Guided Math in 1st Grade

Happy day, friends and welcome to Chapter 8 of our Daily 5 book study - The Daily 3 (the math portion of The Daily 5).

If you've missed any of the chapters before this, no worries! You can catch-up using the links below, and then come back to this post. :)
Chapter 1 - What's New? Edition 1 vs. Edition 2 Chapter 2 - Our Core Beliefs Chapter 3 - 10 Steps to Building Independence
Chapter 4 – What Do I Need to Begin? Chapter 5 - Launching Read to Self
Chapter 6 - Foundation Lessons Chapter 7 - Launching Choice
The Daily 3 and Guided Math are a small-group approach to learning mathematics, just like we meet with students daily during Guided Reading, we meet with students as mathematicians. It is a deviation from whole-group math instruction. While there is still time for whole-group, you invest your efforts and resources into meeting with small-groups of students each day. Teaching 1st grade for the first time, I was using whole-group math with a single math center at the end of our math block. Then over Winter Break, our team felt like something wasn't working. While our students were growing in math, it was definitely not at our reading rate. So, I started to compare the 2 blocks. For reading, we use a Daily 5 model, so 80% of my instruction is in small groups during guided reading. Rather, in math, 80% of my instruction was whole group with enough time for a math center 3-4 times a week.

The transformation was AMAZING friends! For the first time, I felt like I knew my students as mathematicians like I knew them as readers. If a parent, teacher, or administrator asked me about math, I could go on and on. Meeting daily my my friends allow me to push harder and for our learning to go deeper.

With small-group math, our math block does take a little longer (around 75-90 minutes), but it is completely worth it! Our math routine looks like this - Number Talks

(5-7 minutes), 3 Rotations of Small Groups/Technology/Centers (17-20 minutes/each), Reflection (5 minutes).

Based on our unit reassessments, I group students into three math groups - green (struggling), yellow (on grade level), blue (above grade level). This is the system our 1st grade team uses for reading and math and it's fabulous! (Read more here) I always start meeting with my green group first to ensure that they are never skipped - regardless of surprise fire alarms, change in schedule, or assemblies. Additionally, I try to add 4-5 minutes of instructional time onto this group. (Grab a free editable version of this rotation board here)

When planning and organizing for small-group math, I use color-coded library bins - one for each of my math groups. Often the manipulatives travel from bin-to-bin, but the assessments and mini-lesson materials are group-dependent. I love having my materials at an arm's reach, and it's easy to restock them at the end of the day.

When students come to my teacher table, I don't want them worrying about bringing supplies. I did this when I first started small-group math, and it killed a TON of time. With such a short time for mini-lesson, I now keep all our materials (pencils, highlighters, expo markers) in a tri-container I found at Ikea. All students need to bring is their Blue Math folder.

I'll be honest, small-group math is definitely messy. My teacher table routinely looks like this - piles of unifix cubes, ten frames, and number lines strewn about...but that's okay! We accomplish so much in our 17-20 minutes together. I love teaching targeted skills to my small groups and feel like we are able to dig so much deeper.

So, the question- What are students doing when they're not with the teacher? While I am working with a group of students (6-8 students at a time), my other friends are working at the other parts of the Daily 3 - math by myself and math with a friend. I do substitute Math By Myself for DreamBox (a District Math program - technology based) as my friends are expected to log time on this program each day.

During math with a friend, I offer students 5 centers a week. Students choose which center to visit each day but they need to visit all five by the end of the week. One center is always math notebook, one center is always Versatiles or Solve the Room. I am only introducing 3 new centers each week (although we have practiced these activities in small groups at some point, so they're not completely new). Typically, 2 of the centers are spiral review and the 3rd center relates to our current learning.

I store our math centers in large Sterilite containers (I buy them in sets of 6) with all the materials students might need.

To make guided math work, I know I have to maximize my teacher table time. So if students at centers are asking me questions or interrupting, my friends at teacher-table are losing out on their core math time. Therefore, it is essential that students know where to find resources in the classroom and they know how to use them. Our manipulatives are stored to the left of the math tubs for easy access. Students know they can grab whatever math tool they need to do their work.

Additionally, our number lines are hung in the front of the room from a Command Hook. This keeps the number lines organized and easily accessible to my small friends.

To help build independence, I also include visual directions on each of our math bins. These visual directions include an I Can statement, as well as, the center in action. This visual directions help students know how to set-up their materials, as well as, what materials they will need. (You can snag the 1st grade visual directions here and 2nd grade here.)

These Making Numbers and 120's Chart Puzzles will be 2 of our first 5 math centers for the year. we'll practice these activities with partners (whole group) before we start centers, and then, when we're ready to start rotating, students will practice with a partner.

Another component of independence during The Daily 5 and The Daily 3 is making sure that students are actively engaged in valuable work that is challenging to them. Differeniation is a key part to this independence. When they visit the individual centers/pick a tub, they know to grab their colored folder. Each bin contains the same activity, just a different set of numbers or a different pack of dice. (Green = approaching grade-level, yellow = on-grade level, blue = above-grade level)

I also use these dice

that I snagged on Amazon for $20 and organize them in a bead container. My pound of dice came with over 80 dice each with a different number of sides and colors - from 3-sided dice to 20 sided-dice, I have just-right dice for all of my groups.

Below you see my on-level group of friends working with fact families. They are using 2 yellow dice (a 6-sided dice and an 8-sided dice). My green group (approach grade level) did the same activity with the same recording page and the same Fact Family triangles, just using 2 6-sided dice, and my blue group (above grade level) used two 12-sided dice.

When planning math centers, I want to ensure that students are engaged and working with hands-on materials. Our grade-level plans together and we are fully committed to making sure our centers are not one-time-use print/cut/laminate activities. We work to create activities that allow for spiral review, use throughout the year, and provide fantastic practice. Below you see two friends working to Make 10 using cuiseniare rods.

Students will see the same center 2-3 times a year (depending on the skill and if it's needed). As a number-sense review, we often rebuild the 120s chart. I copy charts on color card stock and then, cut them into pieces. I color-coded the puzzles ROY-G-BIV with red being the most difficult and purple being the simplest (the more pieces/the more intricate the cut the more difficult). My kids are so 'gamey' that they love the idea of leveling up!

We also love using our set of foam dominoes

for sorts. They're perfect for adding and sorting types of strategies we might use to solve the addition sentences. For my above-grade level friends, they will often use double dominos and then, create word problems to accompany the sorts.

Solve-the-Room is one of our consistent centers each month. From subtraction to addition to greater than/less than, to missing addends, it is the perfect time to practice using a number line. Students grab a recording sheet, a clipboard, a number line, and a pencil. I love pulling from Crazy for 1st Grade and Thank God It's First for many of our solve-the-room cards.

So, tell me friends, how do you organize your math block? Do you use a Guided Math model with the meat of the mini-lesson happening in small groups or do you do more with whole group? What works in your classroom? With only 3 weeks until the school year starts, I'd love to hear your ideas! In the meantime, make sure to visit The Inspired Owl's Corner (who is hosting Chapter 8), as well as, the other awesome teacher-bloggers who are joining us. Even if you're not a blogger, please join-in on the conversation below! :)
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