Stories by Storie

Everyone has a story to tell. What is yours?

  • Stories by Storie
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
    • Book Activities
    • Book Lists
    • Classroom Management
    • Freebies
    • Math
    • Reading Tips
    • Writing
  • Free
  • Shop
    • Teachers Pay Teachers
    • Amazon
    • Bookshop
  • Subscribe
  • Contact

Morning Work – Using a Daily Math Review

September 17, 2015

I have tried all kinds of things for morning work over the years.  Each has had its own pros and cons, but nothing ever seemed to be the right fit for my teaching, curriculum alignment, or student needs.  So what does a teacher do in this case?  She creates something that will work.

My colleagues and I use a Daily Math Review (we call it DMR for short).  It is similar in concept to what you might find in a teacher resource book, but it has been created and tailored to fit our students.  Yes, that means it’s a lot more work for us, but it is incredible how much growth and progress our students make.

When we started, we knew we wanted to focus on five skills.  Second graders always need practice with time and money.  We start by reviewing time to the hour and half hour.  For money, we keep the totals less than 75 cents and the coins are in order from largest to smallest.  After that we decided number grids (hundreds), number patterns (counting by 1s), and tally marks would be a great place to start.  We knew we wanted two problems for each skill (10 problems is not overwhelming and super easy for grading purposes).  Here is what my very first DMR page looked like:

(sorry about the red lines under the coins – this was a screen grab)

Every morning (Mon – Thurs) my students would enter the room and find their DMR page already on their desk.  They work on it and flip it upside down when they are done.  When all students have finished (or when the clock shows 9:30), students gather back at their desks and we correct together.  The reason I correct together is it gives me four days of time to teach and/or review these skills.

On Fridays, the students have a quiz.  The quiz actually has the exact same problems the students have seen throughout the week (a few problems taken from each day’s paper).  The quiz is 100% independent and they do not get any help from me.

During quizzes and tests, my students have offices up on their desks.  When students finish, they go directly to an independent choice (read to self, independent math game, work on writing, or incomplete work).  I start grading as the students are finishing.  Each box is worth 1 point, or 10% of the final grade:

As I’m grading, I’m making some mental notes about common errors.  I will target these during corrections the following week.

I record the individual scores into my grade book as percentages:

The next thing I do is calculate classroom scores for each box.  I get *super fancy* and make boxes and tallies on the back of a blank quiz.  Each tally mark represents one student that answered the problem correctly.  I also calculate what percentage of the class answered each problem correctly.  The final thing I do is calculate the percentage of the class on each skill, since they are actually being tested twice (that part isn’t shown, but it’s basically taking the average of the top and bottom box):

This information is then interpreted.  Are my students ready to move on to the next skill level?
If not, I ask myself the following:
Was it a bad question?
OR
Do my students just need more teaching or practice?
I also compare my classroom percentages with my 2nd grade colleagues.  If one teacher’s class is scoring 90% on counting coins and mine is only scoring 65%, it opens the door to a conversation about how a colleague is teaching the skill to her students that might improve my own teaching.

We also use our DMR scores to form intervention groups for math.  Here is a page of data I brought to one of our collaboration meetings (no, I don’t usually take the time to type up the data):

At this point of the year my students were doing quite well on the skills being assessed and I only put one or two students into intervention groups.  However, one of my colleagues had a handful of students who were struggling.  We identified the skills that needed the most work, the students who needed the most intervention, and divided them up.  We then ran intervention groups and reassessed the progress made (our intervention groups are usually 2-3 weeks on a skill, 4 days a week, 30 min. a day).

When our classrooms are scoring 85% or 90% on a skill, we move to the next level or if we feel we have reached the end of one skill, we swap it out for a new math skill.  Let me share a few examples of how the DMRs progressed through the school year:

Friendly 2-digit numbers, time the half hour, and coins are still heads only, largest to smallest.

 

About a month later, time is to the 5-min. interval, numbers are in the hundreds, and coins are still in order, but we’ve starting using heads and tails.

 

Things just got harder – notice the missing addends and now the coins are mixed up, too!

 

This is much later in the school year.  Time is to the minute and addition and subtraction have regrouping.  It’s amazing just how much this particular class learned!

As I mentioned, this is tailored to fit the needs of an individual class (or grade level, as we compared all second graders).  Here’s a glimpse of the previous year’s class at the end of the year:

It’s important to note that because this was a different year, we were also using different curriculum and our state had not yet adopted the Common Core standards.
I hope that gives you an idea of how morning work looks in my classroom.  Let me know if you have any questions!

 

signature

Related posts:

No related posts.

«
»

Filed Under: math Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Categories

Latest on Instagram

Do you prefer to blend in OR do you dare to stand Do you prefer to blend in OR do you dare to stand out?

At school, Monique wore a uniform every single day. But looking just like everyone else was not for her. One day, she found a huge, red hat in a trunk in the attic and decided she’d wear it to school. Everyone noticed her and had something to say, which made Monique smile…until a teacher told her she had to take off the hat. 

The next day, everyone at school was wearing a hat - everyone except Monique, who was already planning something new to wear the following day. With each new idea and accessory that makes Monique unique comes a series of kids who copy and mimic her style. Can she find a way to be different?

