every day in my classroom. I love listening to my students think about the problem presented to them and make it into a math problem. This is where I will get them to raise their hand because they want to share what they discovered. 

So, in today’s episode, I will share with you what number sense routines are and how you can use them in your classroom in just 5 minutes a day. 

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Before starting your Math Workshop, you need to establish a math community in your classroom. Most students aren’t going to share their thoughts on how they solved a problem or ask for help. They need to feel safe and comfortable enough to advocate for themselves. There will be a few students who will ask for help, but most will not.

You will need to establish a math community that supports a caring community and a growth mindset model. So in this episode, I will share with you how to establish a Math Workshop community in 3 easy steps.

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Math is my favorite subject to teach! I am a first-grade teacher, so that isn’t usually the norm. I love working with numbers, and Math Workshop is my favorite. It’s not like I start on day one with my five parts of math workshop, and BOOM- they are up and running. 
No, it takes time. You need to establish routines from day one and get those going and solid before you move on to the whole blowout workshop. 
So, in this episode, I will share with you Math Workshop routines that work and are easy to implement in your classroom!

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Guided Math

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I will be the first to admit I didn’t always do math workshop. I used to have the traditional math block where I taught the students how to solve a problem; then, I would have the students try a sample problem with me and slowly and gradually release the responsibility. 

When I moved schools, the principal wanted the math workshop model to take place during our math block time. I wasn’t sold on it. If the old way worked, and math stations? That was way more work, and I was already working longer hours than my contract, and now my principal wanted to add more? 

Then I took a step back and thought about my math block. I thought about my students and thought about how I was reaching them. Was I getting all of my students? Or was I just teaching to the middle? I started looking into Math Workshop, and the more I wanted to try it, even in a basic form, I have to say I loved it.

So in this episode, I will be sharing with you how to set up your math workshop like a pro that will be quick and easy. 

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Guided Math

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One Basic Teacher

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In case you haven’t guessed by now, I love Math Workshop, but I didn’t always. It seemed like a lot of work and wouldn’t really change how my students did math. Let me tell you, I was wrong. 

When I started looking into math workshops, I started learning that there are so many ways to do math workshops, and they can change day to day based on your needs in the classroom. The key focus of math workshop is to get your students engaged in open-ended problem solving and student choice. My students flourished in math workshops and were able to solve a problem, but they were also able to show their understanding by explaining how they got to an answer. They were also able to have problems that were accessible to them, so they weren’t too hard or too easy, but just right. 

So in this episode, I will share three awesome things you need to know about Math Workshop to get you thinking about how to implement it in your classroom.

Blog:

Latest Episode

Guided Math

FREE Math Workshop Workbook

TPT Store:

One Basic Teacher

Instagram:

@onebasicteacher

Email:

[email protected]