need help in math!

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Third Grade Teachers Chatboard

need help in math!

by Amy K.

Sep 27, 2011

Hello all! For the first time we are not leveling for math this year. And, understandably, I have the very highs and the very lows, and the rest in-between. Advice? Teaching whole group is not working. I feel so bad for my two extremes! