Sunday, September 4, 2011

Math Stations and Math Cards Freebie

Math stations are up and running and I want to share some pictures of how our first full week of stations went.  I introduced our pocket chart and our numbered tubs for our stations.


I wanted to put the kids pictures on their cards, but for now just wrote their names.  I made number cards to match all of our tubs.  I also have Meet the Teacher cards but will not use those until we are working efficiently in our stations. I will post these cards as a freebie if you are interested at the end of this post.  I was able to walk around and observe students working.  Here is a picture of our math tubs - labeled 1-10.


Here are a few of the stations we were working at this week.  The first few stations were making patterns with linking cubes.



Another station was rolling a die and coloring that amount of boxes on their recording sheets.  Partners were taking turns to see who would reach 100 first. 



I hate how are desks are old and mismatched...but even more they seem to twist and turn throughout the day.  I'm constantly squaring them up again.  Anyone know any tricks to keep your desks in pods?  See the orange cone on the desk in the background.  I use these as a classroom management tool. I will post about those later. 


Another station was using pattern blocks to create any shape.  Students had to record the shape they made and then count the number of shapes in their pattern.  At the end, they count the total number of shapes they used.  Take a look:





Another pair of students are playing a "Go Monkey" game, similar to go fish except they are matching number words to numbers and tally marks to ten frames.  Great practice and math talk happening at this station.



Another pair  of students used dominoes to record numbers and add them across.



And finally our number writing folders are a big hit.  Students must write their numbers from 1-100 and then they will get a new page to continue on to 200.  It will be stapled on top.  Students cannot move on if any numbers are written backwards or out of sequence.  I highlight these and they go back and fix them before moving on to the next sheet.  Last year I had a student make it to 1,000!  She was so excited.



At the beginning of this post I said I would share the number cards I use in my math station pocket chart.  Here they are! 




How are your math stations coming along? 


15 comments:

  1. I love your math stations! Do you have copies to purchase?

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  2. Looks fantastic!!! :) I hate when desks move around -- I use the Big Rubber Bands from Staples. They are multicolored and come in a pack of 24. Here is the link: http://www.staples.com/Staples-Big-Rubber-Bands-24-Pack/product_383318 Although I have always been able to find them in the store - I just thought you might want a visual. :) I rubber band the legs together. It really helps!!! They only last about a year because they do stretch but will work. One year, my husband bound them together with zip ties. So whatever works for you! :)
    Kristin
    A Teeny Tiny Teacher

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  3. You are wonderful! Thank you so much for posting these freebies! :o)

    Jennifer

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  4. I use zip ties on the four legs in the center of my groups of desks to keep them together- it works great! -e

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  5. I will definitely try either the rubber bands or maybe the zip ties since I think my husband has some in the garage. Thanks for the ideas. And THANK YOU Barbara... I'm honored. Smiles~
    Nicole

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  6. Great math centers. Thanks for sharing!!

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  7. These are some great centers. Thanks for sharing. I use zip-ties (the kind that you use to wrangle electronics' cables) around the legs of the desks to keep them from drifting. I wrote about it here: http://theteachergeek.com/2010/06/catch-my-drift/

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  8. Where do you get the math station ideas? Is there a book or site to get the pages that go along and directions?

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  9. The math centers I am using right now come from a variety of sources. Some of them are pages that I have saved from teacher blogs, some are from Sharri Sloan's site, some were pages from another first grade teacher.

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  10. I have tables that do the same thing... and it drives me crazy! I use coffee containers and put the legs of the adjacent tables into them.

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  11. Hey! To keep the legs of the desks together, you could put a hair tie, or can I use this word now, but a hair scrunchie around the bottom of the legs. Just an idea. :)

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  12. Awesome stations! I love all the different activities that you have for your students. They seem really engaged in the pictures. For now I am trying these online math games for kindergarten and could not be happier with the results. I have seen a lot of progress in my kids. Hope you have a nice weekend :)
    ---Best, Jim

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  13. Where did you get your math station containers at?

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  14. I've always wanted to try out math centres but I never dared to for fear of the kids running amok. But I'm gonna try some of your ideas out with my class once they get settled in. Thanks!!

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  15. I use zap straps to keep my desk pods from moving around! It's awesome :)

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