Guided Math is similar to Guided Reading in that the teacher puts the students into small groups and the students work on specific standards being taught in centers around the room. You should try your hardest to have all the centers hitting the same topic. Students are placed in ability level groups and taught the standards of the curriculum. Differentiation is achieved as students are in different groups and instruction is changed to hit the needs of the student.
WHAT DOES GUIDED MATH LOOK LIKE?
Click on one of the sheets below for a guide to what guided math will look like in your class. These sheets could help guide your master plan.
The first thing I say is make it work for you. Instead of thinking of this as a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday thing, think of it as Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5 which will allow you more flexibility. Math instruction for Guided Math should be 1 hour.
Day 1- Pretest, mini lesson on topic, go over centers, whole group activity to get them thinking about concept (acceleration).
FOR PRETEST you could give a 5 question quiz to see what the kids know.
Day 2- Centers **
Day 3- Centers (Students will be doing 2 centers each day. 25 minutes per center) **
Day 4- Centers (Aim for about 4-5 kids per group) **
Day 5- Post Test, review of a center, go over problem solving, whole group mini lessons
FOR POST TEST you could give the same pretest you gave before. Our main goal is to find out if the kids know the standard.
**Some teachers have found success in starting off days 2,3,and 4 with a short mini-lesson for 10 minutes. This allows the teacher to touch base with all students at least 1 time a day.
DIFFERENTIATION
*Groups are made based on how kids did on their pretest. This is differentiation at its best. Work on the concepts with the kids who struggled and extend and hit high order thinking skills for the kids who got it. Your groups will change weekly as your standards change.
IDEAS FOR CENTERS
1) With Teacher (small group instruction)- This is where the teacher will do direct instruction on the concept, model it, and allow for the students to practice with guidance.
2) Technology- find a game on the computer for the kids to play to reinforce the concept being taught. Only choose 2 or 3 games for the kids to play that week. Remember, they must hit the standards being taught that week.
3) Smartboard/ActivBoard- Put a lesson up on the board and allow for the students to be interactive with it as a small group.
4) Games- Find a board game from the store or create a game for the students to play to reinforce the concept being focused on. You can have more than one center be a game or hands on activity. It could be a worksheet game or one from your math book.
5) Journaling/Problem Solving- Find a problem solving activity for the kids to work on. Then allow them to answer it in their journal and explain how they got their answers. USE THE CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE QUESTIONS or Explempars.
6) Skill and Drill- This will be a review center where students will practice standards from previous weeks. It could be in Worksheet form where the kids do the problems and then check the answers on a sheet you provide which shows them the correct way to do it. Or you can have dry erase boards and have the kids do assigned problems. This is great for flashcard activities for simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, time, money, measurement, etc.
7) Come up with some of your own- Use some of your great lessons you've done in the past, and instead of using them whole group, try them in your guided math centers. Also, look in your teacher's edition math book and see if their are some good hands on activities that you can take from the book and put into a center.
*Get these ideas from Math Exemplars, PICASSO, PICASSO 's Math Constructed Response Questions, your Teacher's Guide Math Book, www.georgiastandards.org , www.mathwire.com , etc.
ACCOUNTABILITY
One teacher told me they "feel like they now have more to grade." This should not be the case. Allow the students to be accountable for their own work. Once they finish the group work, they must show their work to another person in their group, explain it and then show the other students the correct way to do the work. Allow them to teach each other as a way for review.
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