Organizing Your Math Rotations
The organization and planning/prepping that comes with math rotations can sometimes feel daunting, so today I'm going to share with you a few different ways I plan my math rotations every year.
If you're just diving into math rotations for the first time, I suggest choosing starting with only three rotations (two centers and one for teacher table). I've found it easiest to split my class into three groups (low, medium, and high levels). I have done this in primary grades AND when I taught 6th grade math.
I am all about keeping it simple. As you can see on my cart, I just label my centers #1-5. The bottom half of my cart is for ELA. My math rotations are very simple: teacher table, math center/game from one of the drawers, and math practice on iPads.
One year I tried doing interactive notebooks with my kiddos, and it just wasn't working for us. Students couldn't do them independently, and I felt like they spent a lot of time cutting and gluing. Don't get me wrong, I know we need that practice too, but it just wasn't a good fit in my room. AND THAT'S OKAY! Don't force yourself into doing something just because you feel like you should. Plus, it can be a lot to prep!
One of my favorite storage solutions are these colorful, plastic 4x6 photo boxes from Michaels. Every time I prep a center, I add the cards to one of these boxes. They're also the perfect size for holding dry erase markers! Also from the picture below, you can see the bins that used to hold my math centers before I got my colorful cart. I really liked these bins, but I ended up needing the table space, so the cart was a better fit for my classroom.
If you missed my other guided math posts, you can find my posts on Number Talks here and Math at the Teacher Table here. To celebrate the end of this wonderful series, we're giving away $75 to Amazon and 2 Magnetic Ten Frame sets! Enter below!
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Find even more guided math posts below!
If you're just diving into math rotations for the first time, I suggest choosing starting with only three rotations (two centers and one for teacher table). I've found it easiest to split my class into three groups (low, medium, and high levels). I have done this in primary grades AND when I taught 6th grade math.
I am all about keeping it simple. As you can see on my cart, I just label my centers #1-5. The bottom half of my cart is for ELA. My math rotations are very simple: teacher table, math center/game from one of the drawers, and math practice on iPads.
One of my favorite storage solutions are these colorful, plastic 4x6 photo boxes from Michaels. Every time I prep a center, I add the cards to one of these boxes. They're also the perfect size for holding dry erase markers! Also from the picture below, you can see the bins that used to hold my math centers before I got my colorful cart. I really liked these bins, but I ended up needing the table space, so the cart was a better fit for my classroom.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Find even more guided math posts below!