Reflect
Read the center overview page linked below and then take a look at the MANY centers linked on our new math site. Choose one (or four!😉) centers recommended for your grade level and teach it to your class!
Consider
- What are your thoughts about incorporating centers into your math time? How might you organize them so that they are manageable for you and easy for your students to access?
- What center did you teach to your class? How did it go?
Respond and Interact
After exploring some of the centers, please post your response to one {or more} of the prompts above. Read our colleagues' reflections. Feel free to respond to someone by sharing a comment, insight or interesting possibility.
Hello. I teach second grade, so centers will need to be scheduled outside of the regular math lesson schedule. As always, finding enough time in the day is my greatest concern. During the math training day, the instructor shared that students do better mathematically when they participate in centers, so I will be sure to make it a part of our regular schedule. I'm not sure what it will look like yet, but it could possibly be morning work, as well as an activity for early finishers, and maybe also part of our regular Friday routine. I'm curious about what other people are doing, or are planning to do, as I am open to other ideas.
ReplyDeleteI haven't yet found the time to dive into the new program so my plan on how to organize the materials hasn't come together quite yet. I'm paying close attention to the teachers in my building that have implemented IM this year to collect different ideas on how to most effectively store and organize the materials for easy access.
I introduced the Capture Squares activity as an early finisher activity. We have tried out Stage 1, Stage 2, and Stage 3. The kids seem to enjoy the activities; they are nice for reinforcing math facts. Stage 1 is a pretty simple setup, but Stage 2 and Stage 3 require several different materials, which was a challenge in my classroom. To shorten the setup time for students, I created folders that include all of the materials needed for a given activity. This means students simply grab a folder and everything they need is inside. I have enjoyed the shorter transition time; allowing students to get to work as quickly as possible and maximize their work time.
Hi Stacy. I've used math games/centers for morning work and early finisher activities. My students love it and it's something they can do independently which is a win-win. :) What kind of folders do you use to hold everything? Are your game boards in sleeves or did you make consumable copies? Some teachers on my team are trying these to organize their center activities: https://amzn.to/3M6PEx2
DeleteHi Lovelyn! I just happened to have a bunch of letter sized folders, and decided I could staple up the sides and turn them into pockets to hold everything they need for a given activity. They work pretty well, as long as the kids aren't too rough on them. :)
DeleteThanks for sharing these ideas!
DeleteI love the idea of incorporating centers into math time. After students complete independent math practice, they enjoy opportunities to "play" a game with a partner. I introduced the Capture Squares - stage 1 and 2 and they like it.
ReplyDeleteAs far as organization, I like the idea of having center sets in individual pouches, but don't enjoy switching out the materials each time. My classroom doesn't have much storage, so I don't have the space to premake and store kits. I am so open to hearing what organizational systems teachers have in place. :) What has worked for me the last two years is to use a 10 drawer set. The top 2 drawers have dry erase markers, whiteboard erasers, dice, counters and paper clips - basically things they need for centers/games. I'll add or change out materials as needed - game boards, cubes, etc. Then, I train students to get what they need for the activity they choose and return them to the bin when they are done.
Hi Lovelyn. Based on a recommendation from an early implementer, a few of the teachers at my school have purchased a 10 drawer IKEA system to accommodate all of the materials for the centers. Space always seems to be in short supply, doesn't it?! I'm going to need to get something, but I am not sure where it's going to fit in my room. :)
DeleteThank you Stacey. I'll have to check those out. :)
DeleteI absolutely love the idea of incorporating centers into math time. Our math lead has shared with our team (first grade), that it has been impotent to be very intentional with our time. I teach math as my first core subject. It sounds like it will be very necessary to start before 9:00 which I feel will be challenging. To begin organizing the centers and materials, I moved everything paper we received into two drawers of my filing cabinet. Then, I repurposed a stacking unit with sliding drawers for the purpose of housing the 5 centers, labels and the center overview. It is important to me to find small enough storage yet still functional. Our amazing math lead found small cylindrical containers at the dollar store to keep the 25 counters in and small snapping soap dishes (?) to house the number cards. So far, it has worked well to have extra 0-9 cards strips run off so students can simply replace the entire set if they are missing a number(s). She has used the small cylindrical containers for these numbers, too. I have many parent volunteers this year who are willing to do things for me at home. I have been diligent to take advantage of this by moving through the files from Renae and considering what needs to be laminated, cut, organized, etc.
