Every day it is important that the children get to work in stations. My kids are working on pattern tubs and number writing this week. I love geoboards. Last week we used them to make shapes and this week they are making AB patterns and recording.
I allow my students to have free choice for the math tubs. Every tub can have four kids. Now that we are getting into a routine with tubbing and recording, I can meet with kids one on one and in small groups.
Magnet board patterns
Hands on learning is so important, especially in kindergarten. They love the various manipulatives and they are having so much fun, they do not even realize they are learning sometimes!
Pattern block pattern recording
I am loving my math journals and thanks to Math Institute, have started them earlier than usual-the first week of school! The kids have done great with them and are able to show their math thinking in many different ways.
Number Writing Practice
It is important to work on many math skills throughout the year. Even though number writing is later on in our calendar, exposing the kids to things like number writing is important now. Math their Way offers excellent resources for kids to begin their number writing practice.
Unifix Cube recording.
My tubs are all inspired by Math Their Way and this unifix tub was a hit with this student. In my class with Master Trainer Bobbie Williams, she shared how she has the kids record without templates in their math journals. It is working like a charm and I do not have a lot of loose paper around the room.
More Unifix Cube recording
One important part of teaching is differentiation for each and every student. Tubbing allows for each child to work on their own level. I love that I can have various levels of kids working side by side. For the pattern tubs, the kids that are able to do more can label their patterns, write sentences and try harder patterns. My kids who need some more instruction get extra conferencing time because I can tell who needs some one on one by the job they are working on that day.
Pattern Block Pictures
This is a popular station and there was a lof of math thinking going on here! The kids were asking each other things like, "How many trapezoids did you use?" "How many more do you need?" I can learn so much just by walking around and listening to the students as they are communicating math thinking with their peers.
Actively Engaged in Math!!
Everyone is working and learning. With the aid of some manipulatives and mini lessons, we are learning more and more each day!!
Calendar
Our calendar time is 5-10 minutes each day. We go over our date, days of the week and months of the year. We practice counting, go over our coins and other math skills.
Estimation Jar
We do estimation station once a week on Fridays. I fill it with something different each week and we compare the items that we have counted before.
Bear Pattern tub
Here the kids are working on copying and extending a pattern. I had this for morning work and they loved working with the manipulatives!
Anchor Chart
I love anchor charts and we have several up for the year already. We have the 4 chart to "show" the number. The kids came up with the ideas for this model.
Math Journals
On this entry we worked on shape and position words. This was an adapted activity taken from the MOCC.
Composing 3d Shapes!
This shape construction tub was a hit! I am amazed at how well they constructed their figures. We had pipe cleaners, coffee stirrers, clay and popsicle sticks for them to male and sort plane and solid figures.
Mouse Shapes
The Mouse Shapes lesson was taken from a lesson we did at the Math institute this summer. We read the book, then composed our mice with different shapes. The kids were all so excited to let their creativity shine and I was too! After we were done, we shared our mice and discussed how we composed our cute creatures.