the practice zone

Lots of teachers use math centers which is a great way to differentiate math game and materials within the classroom. When I decided to start guided math, I wanted to include math games as it's own, single zone. No other reasoning behind it. It just made sense to me to do it that way. I like offering choice when students visit a literacy center, and I wanted to apply the same concept here.

We keep our items that feel like games and are manipulative kept in our practice zone. To organize these items, I use three-drawer units. Students take the entire drawer with them to the place they are working in the room. When we started, I had them taking the items out. No. Did not work.

Well... it didn't work for the part of me that likes to see everything returned to its place.

We updated our procedures, and I modeled how to take the drawers out. Now they work just like a "bin" and function very smoothly for everything to get returned 1) to the right drawer 2) in a somewhat orderly fashion. Students have the natural tendency to see all the space a drawer has when its by itself, rather than when its half tucked into the unit and can better place items in it. Is that too detailed to write about? Well, if it saves someone else using the same tool a few headaches, then I think its worth it.

The drawer labels show either the manipulatives or the activities (with pictures). I also mark them as an individual activity or show that they can work with a partner or multiple partners using the silhouette icons. I change out the labels as needed, but I generally have only a few of the manipulatives that get changed out. The activities with the materials change as we grow, but most of the materials stay the same.

Some of the items I've created to match our Common Core Standards this past year that my students used in this zone:

• Hurry Up Reindeer Game
• Number Puzzles / Dot Maker Activities, Playdough Number Mats
• Memory
• Picture Directions for games found online
• Magnetic Board Cards
• Teddy Bear Game
• Hide-a-Shape Game
• Sorting Mats

And to differentiate items within a drawer, I use the preprinted star labels and stick them onto our baggies, pockets if needed.

I hope these ideas can help offer you some tips as you get manipulatives and games into the hands of your kinders whether you use each one as its own center or combined zone. Here is my last tip... because there is always a piece left over at the end of the day or found days later. If the materials are still in a drawer, they put it away. 

If I've already put away a set of materials, and the students can't go into the closet to return it, they put it into our lost basket. We have a small blue bin just for that! It matches the rest of our lost supply classroom labels, but is in a central location in the room to encourage pick up.

{lost math pieces labels}

> Get more "lost" labels

More Guided Math

Guided Math Before and After
Setting Up a Guided Math Space
Planning for Guided Math

More on Guided Math Zones

Teacher Zone
Practice Zone
Technology Zone
Recording Zone

What tips help your kinders keep all of the pieces together?

If you like what I do here on KindergartenWorks, then be sure to subscribe today. I look forward to sharing ideas with you weekly.
- Leslie

*Free downloadable Thank You Gift included when you subscribe via email or RSS.

guided math details

Knowing what to expect is a must when planning for guided math. Planning the details for expectations, flow and transitions are key in making your ideas match up with what really happens in a classroom. Here are some of the details from our classroom!

During math zones (guided math) what are the expectations for every kinder? They will be exactly the same as our literacy centers. We keep it simple and these rules combined with our general classroom expectations covers it all. I love using the phrase, "Get learning." I found myself wanted to tell kids to get on task, or even get busy... but I think this phrase fits much better now and it does a teacher heart good when you overhear one kinder tell another, "You better get learning!"

How will they know where to go and when? We will use a poster that shows the groups, names and icons for each day. This is a kinder job to flip this poster daily to get it ready for the next day.

This poster system works much smoother for me in math. With the help from my favorite teacher down the hall we figured out how to make it flow for each group to visit each zone twice a week. It has two days on one side and two days on the other. I originally was going to use a pocket chart like seen below, and I use this system for guided reading, but I had difficulty with the names moving. Funny how I can do it with GR groups, but can't seem to transfer it to math...

For any given day, the kinders will start out at their top zone and when the clean up song comes on (Whistle While You Work) they have roughly three minutes to clean, organize and get learning at the zone on the bottom. I have this song set up to play by using a shortcut on my computer desktop so that a simple click from me or any kinder signals the entire room to move on. That's it. That's my transition magic... well, guests in our room think this is magic! They don't even hear the song playing, but because it's beginning and ending are so unique, and it is so routine... I can have it play at a minimal volume level and it appears as just all of a sudden 24 kinders "sense" it's time to clean up. This always makes me proud of the hard work we do on making procedures stick when we get a visitor response like that. I have a reputation with some visitors as, "the whisper teacher."