ReplyDeleteThe first center I taught to my students was called Five in a Row Stage 3: Add 7, 8 or 9. Since it is Spring Break, and I can't remember the directions, it forced me to jump into the website to try and find them. In the center, students are tasked with picking a number card 0-10, add 7, 8, or 9 to that number and then use a counter to cover the sum on the board. First student to 5 in a row wins. I used this as an extension for early finishers for our current math curriculum. To say they loved it is an understatement. It reminds me very much of Open Circle. I have a competitive bunch; they loved the strategical thinking involved. I was a little less successful with the second center we tried, Number Puzzles Addition Stage 4: Puzzle 1. Students were more concerned with the process of cutting a new strip of numbers if their small set wasn't complete. Now that is out of the way, my plan is to "listen, observe and be quiet" on the Mondy we come back from break. I'll take a deeper look into 1.1 next to see what else needs to be prepped for September. Thanks, Renae, for putting the new site together. You are amazing! :)
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DeleteOh my goodness, Cheri! I want to come visit your classroom and see everything you have organized so far. I was thinking of doing the same thing with refiling into a filing cabinet. Did you keep everything alphabetical? I was thinking of organizing by unit but then realized that we will use several of the centers for multiple units.... proof or Renae's thoughtful and intentional planning that has already been put into getting everything set up for us!
DeleteAnytime. I just keep chipping away at it and by no means am I an expert! I just keep leaning into what I have learned from our math lead and Renae. Yes, to alphabetical. That way, I think I might be able to find them again next year. :)
DeleteThe Centers have been a hit in our early implementers' classrooms. The kids don't want to quit playing. 😊 I especially love how the centers meet the needs of most (if not all) of our math learners. Our students who tend to struggle with math can find entry points and the centers offer our high achieving mathematicians opportunities to go deeper with the content and really THINK as they strategize.
ReplyDeleteI agree! I feel like everyone I have tried or looked over, it seems manageable to everyone playing. It is super flexible and most of them if you have them prepped are easy to start playing quickly!
DeleteI would agree, the centers that I have introduced to my students have been very engaging. The directions are easy to follow so they can get started right away. I need to figure a student access storage so they can use the activities if they finish early or as a free choice option. I wonder how others have set this up?
DeleteI am really excited to incorporate centers into my math time! I think my students are going to love it. I am so grateful that so many centers are built into the curriculum so that I’m not searching for them and hodge-podge put them together. That has been a barrier for me in the past, not having the resources for centers. I introduced my students to Capture Squares Stage 1 and they really liked it! I am thinking through the organization of my centers and management of supplies. Something I am thinking about trying is a math binder. When I taught kindergarten one of my teammates created math binders and had games in page protectors and all of the supplies in a 3 ring pencil pouch. Her students kept dice, cards, counters and dry erase markers in their pouches. I attempted it but wasn’t organized enough and didn’t use them effectively so I stopped. Has anyone else tried a math binder? Would love to hear what worked/didn’t work and any tips!
ReplyDeleteMy student loved the games that we have played from the new math curriculum! It seemed to push their thinking and they started to hold themselves and each other accountable! The first center I taught was 5 in a row stage 1 and 2 of multiplication. My students absolutely adored this game. I started by modeling the game to my students by playing it with one student. Then I randomly assigned partners and we played the game. I notice that if I kept partners for too long their conversation went unfocused but if I rotated partners a few time their conversations were more focused. When playing students held each other accountable if their partner multiplied and got the wrong product, they would correct the other. Sometimes the student who made a mistake would even catch themself because they could not find the answer. Yay! Another center I taught was Target Number stage 3. I started off by modeling with a partner and then students got to be randomly paired to play. This one I noticed they were more focused even without me switching partners. I noticed that they used whiteboards next to the to be able to show their work when solving the problems. Since my lesson time does not have time built in for centers, I was thinking about having the games be used as an entry task, or maybe even an early finisher on some days. I was also thinking I could incorporate into the Friday schedule and maybe make Friday a game day. I haven't quite decided which would work best. I guess I will have to test them all out.
ReplyDeleteI am doing the 5th grade volume unit for IM and am trying to do centers on the day they complete a "check point", or quick quiz, which is after each section in the unit. The activities do take most of the hour long math block, making centers difficult to do within that time frame. I like the idea of having them out for entry tasks in the morning, too.
