upper elementary math stations: why and how
Hey! A blog post! This is a post dedicated to how I run math stations in my 3rd grade classroom.
Math stations is definitely a favorite part of my day but it took me a long time to figure out a way to run them that I really like.
In case you are new to my blog/social media, math is my favorite subject to teach. I was fortunate enough to have some amazing professors in college that opened my eyes to the beauty of mathematics. I immediately knew that the way I had learned math had done me a huge disservice. Because of that, I maintain some very important ideals about math in my classroom. I run a classroom that focuses on problem-solving, conceptual understanding, and student-led (no algorithm) strategies. I care very little about my students answers in comparison to their level of understanding and ability to explain. Because of this, I rely heavily on interviews. It's simply too difficult to get to every student and probe them deeply when I am teaching whole group. It's also very difficult to help students hone their specific strategies and help them make those critical connections when I am with the whole group. Stations allow me to speak to individual students, differentiate in an authentic way, and give my students choice.
In my room, we have 4 stations:
Teacher table
iPad
Games
Buddy Math
I see all of my 4 groups each day. I feel like I have such a diverse range of needs in math that it better serves my kids to have a large chunk of small group time. I cut whole group down to 10 minutes in order to get this time. I do not regret it. I spend our ten minute mini-lesson time on our number routines that you can read about here!
Teacher table is where I do my small group instruction.
iPad is where my students can do math apps - our favorites are Prodigy, MathRun, and Slide Math (this one is really cool and collaborative). My remediate students (who are usually in a group together) have a Reflex math account from our district and they will do that at this time.
Game station is as structured or loose as I want it to be. I will usually spend each Friday afternoon teaching my students the game for the next week and giving them time to practice. At first, I would make them very content specific games but as I transitioned into a more problem-centered classroom, I started using card and/or dice games. By this time of year, I just leave the cards and dice out and let my students choose the game they want to play from all the ones we have learned. I love listening to this station.
Some of our favorite card games are Salute, Golf, War.
Some of our favorite dice games are Pig!, Farkle, 101 and out, or Yahtzee (Place Value Yahtzee is also good).
Buddy math is the station I spent a lot of time perfecting. I knew my students needed to do some "math work" for practice on certain skills but I also wanted it to have a lot of choice and for them to be able to work with friends.
I know many of you have teacher table, games, and technology set up. The thing I usually hear from people who are hesitant to start math stations is how to get independent practice set up. I am a BIG supporter of choice in the classroom, because i have seen it work.
This is the routine we settled on and it works so well for us. Each week my students get a buddy math sheet. There are 8 squares on the page. They MUST complete 5 squares. If they complete 5 before Friday, they keep working toward all 8. IF they get to all 8 squares with extra time, they are able to get on their iPad (like extra iPad time) (VERY few of them do this)
On Fridays, my students turn in. We have this weird block of time in between specials and lunch that's just 30 minutes. They bring me their sheet and what they've completed. I use my computer to check any digital work and record scores on their sheet. If they've completed 5 they get the rest of the time free. I use this time right then and there to call kids back to go over a concept they missed, individually or in small groups (if needed). If students didn't work hard that week, they have to work through that time. Whatever time is left when they finished, they get free. Everyone turns in at the end of that time.
Wanna see a sheet?
I am always looking for activities to make buddy math sheets. Some are:
ThatQuiz - easy to set up, great for computational practice, grades for me - you can also choose the slide options and put task cards right in there. As long as you include 4 answer choices on the task card, it will grade them for you. Sweet!
Nearpod - I create nearpod for each skill, these are often task cards that I just put in the draw it mode. OR I include a video demonstration of a skill (for example, open number lines), have students practice on a few draw it slides and do a quiz at the end. It grades the quizzes, but cannot grade the drawings (obviously) but it will give me a participation score so I can easily see who finished and who "Finished!" mhmm.
Quizizz - easy to create by pulling questions from their database, fun for the kids (they always choose this!), graded for me!
Kahoot (assigned as "homework") - a Kahoot that students do on their own time, another fun way to practice skills
Google Forms - Google Forms is a great way to quiz your students. I just create a form with various types of questions (multiple choice, shorts answer, etc.) and make sure that I click the "response validation" box so that students cannot move on until they've entered the correct answer. The best part is that I get a spreadsheet of everyone's answers/information created for me.
IXL: students complete 2-3 IXL practices - sometimes I assign a certain skill, sometimes I just say "3rd grade".- easy for me to check
An online game - I use bit.ly to put a game url and paste it into the sheet. Students then play and screenshot a certain target score/goal. They show me their screenshot on Friday to count the square.
Fact sheet - just can't get around it - some students just love doing them, I never time them or grade them but they can choose to practice that way
Skill/Review worksheets - these change weekly but they're the ONLY copies (besides the buddy math sheets themselves) I copy for math. Most of them I make myself, but sometimes I just find something that is good practice of our skill.
During buddy math, I encourage students to work together and help each other. My table is where the largest chunk of learning is happening. Students also sit around the room as they work.
Buddy math is amazing because I can add a variety of activities and make sure they are tailored to exactly what my kids need. They get choice which helps them to have ownership of their learning.
My students and I have absolutely loved this system for math stations.
Let me know how you conduct stations in your room!
Happy teaching!