What's my justification for only meeting with each group only twice a week with this flow? In all honesty, I panicked about only meeting with kinders twice a week when first laying out a flow. Truly! But, after good discussion with my favorite teacher down the hall and reflecting on what we were seeing and doing - we really are meeting their individual needs and doing more service than what we were even close to doing previously! Plus, I know they are learning at the other zones... because as I give myself the mental reminder as I write this... I am not the secret to kinders learning. The secret comes in the other zones that are planned strategically to let them learn and practice in very manipulative (practice zone), concrete (technology zone) and cerebral (recording one) ways.

> View Related Product - Guided Math Pack

More Guided Math

Guided Math Before and After

Setting Up a Guided Math Space

Planning for Guided Math

More on Guided Math Zones

Teacher Zone

Practice Zone

Technology Zone

Recording Zone

What tips do you have for planning the details for expectations, flow and transitions for math time?
If you like what I do here on KindergartenWorks, then be sure to subscribe today. I look forward to sharing ideas with you weekly.
- Leslie

*Free downloadable Thank You Gift included when you subscribe via email or RSS.

planning kindergarten standards-based math curriculum

What are the thought processes that go on in a teacher's mind when creating her own curriculum? This might be a scary trip, but I invite you into my planning process. I hope to reveal how I learned to plan my guided math curriculum this past year. This isn't meant to tell you exactly everything I taught and in what order, but to give you a guide on what the process looks like.

To begin, I knew a few things that affected how I plan. I knew the standards that needed to be covered, mastered (sometimes those two are different) and the basic layout of the ways I could cover them in my classroom.

I kept a checklist of the standards close by that we'd be covering in a quarter (nine weeks). Keeping the standards that came before and right after were also close at hand to look at how it plays out in the long run.

Quarterly Standards

I could have used some of our calendar math time (mainly in the spring) to give extra repetition, but I didn't want to rely on that time. I realized that I had a whole group mini lesson, guided group lesson, math journal, practice zone and technology zone to make the best use of.

I couldn't plan all of these on one day, nor in one planning "session". Often, I plan the mini lessons and general ideas behind the group lessons in one day. The math journals and materials to go with the small group lessons or the practice zone on another day. The technology zone was created as I went along and as I could have time to scour the internet for better interactive online resources. I say all of this just to be transparent and share that it definitely took time. Each quarter.

Armed with my standards, I began to handwrite a "master" list of the standards, in shortened form. This way I could see at a glance what needed to be covered and then began writing arrows off of each one where I thought I could teach it most effectively. Mind you, I'm not the secret. Not every standard had to be taught by me in a mini-lesson or in a small group lesson. My question I'd ask myself is, "Where can they practice this in order to get a) the right amount of practice b) the right kind of practice c) the right scaffolding?"

This is such a messy part of my process and my notes look ridiculous! I circle, highlight, draw arrows, cross out and write down things I'm afraid I'll forget when a great idea pops into my mind. I mark down items that solely need repetition for success as a warm up or wrap up activity in the teacher zone.

After each standard has multiple places it can be practiced, I can then begin to plan my teacher zone (small group lessons). Using the list I create, I begin plugging in the items based on need for repetition and difficulty.

If I am planning the frame around my small group lessons for nine weeks, then I am plugging in items where they fit best. I ask myself, "Does it need to be the main focus of our time together (the core of our lesson)? Could it be successful as our warm up? Does it lend itself to be a wrap up activity?" Plugging in the standards first allows me to see how many times it'll be addressed. Seeing how often we practice a standard helps me come up with a few or many ideas... Frequency helps me determine if multiple activities are needed to practice in a variety of ways, or to simply practice again as we're refining what we've learned.

I plan for my kinders who are on-track. The middle ground plan then helps me to differentiate planning for my kinders who are accelerated or advanced. It also helps me plan pacing for my kinders who need more repetition and explicit teaching. Once I plan straight down for each of the nine weeks, I can plan adaptations based on the needs of my groups. I generally keep the type of activity the same and the standard, but increase the difficulty or plan for additional scaffolding. I can add in my mini-lessons and assessments during this point of my planning too.

From here, I have the basic template for my quarter and can begin to plan the sequence of math prompts and materials that will work great in the practice zone, based on what we've covered with the teacher. This helps me to plan things they can be successful with independently. Then, we're off and running! Change is inevitable (as it should be with guided groups), but the plan helps me to know where we're going and ensure the quality of practice is there to master each standard.

That's the thought process that has gone on behind my curriculum planning days and this year, I'm hoping to better organize the materials that were the result of all of this planning! I'm sure there are better ways to create your own curriculum, but in getting to know new standards and a new way to teach math, this is what worked for me.