DeleteThis past week, I had the opportunity to start teaching the new 5th grade volume unit to my students. We would typically teach volume this time or year in ME, so this is a great opportunity to become more familiar with IM before full implementation next year. With our current curriculum, I've always used the choice board and have had the centers for that unit out on a shelf for student use. I typically teach a center or game and then add it to the collection for math choice time. Having centers in class will be fairly normal for my math routine as we begin this next journey. One thing I've noticed though after one week, is that the activities take longer to do than the ME lessons, so having math center time daily would be a challenge. What I tried this week, was implementing a center on the day I gave my first check point, which is like giving a quick quiz. I liked this structure and will probably continue doing it for the duration of the unit. I decided to teach the center "Can You Build It" (3-5) Stage 3. This center requires a lot of connecting cubes with partners building prisms around a certain number. They build as many different prisms using that number and then compare with their partner to see if there are similar and different prisms. They get points for building a prism that is different from their partner. I found that given the number of cubes I had, the kids were limited by the number they could build. I have 28 kids, so that was also an issue. I think what I'll do is offer this center again this week and teach another one, so I will have two centers available and the students will have another opportunity to build with larger numbers and they will also learn a new center. This has been a fun journey so far! I'm noticing time management is my greatest challenge so far.
ReplyDeleteI spent a lot of time looking through the second-grade math games for this lesson. There are so many valuable games to support the program! One thing I am concerned about is that for Math Expressions there was time in the second-grade math curriculum to spend the whole math time on Fridays exploring the games. I see that the games are not included in the daily math goal for IM. The math games reinforced fluency, not to mention how much fun they are for the kids. I can see that I might need to rethink my entry tasks for my kids with IM. I used the Homework and Remembering for entry tasks. I could include math games as a part of my morning routine. I am sure that the kids would love to start their day with a “game.”
ReplyDeleteI had my kids play “Would you Rather.” They loved the game! When making a copy of the money spinner, it was a bit difficult for my kids to tell the difference between quarters and nickels. Once they identified the coins on the spinner, most were able to state which coin collections they would choose. Most kids stated they’d take the group of coins that showed more quarters. After they counted the coins, they noticed the differences between the multiple dimes compared to just a couple quarters. I’ve always found it valuable to have the kids bring in real coins at the beginning of the year. We build a math tool-kit throughout the year. Students are always motivated to count their coins when playing with the real thing!
I have spent the last 2 weeks going through the new math curriculum, looking at and prepping the centers for next year. The Kindergarten IM is very heavily dependant on center learning, so I want to make sure I had a good head start prepping to be prepared for next year. I reached out to our Kindergarten math lead to see how she organizes her centers and asked her what went well with how she organized her centers and what might she change and why. I also went and saw her teach a math lesson and saw how she introduces a new center.
ReplyDeleteI am at the point in my prep where I need to decide how I would like to organize and set up the centers for my classroom next year and what will make the most sense and work best for my organizational needs.
I taught my third grade resource math students (a group of 10) the game "5 in a Row." I used the grade-level appropriate version of the game that incorporates double digit addition. Most of the students enjoyed it and were able to understand game. However, the concerns I have for our diverse learners came to the surface as they played. We have students with behavioral challenges who don't work well in groups and students with communication difficulties, and they needed direct support from an adult for the game. I think centers will be great for most of our kiddos but direct instruction may still be needed for some.
ReplyDeleteI had a fantastic time doing the Mystery Number Center. The kids really understood how to use clues with both 2 digit and 3 digit numbers. When I asked them what they thought about the activity, they ALL (including my SPED kids) enjoyed it. This makes me excited for next year. It was easy to organize the students and explain. Right now I have my Centers in my file cabinet. I am working with my team to try a variety of different organizations plus we just got our Flat Screens and my coach told me that the digital versions can be handy, too. I also had a parent volunteer play with small groups as well. I have a very small space and so having these items handy for students will take some time. I am hesitant to bring any more furniture or carts into the room but that may just be the way it works.
ReplyDeleteThe past few years I have always done games on Fridays so I hope to continue this tradition if our master schedule works the way it has recently. This allows me some flexible time to add Centers without interrupting other lessons.
Thanks for suggesting this. I feel much more confident about using the new curriculum.
Math centers have always been a part of my Kindergarten classroom. They are highly motivating and my students look forward to this time of the day. My center time has always been structured where the centers rotate through my table groups each day. So, not all students are doing the same center. I like that the centers give opportunities for differentiation and also the fact that they are provided within the curriculum. I am still trying to visualize how the structure of the centers will work for next year. As for organization, I used 2 file drawers to transfer all of the files from the three boxes we received. I am in the process of laminating the things I think need to be laminated. I am also planning on using page protectors when applicable. I am still working through how to store the manipulatives for easy access.
ReplyDeleteWhat are your thoughts about incorporating centers into your math time?
