Welcome back to our Guided
Math Book Study. I hope you are enjoying
the study as much as I have enjoyed learning from it and sharing what I have
learned! Chapter 6 of Guided Math:
A Frameworks for Mathematics Instruction is all about using Math
Workshop as a component of Guided Math.
At the very beginning of the chapter, the author discusses how Math
Workshop is similar to math centers. She
talks about how math centers are commonplace in the primary grades, but as
students grow older, math concepts begin to be taught in a more abstract
way. Being a middle school teacher, I
can very much relate to this idea. While
I have not used Math Workshop or math centers before, this chapter gave me all the information I need to implement Math Workshop in my own classroom.
One of the main advantages
of Math Workshop that immediately caught my attention is how it helps students
learn important 21st century skills.
Sometimes as teachers, we spend so much time worrying about teaching the
standards, we forget about all of the important life skills that students will
need as they enter the workforce. During
Math Workshop, “students encounter tasks that not only encourage the
development of conceptual understanding, but also the work habits that will lead
to their future success” (pg. 185). Students
learn the importance of working independently to solve problems and working
collaboratively to communicate and share responsibilities within a group. These are skills that our students will need
as they prepare for higher education and careers in the 21st
century. Math workshop also makes differentiation easier and provides the teacher with time to work individually with students who are struggling.
Now that we know why we should use Math Workshop, we need to know how to get started! In order to implement Math
Workshop, the author provides a list of common tasks that are successful:
-review of previous
material
-math fact practice
-mathematical games that
reinforce concepts
-problem solving practice
-investigating mathematical
concepts
-journal writing
-computer-related work
-math-related work from
other subject areas
-work from small-group
instruction
After reviewing this list,
I can already see that many of these tasks are ones that I am already using in
my classroom, I just need to make some adjustments to allow for more student
choice in what activities they complete and a schedule for when I will use Math
Workshop.
Speaking of schedules, I am
curious as to how other upper-primary and middle school teachers use Math
Workshop. Do you have particular days
for Math Workshop, like once a week? Be sure to share how you use Math Workshop
in the comments section and enter to win this week’s giveaway!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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