> View Related Product - Guided Math Pack

More Guided Math

tips for working on decomposing and composing numbers in kindergarten
guided math - before and after
math journals - meet the Common Core
learning teen numbers in kindergarten

What helps you as you plan curriculum?

If you like what I do here on KindergartenWorks, then be sure to subscribe today. I look forward to sharing ideas with you weekly.
- Leslie

*Free downloadable Thank You Gift included when you subscribe via email or RSS.

organizing digital teacher files

There is something about the order that unfolds from consistency that makes my heart feel peaceful. I live in the midwest and we can get a lot of snow come the winter months. For those of you that can relate, you know that muffled silence that happens after a fresh snowfall and the glistening beauty of sparkly white snow blanketing everything? {I'm talking about the moment you absorb the quiet before you realize you have to brush off your car...} That's how my heart feels when things become consistent.

Now, consistency in the classroom is huge. It makes an entire year (or breaks one without it), creates and sustains relationships and consistency is... well, you get the point. Its important. It is even important outside of the classroom. A person cannot consistently act outside of their level of self-image for prolonged periods of time and therefore consistency reveals your true character. Deciding to be consistent in one small area of your teaching (or life) can be an incredible force in helping you improve overall because you align your actions with who you view yourself to be.

Consistency can also be applied to how you organize things. I'd venture to say that if we could have containers that coordinate across our classroom shelves, it'd make many a teacher happy. Not always possible, but did that connect with you? I've recently been reading that teachers are wondering how others organize their teaching files digitally. My tip is to organize them just as you would like to organize your classroom: with consistency. Is there one way to organize them for everyone? Probably not. That'd be like telling you, that you had to teach exactly like me. Some of you would revolt!

Here are a couple ways to create and organize folders on your computer for your files.

This way is probably the most popular in the primary teaching world. If we think of pulling together lessons and materials to fit next week and we have polar bears on the brain, we'd want to go looking for polar bears in our files.

This method works when you know the order in which you like to cover things and falls more in line with the calendar than just with themes or topics. You know that you'd like to cover the concept of opinion writing after you master some non-fiction writing since you can build off of using the concept of facts.

If you find yourself thinking, "That'd be a great activity to practice decomposing numbers during math time... or I can't wait to use this once we are really good at adding..." Then you might find yourself often using umbrella topics and then filing items by standard.

Yet, some people like to consider how they'd use an item in a classroom capacity before filing it away. If you know that the activity you just found is great for a math concept, but would work best for you to send home as practice or better with an aide (lucky you!) ...or you're already thinking if it's a whole group or small group activity, then you might organize well by usage.

{how I organize my math folders}

I like to organize items based on topic and usage most often - it's my default train of thought... "how will I use this?" I keep everything I create for KindergartenWorks organized by topic and theme. But once I get to my personal school files, I organize math by topic, time and usage in quarterly folders (as seen above). That way I can pull up a teacher zone item I use in the third quarter. It works for me. What works for you - are you a combination organizer?

If you didn't start out with any organization, is it a lost cause? Nope. An example? I decided it was time to bring consistency to the categories shown in my Teachers Notebook Shop and my Pinterest boards. This way they will match what I share with you here and in the products I offer. You'll notice that I organize at the top of this blog on my header and sidebar by topic (guided reading, guided math, etc.). I've aligned the categories in my shop and on Pinterest to match and go one step further. It makes my heart feel silent-glitter-snow happy. 

Here's a snapshot from my shop.

{shop categories organized to search for products}

Here's a snapshot from my Pinboards.

{pinterest boards organized to search for content and products}

Is that organization overload? Well, pin this and then come back with a big sweet tea when you're ready. I've started a set of blank folders under each style if you know which style(s) is for you. (Click the folder images above).

Until then, here's my last piece. Store it all digitally! If you want to have it at home and at school, get dropbox or something similar. You won't be sorry to have a folder that is the same on multiple computers and the second you change something at school, its already changed on your other computer too. I use it to store ev.er.y.thing. that I make and use for school.

Your turn - How are you a combination organizer? Do you have a lot of files to organize? What's your style?

math on the fly

Finding ways to meet my students' needs has been a big push in self growth for me this year. With a new batch of kinders coming I know that yet again, I'll be faced to do it all over. It has been very rewarding and the value far outweighed any of the planning and work that went into it.

