This chapter was about getting started with work stations...
1. Model, Model, Model...
We meet together and talk about our "jobs" during our math stations. I have modeled the activities as small group and in whole group before I make it a station. We also talk about what is expected during station time and we review the I can charts A LOT in the beginning. Later in the year I remind them to 'do the right thing'. I like to do the I Can charts with my kinders but I think I might have some standby forms to grab--same with the math talk cards. I would like to include our school theme for next year--team sports. I'll post when they are finished.
2. Go Slow...
During the first few weeks of school I like the kinders to get used to the routines of our day and they explore during our stations. They explore the manipulatives and talk about some things in the math area and what to do with them. I want my kinders to fully understand what is expected before I release them to stations. In the beginning of the year I put signs on my stations--opening soon-- and open one at a time when I feel they are ready.
3. Make Time...
I keep my schedule as predictable as possible so my kinders know what is coming every day and when. This helps with behavior issues. I post our daily schedule on a skinny pocket chart and turn over the icons when we have completed each task. I start our morning with movement activities, the calendar wall, morning message, math mini-lessons, math journals, first math station, share time, second math station, and final share time. The students love the sharing time and really talk to each other about what was happening.
Sharing with each other after stations--we share together or with a buddy.
This picture is taken later in the year; they are completing an entry in their math journal before stations.
4. Management Board...
I use Debbie's management board from Really Good Stuff now, but before I had it I just used a regular pocket chart with icons that I made myself and pics of the students--this helps with kinder independence. I still use the students pics to show who is in a group together. I have them work in pairs and I group by ability level; otherwise I have noticed that the more advance student is taking over. The change I will make this year is to provide different levels of abilities in each station. I also have math mats that the students use at their work stations. It is the size of a large piece of construction paper (18 x 11 maybe). These mats have numbers from 0-100, their name, shapes, etc. If I find a pic I'll post, if not, I'll post in August/September.
5. Math Area
I did not like the tubs I used last year because they were too flimsy and also these pics are from time I had 5 groups of 4 students--it was very noisy and harder to manage so I went back to 10 groups of 2. I used the letters in the word MAGIC to label my tubs and then moved to numbers 1-10. I want to change my tubs to match with the core standards and picture icons similar to my literacy station.
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and take a look at everyone else's blog to get the ideas flowing...
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