Hey, y’all! My name is Amy Lemons and I am passionate about providing students with both engaging and effective standards-based Math and ELA lessons.
Sample a day of Rooted in Reading with these lesson plans and activities for Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary, and Grammar!
47 Responses
Great post full of very useful information! Thanks for sharing.
Primary Essentials
http://primaryessentials.blogspot.com
Fabulous! I feel like I rarely have time for stations due to the requirement of using our basal resources……but they never did tell me I couldn't cut down the seatwork a bit:) I think I'll be using that idea!
Thanks for sharing! I definitely want to include math stations in my math block when I am a full time classroom teacher. Right now, I just keep collecting the fabulous ideas from great bloggers/teachers/sellers like you!
Great post with a ton of information. I love doing just one work station a day and the dessert tub!
Brandi
Success in Second Grade
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Thanks so much for sharing. I love hearing what others do during their Math Station time. Found a couple ideas to implement for mine. Bonus!!!
♬Mrs. Samuelson's Swamp Frogs ♬
Amy, I can't thank you enjoy for all of your amazing post. I am a new 2nd grade teacher, as of 4 weeks ago. Coming into a classroom in the middle of the year is extremely hard, add the fact that it's my first classroom!! Yikes!!
You have saved my life many times already! You're an inspiration!! Keep up the great work.
I truly love your positive attitude, love for your classroom and love for your family.
🙂 Lee
great post on math stations! Mine look exactly the same! Last year was when I really became passionate about my math and reading stations. I loved being able to share my love for it with others! I hope your colleagues realize what a gem you are for sharing your knowledge with them!
Ashley
Flying High in First Grade
I love the one station a day idea, and the “dessert tub” for the early finishers! Brilliant! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks Amy! As always, love your posts! When you first start math stations do you model each one before you start or how do you do it? I have all my supplies but am unsure how to start it. Thanks!!
Tiffany
Crazyaboutsecond.blogspot.com
This was great. Thank you! It answered my questions from another post!!
Great post! Thanks for sharing. If you were to make a data and analysis packet, my math activities would be complete! 🙂
How often do you meet with small groups (your teacher led group)? From what I can tell is seems like just once in the two week period, is that correct? Differentiation is huge in today's educational setting, how do you differentiate your math? I currently have my class divided into three math groups so I can work with them more individually, but I basically teach the same lesson 3 times in a row at a small table offering more support when needed. It doesn't seem like a very effective use of educational time, and I'm always looking for new ideas. Thanks!
Great post!! I've been trying to figure out how to get my stations working more effectively, and this helps a ton! I have a few of the same questions as Samantha: how often do you meet with your small groups, what are you doing with them, how do you differentiate, etc, etc. I teach an advanced math class, so I struggle with trying to “differentiate” when we differentiated our students' levels at the beginning of the year. You said that you only have your students do 5-10 problems for seat work; does that take them 25 minutes to complete? What do you have them do when they finish their seat work? Thanks so much, Amy!
To answer a couple of questions…
– When my students finish their assignment, whether it be a group project, worksheet, flapbook, journal entry, etc they go to their math stations. It just depends on what we are doing because we don't do the same thing everyday.
– I meet with 4-6 students per day during math stations. This doesn't include the interventions or extra support that I do during the actual math lesson/assignment. I almost always have students at my table working.
– We don't necessarily do 5-10 problems a day. I was just giving an example on how I cut some of my math block down. I rarely have them complete an entire worksheet in one setting. We do LOTS of flapbooks, graphic organizers, projects, math hunts, etc.
– I differentiate a lot during the activities that we are completing. During math stations all of my students rotate through the same stations.
Hope that helps!
I love the idea of a “dessert” tub. We have a “when you're finished” tub, but that just doesn't seem to have a memorable effect — they keep coming to ask “what now?” As always, thanks for the ideas!
Loved this entire post! It reminded me how important math workstation time is. You rock!
Loved this entire post! It reminded me how important math workstation time is. You rock!
Great post! We just redid our math stations over the December break and students really enjoyed them. Unfortunately, we only have 45 minutes for math instruction, so it's hard to fit in math work stations and direction instruction, along with a math warm-up and problem solving. If only I had an extra 15 minutes!
What I Have Learned
Thank you, as usual, for such a helpful and well thought out post, Amy!! Your 2nd grade brain always seems to line right up with mine, and when I read your posts, I understand it all so clearly that it's almost as if I feel like we're have a conversation!! haha! THANK YOU for taking the time to share the ins and outs of your math stations – I have math rotations in place this year, but my block is just NOT long enough. Next year, a new schedule, might allow me to revamp and make it even better, incorporating a few of your fabulous ideas. THANK YOU!! 🙂 🙂
Ashley
Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd
Great post Amy! I was wondering how you balance students finishing their independent work and starting stations with you with the last few straggling students. Do you check work while meeting with a group? I thought I'd read in an earlier post you check seat work before they start tubs, is that right? I love that you've posted so much about math year. It's really helped me fine tune my math time and resources. Thanks!