{some guided math independent practice materials}

In teaching using a guided math format, I have found that even more than in my reading groups, the need to change something on the fly is a necessary skill for me. I'm not admitting to having perfect lesson plans, or always the best ideas, because I have been greatly stretched by meeting the needs of my kinders. Their skills dictate how I introduce, scaffold and practice. Their background knowledge and independence direct how much or how little I say when working with groups. Taking my cues from them has been my guide as I create lesson plans.

Having said that, what do I do when a group flat out has something mastered or whips through it like no body's business? Yep. This happened quite a bit to me this year when meeting with my two highest math groups. I'm working on earning my self-given degree in 'math on the fly' in these types of situations. It seemed that the concept we were going to practice either needs no more repetition, or needs extension to give it a greater sense of purpose so that the practice leads to the result of something other than just practice. (You may want to reread that again. I had to.)

Here's an example. We are using dice to practice subtraction and to keep the set of numbers fresh... you never know what you're going to roll. We were working on using the right strategy for subtraction here (number line, ten frame, touch dots, mental math) and simply, they all needed to repetition to build some fluency and to see patterns. The tool we are using is a ten frame, but without manipulatives.

This group has the challenge of placing imaginary items on and taking them off as they work, building mental images. The background on this group? These guys were beginning to use these patterns when adding and subtracting two digit numbers. I had made some adjustments to make it slightly more difficult for my highest math group, but the challenge wasn't cutting it. Enter plain paper and pencils.

We talked about organizing the information we were getting and they began creating their own graphs. They could now give a sense of purpose to which differences/answers kept showing back up and recording them. So while I do a lot of planning to make a math lesson what the group needs, sometimes adding a sense of purpose is all that a groups needs in order to make it flat out successful.

More Guided Math

Guided Math Before and After

Setting Up a Guided Math Space

Planning for Guided Math

Rotating Guided Math Groups

More Guided Math Zones

Teacher Zone

Technology Zone

Recording Zone

Practice Zone

Now I can move forward with a few new back up plans in my arsenal of ways to tweak plans when in the moment or, on the fly, for next year.
If you like what I do here on KindergartenWorks, then be sure to subscribe today. I look forward to sharing ideas with you weekly.
- Leslie

*Free downloadable Thank You Gift included when you subscribe via email or RSS.

guided math - small group space guided setup

So, more of.. what does guided math look like in our room? This year, math has a dedicated space of its own. I still have my table lowered to the ground, but it now sits in front of a bookshelf which is perfect for keeping math materials and the piece that holds it all together for me... Be sure to read why that binder has a place all its own.

Last year, our guided math space also doubled -or is it tripled?- as my guided reading and writing small group conferencing table. I made it work, but it definitely took mental (and physical) energy to keep organized.

Where are the materials? I keep a white basket with the materials needed for our wrap ups, warm ups or general lesson materials (right now, its housing playdough and the teddy bear party game). 

Materials and manipulatives that will be needed all year (number lines, dice, ten frames, warm up mats, 2D and 3D shapes) are housed in the three-drawer unit. 

I love Melissa's counting mats. These stay close for daily grabbing in the three-drawer unit. They are laminated and bound are sturdy enough for daily practice! We use her counting forwards and backwards pages. We use these for a large part of the year as we are learning to count to 60, then to 100. You can use them in a variety of ways and the picture clues are perfect when working with kinders.

Bound with these we also keep a set of shape and number identification pages pulled from Mrs. Wills fluency pages and we've added in a ten frame, teen frame and addition workmat to boot! Tools that last the entire year all bound together. It makes a great little package.

The four purple baskets pictured above hold materials specific for each group and individual kinder sets of materials. The baskets have the group label and students' names on them. What are examples of things inside kept in these baskets? Right now, my kinders have two sets of flashcards that they are using as a potential wrap-up activity. They have cards I made that feature numbers 11-20 as well as those numbers displayed as ten frames and they have a set of "ways to make five" flashcards that they made in one of our lessons.

My favorite teacher down the hall uses red, yellow and green craft foam rectangles (you know, the ones I mentioned for making ten frame manipulatives) as checking pads for kinders to practice with a partner. They love placing the flashcards on the green pile if their partner knew it fast, yellow if they knew it but took a little while or red if they didn't get it correct (or at all). Both partners are engaged and it allows me a few moments to jot down those anecdotal notes from today's lesson in my math binder.

I just keep these foam sets in a baggie in our white basket, since they are used by all groups. And here they were... left over from the manipulatives I made, so I consider them free! We don't use flashcards every lesson as a wrap up, but I thought I'd share that as something valuable passed along to me.

