Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Day 1 of Math Workshop

Well, not too bad!  All but two students say they like it better than large group!  I did notice several things:  the group that did the Daily Skill Review were not working as a group as I wanted.  Also, the fluency group worked together more than I wanted.  Several groups were done before the 20 mintues was up and didn't know what to do. 
I think tomorrow I'll go over my expectations again.  Groups that finish early can get out flash cards and practice multiplication or division.

Here it is in action:

Here I am working with a small group.  They have dry erase makers and boards.  They also brought a pencil, because I had a worksheet to work on together.

Click the link to read more!

Monday, September 5, 2011

Math Groups...Oh My!

Well, it's done.  I've created my math groups, activities, and centers.  Best laid plans...  We'll see how it goes! Thanks to my partners-in-crime Alisan Clayton and Katie DeBoy - we worked together to get this up and going!

Here's what we've done:

CREATED BOARD
Totally stole this from my colleague - Alisan Clayton.  At the top are my four stations:  "Mrs. Lawson," "SuccessMaker,"  "Fact Fluency & Games," and "Daily Skill Review."  The students are placed in four groups.  Keep your fingers crossed that these groups get along!




Click to see more of what Math Workshop looks like!

Saturday, September 3, 2011

I want to do CAFE - now what?

My biggest struggle when I decided to do CAFE two years ago was where to start!  I do a great job teaching the framework of Daily 5, but  how do I start CAFE?
I spend over a week teaching and practicing Daily 5. When I felt they could go 15-20 minutes so I could conference with students - I started pulling students.

Here is what I've done this year and I've been very pleased: