Hello from the lakes of Northern Michigan. My name is Marsha from A Differentiated Kindergarten and I am so delighted to take a little virtual trip today to Texas to fill in for my kinder blogging pal Crystal and introduce you to my MOST favorite small group activity . . . MATH STATIONS! Ask any kinder in my classroom and they'll tell ya, ‘Mrs. McGuire LOVES math stations.” There is just something about how smoothly they run, students are so engaged and to be honest, it's just plain fun. While I've used Debbie Diller's book, Math Work Stations to get me started, of course, I've had to tweak it a bit here and there to make her style fit my own classroom and the way I differentiate for my kinders.
to do what.
Here's an example of what I mean.
If you look at my math station planning page for math stations it looks something like this . . .
You'll notice that each station has a place to indicate the ‘core concept or skill' (one of the three guiding principals of differentiated instruction) and then there are three sections where, if the activity is tiered, I can indicate how.
So for station number 7 above, when a students arrive at that station they will find in their drawer three envelopes that look like this:
By looking at their recording sheet, they can see that they are looking for either the green, blue or pink bordered cards and corresponding see animals. Surprisingly, they pick up this system very easily and it works like a charm in my tiny little room.
I want to point something important out to you. You'll notice that I don't tier EVERY station. No one has that much time. In fact, if you're just starting out tiering your stations, I would say just start with one or two stations being tiered. Also, when you introduce a new skill or new materials such as solid shapes or tens blocks, you'll need to give your kiddos some time to explore those materials initially. I find if I make new materials ‘exploratory' for a certain amount of time, then I don't see as much ‘playing' when it comes time to really work with them.
Ok, so I hope I got your gears moving a bit and have you thinking about differentiating your math stations. By all means, if you have questions, stop on over to A Differentiated Kindergarten and check me out and in the meantime, I never go ‘visiting' without bringing a gift, so below, please find a differentiated tens frame/number recognition activity for you to use this fall with your new batch of kiddos. If you decide to download it, I hope you stop on over to my blog and leave me a comment of what you think.
Thanks for making my visit a pleasant one.
hi from Oklahoma. Nothing tragic has happened this week and that has been
fabulous. J We are having a great time
with family and if it were up to my kiddos, we would stay another week but I
need to get home so I can get ready for Frog Street Press. J Here are the units I posted yesterday. More to
come soon. Have a great (and safe) weekend. Thanks again to all of my guest
bloggers while I am chilling with my family. <>< Crystal
Michele says
I love seeing how other teachers organize their math stations! the pictures were very helpful and I love the idea of differentiating some of the stations! Thanks for sharing!
What I Learned in Kindergarten
Lisa R. says
It really helps to see how everyone organizes their math stations and how to differentiate them for all learning styles!! 🙂 Great post!
Lisa
Learning Is Something to Treasure
~DeAnne~ says
I love how organized you are Marsha!! LOVE the workstations!
ღDeAnne
First Grade and Fabulous
Susan says
Wow…you are really organized! I love how you do this. Thank you so much for sharing!
♥ Susan
Kindergarten is the Best
Jeannie says
great organization….so when are you visiting Texas to come re-organize my Math Tubs? :0)
jeannie
Kindergarten Lifestyle
Wendy Hueter says
I am very excited and motivated by your ideas and information. I have been struggling with how to get my materials ready and in a manageable manner. Just curious as to where you have found all your great station games? Did you create or buy, all of them?
Anonymous says
These are great to start the year.
Amanda says
Hi! My name is Amanda. I'm one of your followers. I love your blog. You have some really great teaching ideas. I want to give your blog the "One Lovely Blog" award. Come visit my blog…hugsfortheteacher.blogspot.com to claim your award.
Primary Possibilities says
I like how you have this set up. I am brainstorming ways to get my math rotations going this year. This has been a helpful post!
Your newest follower,
Stephany
primarypossibilities.blogspot.com
learn to care your baby says
wow, new idea. I love this. It is new way to learn maths easily. Thank you for sharing.
Caitlin says
Great ideas!!
Caitlin
Kindergarten Smiles