This book is often hard to find, but has a great message about individuality and celebrating that it’s okay to be different! Have you read this one yet?

@kanemillerbooks
The holiday books have been put away. That means o The holiday books have been put away. That means our shelf is ready for a fresh stack of books to share for bedtime stories. Here’s what came home with me on my latest trip to the local library. 

👀 See any titles that catch your eye?
I may introduce a lot of books to you here on the I may introduce a lot of books to you here on the gram, but sometimes YOU are the ones who introduce books to me. This is one of those stories.

Sarah lives alone in her little house now that her children are all grown up. Every time she looks out her window, she sees the neighborhood children waiting for the bus. One winter morning she notices a boy who doesn’t have mittens. This worries her, so she gathers some supplies and sets out to knit him a new pair. Once finished, she hangs them on the tree next to the bus stop. 

When the boy finds the mittens the next day, he quickly tries them on and beams at their perfect fit. Sarah’s heart is filled with joy and it isn’t long before she makes even more mittens to hang on the tree. The kids look forward to finding these new treasures each morning at the bus stop. Sarah is sure that no one knows it is her adding to the mitten tree until one day she returns home and finds a surprise waiting for her - a basket filled with beautiful balls of yarn.

This heartwarming story has a great message about kindness, community, and the joy that comes from helping others. It would make a great addition to your winter book collection!

Have you read The Mitten Tree?

#themittentree
I might share a lot of picture books, but I do lov I might share a lot of picture books, but I do love chapter books, too. One of my favorites for January is Mr. Popper’s Penguins. While this story has been around for decades, it still manages to entertain readers of all ages. ⁣
⁣
If you aren’t familiar, Mr. Popper is a housepainter who daydreams about polar expeditions. One day he receives a real penguin and his world turns upside down. Soon after the penguin grows lonely and the Poppers add a second penguin to their home. It isn’t long before they have 10 penguin chicks, making that 12 penguins in all! With so many mouths to feed, Mr. Popper realizes he will have to do something to bring in more money. That’s when Popper’s Performing Penguins gets started. The show goes on tour and plenty of hilarious antics begin!⁣
⁣
I used this book with some of my reading groups in both 2nd and 3rd grade with the help of a few resources to guide students through the text (comprehension questions for each chapter, vocabulary activities, graphic organizers, and more). There’s also a penguin craft, which was a big hit! This resource is available in my TPT store. Drop a 🐧 in the comments or send me a DM if you’d like the link. ⁣
⁣
When it comes to Mr. Popper’s Penguins, which do you prefer?⁣
📖  Book⁣
🎥  Movie⁣
Have you ever felt like you don’t quite fit in? Have you ever felt like you don’t quite fit in? Or maybe you’ve let the opinions of others creep into your mind  and start to doubt yourself? If so, I think you should read Lone Wolf.⁣
⁣
In this story, Maple is a member of the Parker family. She loves playing tug-of-war with Jax, reading with Avery, getting treats, and going for looooooooong walks. But wherever she goes, people comment that she looks more like a wolf than a dog. The Parkers explain the difference between a husky and a wolf, but Maple starts to have her doubts. ⁣
⁣
One day, Maple sees the fence open and takes her chance to explore the wild as a lone wolf. Will Maple love this new lifestyle, or will she realize that home with the Parkers is where she truly belongs? ⁣
⁣
This charming story explores family, self-doubt, and finding the place where you belong. It would be a great story to share in the classroom or at home.⁣
⁣
Have you read Lone Wolf yet?
Whether you’re headed back to the classroom this Whether you’re headed back to the classroom this week or next week, please don’t forget to make time to review your classroom rules and procedures. You can make this process a bit more enjoyable by sharing books. Sometimes these stories have a way of getting through when your words can’t. I put together a list of my favorites on my website. Tap the link in my bio or drop a comment below if you’d like me to send you the link. 

When do students head back to school in your area?
It’s 2023! 🥳⁣ ⁣ Are you making goals or r It’s 2023! 🥳⁣
⁣
Are you making goals or resolutions? Maybe you’ve chosen to focus on one little word instead. No matter how you’re setting yourself up for success in the new year, having a plan is only the first step. One way to get your students excited for making resolutions is to help them understand what a resolution is. I love using the book, Squirrel’s New Year’s Resolution. ⁣
⁣
In this story, Squirrel hears about making New Year’s resolutions on the radio, but she doesn’t know what they are. She visits her friends to find out what they resolve to do in the new year. Bear wants to help others learn to read. Porcupine decides to be less grumpy. What will Squirrel choose for her resolution? ⁣
⁣
Looking for a way to help kids keep their resolutions in mind long after the first week back in school? Try adding a craft. Not only are they fun for kids to make, but when they are on display, kids will have a visual reminder of their hopes and goals for the year. Swipe to take a peek at one to pair with this book. This craft can be found in my TPT store (send me a DM or comment below if you’d like me to send you the link).⁣
⁣
What are your favorite books to start off the new year?

Copyright © 2023 · Website Design By Jumping Jax Designs