Guided Math Signs

I don't use Management Boards to organize Guided Math Groups.

example of a management board

I find that they are just one more task to complete each day.

Instead I use the geography of the room to rotate.

I have students rotate to the 3 or 4 different work stations positioned throughout the classroom in a clockwise motion.  That way there are not students walking around in 4 different directions, but a smooth, quiet, and quick station to station motion. During work station time, the students hear two different auditory signals (bell, chime, clicker)  to signal:
 1) it is time to clean up and get ready to move, 
 2) mouths closed, materials in hand..let's move to the next station.

By the way, the teacher guided group where grade level math instruction is being taught is one of those work stations. The other work stations are just groups of desks, a table, or an open floor space near a bookshelf housing student materials for the work station.

I was at IKEA and I saw these picture frames

 

 They cost 50 cents each or 2 for $.99.

They are two sided and would be perfect for labeling the station areas as students learn the routine of going from station to station.  Later they could be used to feature examples of quality student work to show students your expectations of the quality that you are looking for on an assignment. 

Smiles,

Deborah 

What Should a 3rd Grader Learn Verus a 4th Grader?

Easy Question.......................................
Take time to understand the expectations of a 3rd Grader and a 4th Grade using the Common Core Standards.

 
Since learning standards are expressed in a progression of learning, you can clearly identify what each grade level concepts should be mastered.
 
I expect a 3rd Grader to be able to...
At 4th Grade, they should also be able to ...

  Let the Common Core Standards help you to define the differences of your expectations, versus

 "This is what I think you should know."

For example, the Common Core Committee defined what math skills students should be fluent in from Grades K to 7 in a Document titled, "Model Content Frameworks for Mathematics."

In Third Grade

3.OA.7

Students fluently multiply and divide within 100. By the end of grade 3, they know all products of two one-digit numbers from memory.

3.NBT.2

Students fluently add and subtract within 1000 using strategies and algorithms based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction. (Although 3.OA.7 and 3.NBT.2 are both fluency standards, these two standards do not represent equal investments of time in grade 3. Note that students in grade 2 were already adding and subtracting within 1000, just not fluently. That makes 3.NBT.2 a relatively small and incremental expectation. By contrast, multiplication and division are new in grade 3, and meeting the multiplication and division fluency standard 3.OA.7 with understanding is a major portion of students’ work in grade 3.) In Fourth Grade 4.NBT.4 Students fluently add and subtract multidigit whole numbers using the standard algorithm. In Fifth Grade 5.NBT.5 Students fluently multiply multidigit whole numbers using the standard algorithm.

I plan to do more specific posts with examples to explain how to use the Common Core Standards to guide your instruction, because I know you worry about doing your best for your multi- grade class.

Understanding Your Concerns,
Deborah