Sunday, June 5, 2011

Debbie Diller Math Tubs!


Hey there!  I haven't forgotten you, my sweet friends!  It is summer vacation here, and I have been a busy, busy lady chasing around my 15 month old little baby who has learned two new words this week: baby and car!  Not too exciting to others, but super exciting to me!  Ha!  Being a mommy rocks.  

Anyway, I've seen several of my favorite teacher friends blogging about Debbie Diller's Math Work Stations book--{awesome} and I wanted to share how I organized my math tubs near the end of this past year!  I wish I had these cute little tubs all year long, but I am so excited to begin a new year with them!  I usually begin my math block with 15-20 minutes of whole group instruction--beginning with a number talk, daily review of basic skills (addition facts, counting by 2s, 5s, 10s, coin values, math journaling, etc.), then moving into an explicit lesson on the math skill of the day.  After whole group instruction, the kids are given time to independently practice the skill--sometimes this is a game, other times it is a work page, or a math craft-tivity/activity.  Following independent practice, it is finally time for Math Work Stations!  {Woot!}  My students can't wait to do math stations!  I try to put a few games and activities inside each tub that will relate to the math topic of the week, and the other tubs are mainly review activities.  Like Debbie Diller suggested, I found that keeping math work station groups to 2 or 3 kids really kept my students more engaged in learning and resulted in less conflict!  Each tub is numbered, and the kids are assigned to 2 tubs each day, but sometimes we only have time for 1 tub. 

I promise to try to post more ideas throughout the summer!      

25 comments:

Jill said...

So cute! I'll have to keep my eye for a set-up like yours. Thanks for sharing!

Magnificent Multiagers!

Leslie Ann said...

Love the math tubs!!! So pretty :) Where did you get them?

Sarah Cooley said...

Thank y'all! Leslie Ann, I got the shelving and tubs at Wal-Mart, but they also sell all of it at Target and Lowe's! I love some fabric bins! They are my faves!

eager2teach said...

Anonymous said...I adore your math tubs...what a cute and organized way to help you implement the math work stations. I will be teaching kindergarten in a district that uses the Everyday Math curriculum...I would LOVE to be able to use the Debbie Diller Math Workstations framework, but I'm not sure how to make it fit within the structure of EDM. I have the wonderful summer ahead of me to try and figure it out!!

Thanks for sharing your creative ideas

eager2teach said...

Anonymous said...I adore your math tubs...what a cute and organized way to help you implement the math work stations. I will be teaching kindergarten in a district that uses the Everyday Math curriculum...I would LOVE to be able to use the Debbie Diller Math Workstations framework, but I'm not sure how to make it fit within the structure of EDM. I have the wonderful summer ahead of me to try and figure it out!!

Thanks for sharing your creative ideas

Oceans of First Grade Fun said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jenn Bates said...

Now those are some cute math tubs! I am enjoying reading Math Stations and thinking about how I may want to change things.
Jenn
http://finallyinfirst.blogspot.com

Kathleen said...

Sarah - I LOVE this idea. Everything is so well-contained and looks NEAT. Definitely on my list...would love to see pics inside each drawer :)
Kathleen from Growing Kinders

Hillary said...

Love the idea!! Thanks! Curious, what is your Skinny Pencil Club? :)

Kreative in Kinder said...

Very Cute! How tall are they?

Lauren Morse said...

Cute tubs! Curious about the "skinny pencil club" sign hanging in the background.
Just Add Clipart

Ms. Morales said...

Super Cute! I'd love to see the inside of the drawers as well or what you plan to put in them. Would you have different activities in each or are these the levels in your classroom?? Love the idea! Thanks for sharing!

Deedee Wills said...

Oh! I! Love! These! So cute!
Mrs. Wills Kindergarten

Anonymous said...

Hi- I just posted about finding this cute organizer at Target. I am so tempted to purchase this for my classroom!!

Primary Connections

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing your great ideas! I just started teaching 1st grade in January after teaching the 5th grade for 2 and a half years and your blog has been a huge help to me.
I have a question about the "Pencil Club" poster in the picture above. Is this a reward program you have for your kids for keeping their pencils sharpened? I'm asking because this is a big problem in my classroom. They are always losing pencils and can never keep them sharpened. Thanks!

Sarah Cooley said...

The skinny pencil club is kind of a motivator for nice handwriting--the kids all start first grade by using a fat pencil, and those who show improvement/consistently nice handwriting sign the Skinny Pencil Club poster and "graduate" to a fun skinny pencil for writing!

Anonymous said...

The boys thought it was cute that one of her first words was car. That was theirs too

Elisabeth said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Marissa Tompkins said...

I just got her book! It's time to start reading! I love how you organized the bins. :)

WILD About First Grade!

Anonymous said...

I love all your cool ideas for math tubs and word work!! Can you tell me more about how you keep track of which kids do which centers each day/week??

Anonymous said...

Just got assigned this morning to first grade. I haven't taught that in 11 years, but I love first grade best of all! Yea! First grade rocks.
Actually, my idea is how to use some rocks in spelling and matching games. I bought some medium sized rocks in the flower arranging part of AC Moore Co. this morning. Then I bought some abc stickers. First paint the rocks with modge podge (spelling on that??) Then after that you paint several layers of modge podge over the stickers on each of the rocks. Then, when 100% dry, spray the rocks with a clear acryclic. The kids love these for spelling words. Another way is to buy 2 sets of the same type of stickers and use them for matching games. I bought some car stickers and some flower stickers. The abc ones were a huge hit with second graders. They should be as popular with first graders. Anyhow, easy to make and how often do you get to use rocks!
Kay

Anonymous said...

I love this!! I just wish there was time in our math section to do something like this! It seems like by the time we get through the review of basic skills, the lesson, and practice that time is up =(

Anonymous said...

We used EDm up until last year. There are tons of EDm games. Set up each bin with a different game. I'd have my little ones practice math games on Fridays and this would be a nice way tomatoey materials. That should read to store materials but it's not letting me go back to correct.

Anonymous said...

How did you get the numbers to stick on the fabric bins?

Sarah Cooley said...

I used hot glue!

Post a Comment

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...