Guided Math Ch. 4 Using Guided Math with the Whole Group

There is a time and a place... but... CAUTION:  Use sparingly!!  lol

ADVANTAGES:

• instructional planning is simpler
• used to kick-off a new instructional unit
• spend more time in direct teaching
• used to build a sense of community
• can be used to review

DISADVANTAGES:

• most times students are not on the same level
• difficult to keep all students engaged
• limited student communication time
• only able to spend brief amounts of time with some students--not all

Sammons also suggests teaching and training your students to be able to assess their own learning using a rubric or another assessment tool.  Also, she says to set learning goals and have the students track their progress.  This is something I want to implement next year.  My goal is to let the kids know what is expected of them and discuss with them what are realistic/reasonable goals and why it is important to set goals for yourself.

What can I do during a whole group lesson?

MINI LESSONS:

• teacher directed
• NO more than 10 min  **the more you talk the more kids you loose!
• clearly identify the teaching point
• limit student talk--not a free for all share
• demonstrate the teaching point
• use familiar context for problem solving
• match the active engagement to mathematics teaching point

What is that going to look like:

Connection--

• with yesterday's lesson
• with the ongoing unit of study
• with students work
• with an experience outside of school

Teaching Point--

• present verbally 
• demonstrate or model

Active Engagement--

• students try out a skill or strategy
• students act like researchers as they watch a demo
• students imagine trying a skill or strategy
• students plan out work aloud

Link to Ongoing Student work--

• students turn to their own work and apply teaching points

ACTIVATING STRATEGIES

• K-W-L chart * I would also have a section for misconceptions and connections made     OR    1st colunm- What do you know for sure?    2nd--What are you trying to find out?  3rd-Are there any special conditions in the problem?
• Anticipation guide-set of questions about the upcoming unit there is a BEFORE and AFTER column for the students to mark true or false before and after the unit study
• Word Spalsh-the relevant vocabulary is on a chart at the start of the unit.  The students will make connections to the words and their prior knowledge

MATH LITERATURE:

This is a no-brainer!!  What kids do not like to be read to??  And lets face it what student doesn't  love to be read to!!  Use a think-aloud to help students recognize the math/lit. links from the story.  The stories can be used to help illustrate the real life value of the math concept being studied.


Set stage for Math Workshop:

This is your time at the start of the year to set expectations and procedures so that when you are pulling small groups your students will not interrupt.... Just like in Guided Reading!!  (are you seeing a theme here???)

Math Huddle is when the students are brought together to "communicate their ideas, solutions, problems, proofs, and conjectures with one another."   During this time the students are held accountable for expressing ideas, listening thoughtfully, and justifying their mathematical thinking.  This time will be instrumental in building your classroom community.  During the Math Huddle the expectations are set for mistakes to be made in a save environment, use those misconceptions as a learning opportunity, and the teacher is the facilitator--NOT the leader.


Whole group is also when practice and reviews can take place.  Types are:   pencil & paper tasks, games & music, and assessments.

I am sad to say that I felt there was TO much time spent in whole group..... for lots of reasons!!  But,  guided math is what I REALLY want in my classroom... And, I know guided math is the way to go and is my ultimate goal!!

I think it is great to introduce a new concept.. That is one of my goals to really fine tune the 5 step WBT lessons which are by design to be short!!  Which will get me to guided math sooner!
At times it was beneficial to use a whole group lesson; one time was when talking about fractions and we read the book Hershey's Milk Chocolate Fractions Book.


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