Guided Math Chapter Four!

Welcome to Guided Math Chapter Four: Using Guided Math with the Whole Class.  Believe it or not, this is my very first time to host a linky party.  I am very nervous and hope I have lots of guests! I created a quick summary of Lanny Sammons' ideas from chapter four.  I agree that there is a time and place for whole group instruction.  I also think that whole group should never been the only type of instruction for any subject. Kids need that small group time with the teacher to correct misconceptions, build trust, and learn with guidance.  Kids also need to work with their peers to learn communication skills and explore math concepts.  I loved the sample mini lesson in this chapter and the different ideas for mini lessons too!

I am co-hosting this chapter with Sweet Seconds.  She has made some super super cute items to use with Guided Math and is offering them for FREE!! You must go get them ASAP. That cute!

ch4: Guided Math

The frame and font are both from Lettering Delights

Guided Math: Chapter Three

Sorry for my bloggy absence.  My sweet grandmother passed away Saturday night.  The past few days have been very difficult.   Please keep my family in your prayers.  I decided I needed to focus on something else for a while today so I read Chapter Three of Guided Math.  The lovely ladies over at Making it As a Middle School Teacher and My Second Sense are hosting this chapter.  Head over and read what other people thought of Chapter Three and link up.   Here are my thoughts:

This chapter was about the importance of meaningful morning math routines.  I agree with the author, Laney Sammons, that kids need this time to transition from home to school.  However, this time needs to be MEANINGFUL! Ah there is that word again.  Meaningful.  Say it with me now...meaningful!  Don't feel too bad- I am guilty of morning busy work too! After reading this chapter I have a few tricks up my sleeve for this upcoming class.  Laney gives us some great ideas to get kids thinking.  My favorites are the number of the day, What's Next?, and How My Family Used Math Last Night.  I encourage you to read this chapter to learn more about these MEANINGFUL routines.

  Note to teachers: Remember these are routines that need to explicitly taught and modeled for your kids in order for them to get the most out of them.  They are going to require some careful planning to kick start prior knowledge, aid in mathematical connections, and engage kids.  I plan on setting up a weekly schedule with some of the morning math stretches as a guide.  Not only will this help me plan and stay accountable- it will help my kids know what to expect (and we all know they need that!).

 Oh and don't you just love how Laney connects a lot of these skills to reading! I do!!

Remember- I am hosting Chapter Four starting Sunday!

Guided Math- Chapter Two



Third Grade Gridiron is hosting Guided Math: Chapter two.  Head over to her blog to see what others are saying about Chapter Two.  I will be co-hosting Chapter Four starting on June 24th!

I just finished reading the second chapter of Guided Math.  For years, we have spent so much focus on reading and we finally found that Guided Reading works for a lot of students and classrooms.  It now seems so silly to me that I did not make the connection between Guided Reading and teaching math.  I can use some of the same strategies, set-ups, and procedures to be more effective.  DUH!  That being said, a lot of the information in this chapter was not new to me.  However, applying it to math instruction was kind of new to me.  I always strive to create a warm, safe classroom with lots of access to books.  This year, I want to make sure my students also see the math when they walk in our classroom for the first time.  I am not exactly sure how I want to achieve this yet but I am pondering a math word wall.  I always leave a lot of blank space on my walls for all those anchor charts we will be creating too!  This year, I will be using math journals and I want to keep them in a basket so I can get to them easily.  Here are some other things from the chapter that stood out to me:

1.  The students look to the teacher to determine how to respond to each other

2.  Explicitly teach how to locate, use, and replace materials

3. Incorporate measurement into visualizing! Love, love, love it!

4. Turn on my math radar for connections

5. MODEL, MODEL, MODEL- expectations, procedures, thinking, writing, problem-solving, connecting...

Guided Math Chapter One

I am joining the fun and participating in Primary Inspired's book study of Guided Math.  My school district is adopting the math part of AMSTI this year.  For those of you that do not like in Alabama, AMSTI stands for the Alabama Math, Science, Technology Initiative.  You can read more about it here.  AMSTI has been shown to help students develop a deeper understanding of math through math workshop.  Reading Guided Math this summer will hopefully assist me in running Math Workshop and helping my students to create their own understanding of mathematics through experiences.

That being said...Here are some of my thoughts on Chapter One:
1.  I think most of us would agree with the opening description of past (and sometimes current) math instruction in which the teacher stands in front of the room and you either get it or don't.  I remember how intimidating and frustrating this was for me as a child.  There were times I would be too scared to ask a question or even not know what kind of question to ask.  I do NOT want that for my students!

2.  I was shocked at some of the data that was reported in this chapter.  Those figures of adults that can not do daily task that involve math application are not acceptable to me.  Yet somehow they are for a lot of leaders in education.  I wish more people knew exactly how far our country and kids are when it comes to math.

3. After four years of teaching 4th grade, I agree whole heartily that "lack of conceptual understanding handicaps students as they face more difficult math challenges in upper grades."  One student of mine this year comes to mind.  He wanted to learn but just had so many misconceptions and such a lack of basic number concepts it made it incredibly hard for him.

4. Meaningful- That is the word that kept coming up for me while reading this chapter.  Students need meaningful experiences with math.  They need to know how it will come up in their real lives.  Making that connection will hopefully keep them engaged and learning.

5. Last thing I promise! Students need to feel safe in your classroom.  They need to know that they are respected by you and their peers.  I really want to make sure I work on this by being open to all answers and keeping my face and comments positive while students learn their mistakes with my guidance. 

I encourage everyone to join the book study or at least read the blog posts related to it.  Your students' math instruction is too important to ignore.