So with a table, group materials basket, four group baskets, and a year long set of materials housed in a three-drawer unit... you add in tools that I want to keep for use at just this table (seen in the pencil caddies)...  we're all set to go. 

More Guided Math

Guided Math Before and After
Setting Up a Guided Math Binder
Planning for Guided Math

More on Guided Math Zones

Teacher Zone
Practice Zone
Technology Zone
Recording Zone

Those are my guided setup tips to get you on the road to having your own small group space for guided math.
If you like what I do here on KindergartenWorks, then be sure to subscribe today. I look forward to sharing ideas with you weekly.
- Leslie

*Free downloadable Thank You Gift included when you subscribe via email or RSS.

how to assess in kindergarten - just me and 24 kinders

How can a kindergarten teacher find the time to assess?

Really! How is it possible when most of our testing is done one-on-one?

Can I tell you that I don't have the answer for everyone. What I can share are the solutions that work for me.

Each of our classrooms runs differently and we are different people, with different teaching styles, so this can't be the end-all be-all kind of deal. I highly recommend trying out a few things and seeing what works best for you! When I'm talking about testing here, I'm referring to the casual and standardized... the stuff we do for report cards, lesson planning and for documentation. These are some ways that I plan assessment into what we do on a regular basis.

Take notes during small groups:

Often I find that I have a very good idea of what my kinders are capable of, or struggling with. I can be pretty precise in recalling this information when it comes to planning my next set of lessons. What helps me be so specific is writing down what I notice.

If I write down something I notice while working in small groups, I am 10x more likely to recall that specific tidbit about my students without needing to refer back to my notes. But, if I can't recall, then I've got the notes to jog my memory and help me know where to go!

Give a quick assessment during small groups:

This can be done one of two ways, while students are working in the group on something independently, you can give an assessment to each child. Normally these should be quick so that you can get through 5-6 students in one sitting. Sometimes, I will stagger my starting time. I will start a child on an assessment and while they get working, I explain the directions to another child and then divert my attention back to the first child. This style changes upon the assessment and often works better in math and handwriting.

{read more handwriting}

You can also give an assessment in small groups, where you give directions to the entire group and with dividers up, each student can work independently. You are close in proximity which helps for repeating directions, but with this method, I recommend always having an activity planned for when they finish so they avoid interrupting each other.

Pull individually during small groups:

This one may be the most obvious and seemingly time consuming. I normally choose to break our normal GR schedule once a week in order to be assessing all throughout the year. Four out of five days is instructional (with running records being taken) and the fifth day is for assessments in literacy that are for report cards, Dibels and such. I know that some schools have to adhere to the 90-min. instructional literacy block and we do too. But this includes assessment time, and this is how I break mine up. I feel better prepared doing assessments on one day, but I know that others may prefer to pull a few groups and replace their last group time with a batch of assessments on a daily basis.

{what I use for report cards and lesson planning}

Plan it:

Sometimes you can use class work. I've found that I can use this best when the assessment relates naturally to what we do in class. In math, for example, I love using the work that students do in their math journals at the recording zone. This is for two reasons. First, I can see their progress because I have planned enough entries that are similar, so growth is shown across one concept.

Secondly, we take out the possibility of testing error that they "don't know what to do." I mean how successful would a student be for the first time filling in a bubble test if no one ever explained to them what they were supposed to do? Just an example, but my point is, they have to understand how to do the test, and then can they show that they know or don't know the content.

{know what you want the assessment to look like}

So, if you can plan things that look or feel similar to how you will be assessing, I recommend implementing whenever possible. Your ability to use in-class work will be that much more successful and your time will be well spent.

You'll notice that I didn't mention anyone else helping out with testing... in my room, its just me and 24 kinders, so this is how I've figured it out. These four ways have been my go-to formats for figuring out how to get assessing into my classroom on a regular basis. To answer the earlier question, "How can a kindergarten teacher find the time to assess?" the answer simply is, she plans time to assess. 

More Assessment

Common Core Reading and Math Data Tracking {Product}
Math Journals
Guided Reading Strategy Checklist
Kindergarten Learning Skills

I shared before how assessing weekly has made me a better teacher so I hope that if you're looking for ideas on assessing, you'll be able to find what works for you!
If you like what I do here on KindergartenWorks, then be sure to subscribe today. I look forward to sharing ideas with you weekly.
- Leslie

*Free downloadable Thank You Gift included when you subscribe via email or RSS.