Teaching a Math Skill from Start to Finish

Teaching math can be FUN, but also challenging! Today, I wanted to give you a quick run through of how I would go about teaching a math skill from start to finish.

Day 1- Whole Group Fun Introduction

On the first day of teaching a new skill I always do a fun whole group lesson.

It looks like this…

1. Video to teach the concept first
2. Then, we use some type of hands-on manipulative to practice. For example, with fractions we use play-doh, with multiplication we use blocks, and with time we use clocks.
3. Whole class game to practice the basics of this skill

Day 2-Skill is Done- Small Group Math Centers

Then, the rest of the time I am teaching the skill in math centers. I break the skill down and I will teach at the level of the group. If one group gets through all the concepts before another group I will move them to enrichment. I do not move to the review day until every single group has mastered all of the concepts inside that math skill.

My centers look like this each day..

M: Math Facts- This is typically my technology stations. We are usually having the kids work on the Google Slide deck for that specific skill. Once they complete that they do xtra math, prodigy, abcya, etc.

A: At Your Seat- Here is the worksheet that they do for the day. Typically I will start this worksheet with them at teacher time and then they finish it on their own.

T: Teacher Time- This is where the magic happens! I teach the skill we are working on that day and we practice. I am doing this with 5-6 students and we move at the pace that the group moves.

H: Hands-On- This is always a game! I try to find free games that students can play together to practice that skill of the day.

>>Read more about the centers here<<<

 

Review Day

This is my students FAVORITE day of the unit!

To review, we always will do a typical review worksheet together or on our own.

Then, we play a game!

My favorite games include…

1. Kahoot– This is a digtal interactive game! There are millions of free games that you can find on all topics! It takes two seconds to assign and the kids love it.
2. Quizziz– This is the same concept as Kahoot, but the kids aren’t racing. When we play this kids tend to slow down when they are playing.
3. Life Size Board Game– This one describes itself! The kids are the moving pieces as they answer questions.
4. Steal Your Shoes– The kids love this game. We put all th shoes in the middle and when you get a question right you get to steal some shoes.

>>>Find all my review games here!<<<

Test Day

Then, I assess. I use simple and quick assessments. I don’t need them to spend a hour to show me if they know the skill or not. I try to never make it longer than two pages. If they do well, we move on. If they do not do well, then I write it down to return to later in the year.

I try to never keep going right away. They may just need a break and then when we come back and teach it again they will be rockstars.

For example, this year many of my kids failed the rounding assessment at the beginning of the year. I returned to rounding for a week in December and they all passed it!

>>Find my assessments here!<<<