Math Work Stations
March 21, 2012
Agenda at-a-glance:
• Math Stations Introduction
• Where Are You with Stations?
• Organizing, Managing, & Getting
Started!
• Station Ideas - Exploration
Introduction Activity
• Organize yourself in groups of 6 by
grade level
• Introduce yourself to your team
• Come up with a team name
So, where are you with math
stations?
Red: What are stations anyway?
Yellow: Not quite, but really interested. I have tried a few.
Green: I have stations established in my room, but need new ideas.
Math Stations
Call it whatever you want--math
centers, learning centers, math
stations, work stations--all the
current research is saying it is a
component of effective mathematics
instruction.
Textbook programs, including
Investigations, Everyday Math, and
Saxon, are all including math stations
into their instructional models.
We know the model works in
reading; it can work in math too.
Picture Walk…
• Chapter 1
– What a math station IS and what it ISN’T
• Chapters 2-3
– A focus on…managing time, materials, and student behaviors
• Chapters 4-8
– A focus on…specific skills, strategies, and activities related to NCTM
& Common Core State Standards strands
• Glossary & Appendix
– Pictured glossary and useful blacklines
Chapter 1:
What Is a
Math Work Station?
Activity
• What is a math work station?
– Come up with a definition of what your group
believes is a math work station
– Place definition on chart paper
– Include team name
– Be prepared to share with whole group
Laying the foundation
• Everyone read pages 1-7 using protocol
• Jigsaw 7-14 (share main ideas)
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Areas within the classroom
Working with partners
Using Instructional Materials
Variety of Activities
Opportunities for Independent Exploration
Differentiated Math Instruction
Gradual Release Model
• I Do…You Watch
– Teacher models, thinks out loud while using manipulatives
• I Do…You Help
– Teacher models, thinks out loud while using manipulatives
– Children share task as they are guided with their own manipulatives
• You Do…I Help
– Teacher provides guidance as children encounter difficulties
• You Do…I Watch
– Children independently utilize manipulatives at math work stations
– Teacher works with small groups or individual students
Differences from Traditional Centers
Math Work Stations
Traditional Math Centers
Materials are previously used in
instruction…no new materials in
stations!
New materials may have been in centers
with limited instruction on how to use
them.
Do not change weekly! Change
according to levels of understanding and
strategies being taught.
Were often changed weekly according to
units or themes.
All students go to work stations daily.
Not all students participated…often used
as a reward or motivation to complete
work.
Differentiated materials.
All students did the same activity at the
center.
Teacher observes or works with
differentiated small math groups.
If teacher met with groups, each group
often did the same task.
Using Instructional Materials
PREVIOUSLY USED…
Attribute Blocks
Base Ten Blocks
Counters
Links
Five Frames
Balance Scale
Unifix Cubes
Judy Clock
Ten Frames
Story Boards
To Practice Authentic
Mathematical Skills!
Practice
Practice
Practice
Working Alone
or with Partners…Be Flexible
Concerned about noise?
Create a management system where
your students will work together
(especially in the beginning of the
year) or alone to reduce the noise.
Math Work Stations
“Best of all, students in work stations are constantly
solving problems, reasoning, representing,
communicating, and connecting while working
with numbers and mathematical concepts. They
practice using math vocabulary and interact with a
partner to help cement this new learning. At math
work stations, children are engaged learners.”
Math Work Stations by Debbie Diller, Stenhouse, 2011.
Common Core – Standards for
Mathematical Practice
1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them
2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively
3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning
of others
4. Model with mathematics
5. Using appropriate tools strategically
6. Attend to precision
7. Look for and make use of structure
8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning
Chapter 2:
Organizing & Managing
Math Materials
An Area
Within the
Classroom
SPACE:
• Sort
• Purge
• Assign Home
• Containerize
• Equalize
Adapted from Julie Morgenstern author of Organizing from
the Inside Out (2004)
How to Organize Your Manipulatives
Step 1: Sort your stuff. Stay
put while you sort!
Step 2: Purge the things you
don’t use for teaching.
Step 3: Put what you’ll keep
in containers (containerize)
and place them in storage
areas (assign a home).
Step 4: Maintain your
storage system. (Equalize
every day)
ACTIVITY – Table Graffiti
• At your table brainstorm manipulatives that
could be used for the math topic on your chart
paper – 3 minutes
• Travel to next table
• Add new ideas to poster
• Rotate through all topics
Chapter 3:
Getting Started with
Math Work Stations
When and Where Do I Begin?