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of centers, and have used some variations of them in the past. I will be glad to introduce them back in to my classroom as a teaching or reinforcement tool. I am, however, concerned about the time constraints we have for our math block. Our piloter has often mentioned how difficult it is to get through the curriculum's expectations in an hour, WITHOUT the centers, so unless we are all given 60+ minutes, I wonder how that will be addressed.
How might you organize them so that they are manageable for you and easy for your students to access? I don't know yet? It seems as if everyone has a different idea for organization. I will research more to see what works best for my space. Since this is part of the curriculum, how will the district help supply the materials/organizational containers we need to store all of these things?
Hi Erin - Most of our early implementers are choosing to keep the centers in the hanging files & tubs that were ordered for everyone. Some that have filing cabinets in their rooms have opted to use a drawer in their cabinet so that they don't have the bins taking up space on a shelf. A handful of leaders have chosen to use some of their Activities/KCDA money to purchase additional containers but that isn't expected. Just depends on the person's organizational style. :)
DeleteAs for fitting the centers in - it will be especially challenging during the first year as we are trying to learn the new resource, but I do think it will get easier. One of our third grade leaders is starting her daily lessons with 10 minutes of "Center Time" so that she ensures that she has time for them. She actually sets a timer (and the kids hustle because they want to play!) and when the timer goes off, she begins her warm up activity. It's one strategy that might work. Since she does it nearly every day - her kids know the routine and they transition pretty smoothly.
What are your thoughts about incorporating centers into your math time?
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to have math centers that are directly connected to our lesson available to incorporate into our math learning. In the past, it's sometimes been challenging to find a center type activity that supports our learning without a lot of wasted time searching/printing, etc. As mentioned in other posts, I wonder how this will fit in with the grade levels where centers are not part of the lesson, but to be done at another time/date.
I used the math stories activity with my students. They love to write their own story problems and they can challenge themselves with numbers and operations at their level. I also did a version of this when we were learning about graphs. I had students create their own graph. Some students took this a step further and wrote questions to go with their graph. I shared some of these with the class to start the next math lesson, we discussed the different types of graphs students had created (vertical, horizontal, Venn diagrams), the information we saw in them, and answered some of the questions the students had written. Later that day, during snack time, students were spontaneously making graphs with their snacks, sorting by type, color and shape.
ReplyDeleteA concern I have is I have struggled to fit everything I am supposed to teach this year. I am wondering how other first grade teachers fit everything in, especially with the additional time next year it will take to teach our new math program with fidelity. Every program we teach (math, reading, writing, science) expects a certain amount of time to teach effectively, which, when added up, is more than the time we have in a school day.
I just recently started exploring the new math curriculum and I'm getting excited for something new! I've explored quite a few of the third-grade centers, but the one that I've done with my class are the first two stages of "Five in a Row", multiplication and division. I've never used math centers in my classroom in over 30 years of teaching, so I feel a bit anxious about the process and ready to go at the same time, if that makes any sense. 😂 I decided to demo this game with a student, and then turn them loose and let them challenge one another. I did partner them intentionally to start. It went great! We have played math games all year, so I was not surprised by their enthusiasm or competitiveness. I found that the sweet spot of time is somewhere between 6-8 minutes. Any longer than that and quite a few of the groups lost focus. I'm aware that in third, the centers are not built into the lesson time, so I know I'll need to get creative in how I incorporate them into student learning. I'm thinking an entry task or scheduled days a couple of time a week somewhere else in our daily schedule. We shall see!
ReplyDeleteI teach 5th grade and I am currently teaching Unit 1 of Illustrative to my students to dip my feet in before next year! This unit covers volume so we played "Can You Build It" with partners after completing a checkpoint for Section B. The game focused on experimenting with different length, width, and height values to create a specific volume. What I loved about this center was that it had an entry point for all students. Some students came up with very basic numbers and others even tried decimals and fractions without the directions instructing to or me suggesting it. Teacher win!!! :) We have played a lot of games this year so I feel like my students have a great routine down. I think building a day in every section would be extremely beneficial. Students were engaged and even asked if I could add it to our WIN time options. Figuring out where to store centers so they are easily accessible for students is still on my mind.... Something to ponder during the summer for sure!
ReplyDeleteI am very excited about a center based curriculum. I currently use centers in math and my students absolutely love their center time in math. I look forward to learning this new curriculum and finding ways to best store the centers for daily use. As a team we have had many discussions with our lead to get ideas of ways we could plan to store our centers. I currently have a storage shelf I feel will work well to store the centers. I will begin to work through this process soon.
