Guided Math – Chapter 4

“Whole-class instruction provides teachers with a quick method of presenting information to all students.  Everyone receives the same information…at the same time.” (Laney Sammons)

At the beginning of a unit, I post our learning targets in the classroom.  I open up a discussion with the students about what they already know and what questions/concerns they have about the learning targets (I feel this is kind of like doing a KWL without writing down all of the student responses on the chart).  As we progress through the unit, we revisit the learning targets frequently and students have opportunities to self-assess their progress towards those learning targets.  I feel that this can be taken one step further next year.  I can conference with students who feel they are not making progress towards specific targets (or the opposite – students who aren’t making progress, but think they are).

I also feel that there are plenty of opportunities for practice and review already embedded into the way I teach math.  The book offered a new game idea that I haven’t tried – Fly Swatter.  The class is divided into teams.  One player from each team comes to the front of the room.  Several answers are written on the board.  The teacher asks a question and the first team to correctly swat the answer wins a point.  One of the reasons I was drawn to this game is I can see the differentiation opportunities. 

This chapter spends time discussing the importance of math literature…again.  I guess it’s time to get serious about this one.  Does anyone have a list of math books they recommend?  I teach second grade.  Since school is out for summer it is a bit difficult to talk to the librarian.

Since I already use mini-lessons for reading and writing, I feel comfortable with the format of them.  My biggest weakness is when I get really passionate about a mini-lesson, it becomes a mega-monster lesson and the next thing you know, 20-25 min. has gone by…whoops!!

When I think of a workshop approach, I think of starting whole group with the mini-lesson.  Students break off into different small group or independent activities.  At the end, we come back together as a whole group.  In reading and writing, this last portion of time has been used for students to share their attempts (both successful and unsuccessful) at using the mini-lesson strategy.  I often ask specific students to share things that I noticed that day.  When I read about the author’s “Math Huddle”, I see this ending time of the math block being a great way to incorporate more math conversations.  It may be short, but by doing so it keeps the students focused on how their peers attempted the mini-lesson strategies. 

I have been (not-so) patiently waiting for the next chapter: Using Guided Math with Small Groups.  I’m hoping some of my questions will be addressed there 🙂