• 1st and 2nd – start to introduce second week
of school
• K – in the first three to four week start with
exploration stations – introducing different
types of manipulatives through exploration
Additional ideas on pg. 44
No small group work until your
class is ready – Diller suggests
at least 4-6 weeks of teacher
observation!
Introducing a New Station
1. Gather all materials for new station and
place in a labeled container (previously
taught materials).
2. Show the materials to the whole class and
discuss what students can do at this
station.
3. Make an “I can” list together if necessary.
In Our Room Math Work Stations Should…
• Look Like:
– Kids are working with math ideas.
– Kids are taking turns nicely.
– Kid are talking with their partners about math.
– Things are put back in their places.
– Kids are on task.
– Kids are using materials like the teacher showed.
– Teacher is not interrupted while working with a group.
In Our Room Math Work Stations Should…
• Sound Like:
– Quiet voices so others can learn.
– Using math talk.
– Talking with just your partner.
– Making choices together.
– “Let’s try this together.”
In Our Room Math Work Stations Should…
• Feel Like:
– I can do it!
– I like to solve problems.
– Calm
– I like math!
See page 45 for sample chart
The Daily Routine
Steps
Purpose
How Often/How Long
1. Math Stations MiniLesson
To make sure students
understand exactly what to do at
stations.
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Daily early in the year when
introducing math stations
As needed to introduce/review
what kids will do at math
stations (possibly several days
a week).
About 3-7 minutes per minilesson
(refer to pages 47-54)
•
•
2. Math Stations Time
To enable student to investigate
math concepts with a partner
independent of the teacher, and
to enable the teacher to work
with a small group or
observe/interact with partners as
they work at stations.
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•
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Every day, if possible
15-20 minutes per station
1-2 stations per day
(refer to pages 54-60)
3. Sharing Time
To allow students to share with
the teacher and their classmates
what they explored and/or
learned that day in math.
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•
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Daily, if possible
5 minutes max
(refer to pages 62-63)
Mini-Lessons
• A mini-lesson or modeling would take place before
you begin your math work station time. It is
intended to be brief (3-7 minutes) of
teaching/modeling/role playing to provide focus
and direction to your work station time.
• There are 3 different times when a mini-lesson or
modeling is helpful
– When you are first introducing the math station
– When you are adding something new to a station
– When you’re reviewing (or re-modeling) a work station
activity
Mini-Lesson Ideas
How to…
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use the equipment/materials
share materials
take turns
decide what to do at a station
solve a problem
put things away
switch to the next work station
See pages 47-54 for additional ideas
Other Mini-Lesson Ideas
• To create “I can” lists
with students for
certain stations
• To create a math talk
card for stations
See pages 47-54 for additional
ideas
Brainstorm
Additional Ideas
Additional Thoughts…
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Frequently Asked Questions
Management Boards
Sharing Time
Solving Ongoing Problems
at Math Work Stations
• Scheduling
Pages 55-66 are a must read by all!
A word from
our math work
station
practitioners.
As a group revisit your original
definition of “what is a math
work station?” – make any
necessary changes
Lunch
11:30-12:30
Orientation of Chapters 4-8
• What you will find – each chapter different topic:
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Key concepts
What the children do at the workstations around the topic
Vocabulary – grade level specific
Sample station ideas
Materials you might use
What the teacher needs to model
Connections to Problem Solving
Literature Links
Technology Connections
Troubleshooting
Differentiating the stations
Ideas to keep the stations going
How to assess
Kindergarten Considerations
Addition and Subtraction – Chapter 5
• Kindergarten CCSS
– K.OA.1 - K.OA.5
• First Grade CCSS
– 1.OA.1 -1.OA.8
• Second Grade CCSS
– 2.OA.1 – 2.OA.4
See handout
Investigation Time
• Explore math work stations packet
– Complete the stations as if students
– Identify how/if you could use
– What did you like what didn’t you like?
– Which common core standards math the
activity?
Research/Brainstorm Time
• Search Math Workstations book
• Search the internet – using provided
resources
• Come up with additional workstation
around addition and subtraction
• Create to share with whole group
Resources
• www.wmisd.org/ge/mm
• http://access.nku.edu/kcm/resources/tools.asp
• http://www.dreambox.com/teachertools-match-nmake - interactive activities - great for
whiteboard
• http://lilcountrykindergarten.blogspot.com/2011/0
6/teacher-inspired-math-work-stations.html outstanding get you started on the math
workstations book online!!!! It is by chapter
Discuss and share with your
team what steps you plan on
taking after the session today.
What additional support do
you need to implement math
work stations in your
classroom?
Final Thoughts
3 points to
remember
Something
that squares
with my
beliefs
Something
still circling
in my head
Thank you!
Jodi Redman
jredman@wmisd.org