ReplyDeleteWe played "Find the Pair" stage 2 in class. We have played a game of memory "make 10", it is very similar. I liked introducing this game because students had to think about the numbers in their hand and explicitly ask for the number they needed to make 10. Students then practiced writing the equation.
I am so excited about the math centers in the new curriculum. The activities seem so intentional and I love the different levels and differentiation. Using centers as an early finisher is a great idea and has worked well in my classroom this year. I also try to incorporate a full "math game day" every couple of weeks so students have a chance to revisit games and to play ones they haven't had the chance to yet. I taught my class "Can You Draw It" and they love it! We are getting into shapes and so it has been a great way for me to listen in and see what they already know as they describe the shapes to their partners. I really appreciate having all the centers on the Center Page you created, what an amazing resource! Thank you Renae!!
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DeleteIncorporating math centers into the curriculum is really something I am looking forward to. The 3rd grade team has been kicking around different ideas on how to easily store each center so that we can categorize them and easily access them without taking up much room in the classroom. One idea that we have is to purchase sturdy zip bags (Amazon) and put all the supplies in there for the center. We could then tag the bag with the game, math concept, and unit. The best way to store and use the centers is still a work in progress. I have been giving it a lot of thought on how and when to use centers as it seems like there is so much information. One way would be to have centers as a warm-up job or a math rotation. I am leaning towards a math rotation. I taught my class Tic Tac Round. We used playing cards and removed the face cards and tens. They loved playing the game. It worked really well for my students that were still struggling a bit with rounding numbers. For my higher students they just enjoyed playing a game - I think with them I would leave the 10 in the deck and let them move to rounding thousands for a challenge. This game is played in partners and they draw 3 cards and round to the nearest hundred, ten or one depending on what they spin.
ReplyDeleteI am excited about using the math centers with the new curriculum. I am also nervous about the amount of time that I will have at the end of the lesson for students to play these games at the end of the block. The timing of lessons will take some getting used to since they are very different from our current curriculum. I am wondering if there are days that some teachers only work on centers, instead of teaching a lesson and diving into centers. ??
ReplyDeleteMy class played "Capture Squares" and they absolutely loved it! The whole class was engaged and eager to win the game. It was so fun to hear the excitement in their voices as they were able to connect a square OR when their partner was able to capture the square instead. This is a great game that will be perfect to use with the units in multiplication and division.
What are your thoughts about incorporating centers into your math time?
ReplyDeleteI love the thought of math centers, I have tried to incorporate this strategy this year. Since I am not a early implimentor I did not have access to some of the great centers included in this new curriculum. I have search out games and activities to support the math concepts. It will be great to use the provided centers. I have reviewed some of the activities for my current unit and feel they will provide support for students still learning and a fun way to practice for those who are more secure.
How might you organize them so that they are manageable for you and easy for your students to access? I have started to reorganize my closet space and some additional storage tubs. Students will have easy access to centers materials and I think I will include a menu of centers available for the week visible on the white board.
What center did you teach to your class? How did it go?
We tried the third grade rolling for fractions level 1 equivalent fractions. Students loved the activity and it was great to watch them support each other.
What are your thoughts about incorporating centers into your math time? How might you organize them so that they are manageable for you and easy for your students to access?
ReplyDeleteI personally loved this section of the class because it was super applicable to what we will be doing next year. So thank you for that! I learned that there are mainly two types of centers; addressing and supporting. After looking through the centers and reading what others have brainstormed I have begun making room for the materials. My thinking is to have a section where each student has a math toolbox that has general things they would need. Then I have a set of drawers that I am going to dedicate to the centers we will use for that unit. I will rotate them out and keep the ones that stay for the next unit.
What center did you teach to your class? How did it go?
I tried five in a row with my kiddos a couple of times. It was great because they were all engaged and picked up on it pretty easy. We did the multiplication one a few weeks ago and most recently the addition and subtraction with triple digit numbers. This was GREAT practice for my kiddos since we haven't touched on addition and subtraction for awhile. It was a fun way to get back into it!
As an early implementer, I have seen the benefits of the centers. The kids love them and don’t seem to get tired of playing them as there is a great variety. We have some favorites here including Capture Squares and Five in a Row. I love how students at different levels can successfully participate in centers as they can play the same game at an earlier stage. I think the biggest challenge for me this year was coming up with a way to organize the centers, so they were easily accessible for both me and the students. Next year, I plan to have center kits (pencil box) for each student where they can keep the standard supplies like dice, counters, paper clips, etc. I think this will cut down on the time needed to gather the center supplies and leave more time to play the games.
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