Great post Amy! I was wondering how you balance students finishing their independent work and starting stations with you with the last few straggling students. Do you check work while meeting with a group? I thought I'd read in an earlier post you check seat work before they start tubs, is that right? I love that you've posted so much about math year. It's really helped me fine tune my math time and resources. Thanks!
Cate- yes, my students must finish all of their math work before they can go to math stations. I most definitely multi-task and check work while meeting with my group 🙂
Hi Amy! First of all thank you for sharing this information. Awesome! Do you have a basal or a “guide” that you go off of as to what to teach each day, or do you just use the standards as your guide and implement everything into it?
Amy I am a huge fan of yours! Here's my question I have 30 kids and 19 of them are boys with many behavior issues, so would you have 5 in a group? Thanks
Alice at noworriesinsecondgradeblogspot.com
Can you share where you get the things in your binder when you meet with your kids one on one? Where do you get your “desserts” from for center rotation?
And, what curriculum do you use? I have Bridges an don't like it well. I incorporate so many of your ideas. Thanks for your blog and resources!!!!!!
Can you share your pocket chart cards for your math stations?
Do u pick the pairs and how often do you change them?
Do u pick the pairs and how often do you change them?
Could you tell us which math station bundle you have purchased that gives you the most bang for your buck? I'm a first year teacher and I've been trying to build my resources up slowly…but I really think math stations would benefit my kids tremendously!
Where did you get your math station cards that you put in your chart? Thanks! D'Ann
Awesome! Thanks for sharing your math stations. This is great stuff. Organizing my math centers have always been a challenge… I can see how this would lighten my load.
I love this post! Thanks for sharing such valuable information! 🙂
One question: What do you do when a partner is done with their seat work first? Do they move on to the math stations alone?
Thanks again!
What is the ipad app in the photo that looks like a geoboard? Love hearing about great apps. Thanks!
Hi Amy! Thank you so much for posting this. I love your math stations and seeing your whole process really helps.I'm in my second year of teaching and have been noticing where I want to make adjustments. I wasn't sure if I would be able to work stations in or how to, but this has really helped me. I use stations for my guided reading time and my students love it so I think using math stations can really help to engage them more.I also love the when I'm done games. So, you change stations how often? You attempt to keep the stations aligned with the topics you are teaching is that correct? About how many stations do you have to get you through the year? How long would you say it takes you to teach these stations, how to use them and the procedures of math stations?
I am so glad I saw this post! I plan on revamping my math time to do stations! Where did you get your station tubs from? And are students in groups of 2? Thanks for sharing Amy!
Kirsten
http://www.teachandinspiretheblog.blogspot.com
Also, where did you get your math rotation signs?
Kirsten
http://www.teachandinspiretheblog.blogspot.com
I love your math stations ideas. Do you happen to have the numbers for the math bin on teacher pay teachers? Do you also happen to have the math rotation signs on teacher pay teachers?
Thanks!
Hi! I love the sunny shiney face of your daughter and how close you all seem! Too sweet!
Ok… Math puzzles? Where did you grab those?
Sam
Your post and insights are so unbelievably helpful! What a way to feel confident that we are starting on the right track in a way that is best for our kids! I wanted to ask you:
If you rotate one station a day, does that mean that you don't meet with every student? That they could go 7 days without meeting with you? I am working on the rotation part of math centers (We only get 40 mins for math instruction.) so I was wondering if you could just shed some light on that.
Thank you kindly, Amy!
Allison
2nd Cup of Campers
Thanks for all of this great help! I need help with lesson plans. If I download your plans can I change them? I couldn't figure that out. Thanks, Wendy
Hi Amy! I would really like to start math stations this school year! I have one question about your rotations. I see that you said students must finish their math work BEFORE they can go to a center. Well, what if one partner finishes their work before the other and gets to the math station first? Does the other partner just join whenever they finish? What if the first partner at the station finishes before the second partner gets there?
Thanks for your help!! 🙂
Great post! Clear and easy to follow. I'm excited to try some of your stations and add dessert tubs! THANK YOU!
Do you give them tell them what game you want them to play on the iPad or do they just know which games they are allowed to play? I have 6 and would like to better utilize them during math.
This is a great resource for a first year teacher that is still learning how to work stations into a very busy day, and make it something that the kids look forward to daily. One question, how do you divide your stations? For example, I know you added that students must finish their individual work before they are allowed to go to stations, but how do you determine what stations each students go to every day? Do you assign them a station every day or do you let them pick? Do you pull out the students that you know may be struggling with a concept daily to work with you at the back table or are you seeing a different group every day?
Thanks so much! =)
Totally random, but do you happen to have those math station cards somewhere in your store or as a freebie?
Great post! New to second grade and general education. Usually, I teach special education. In your post you said you have 1-15 labeled with the bags. On your rotation chart, are you having kids rotate on 15 stations within the week? Can you explain the reason of using 1-15 but only 5 rotations pleases?
OK, so I completely read it wrong. Geez! I see that you don't have 15 stations but 5 work stations. I was looking at your rotation chart, I noticed that your labels have arrows on them and while one group on the left is at station one according to the arrows, what about the partners on the right of the label? Do you put activities in each bin that accommodates multiple groups in that station or am I just not seeing it right.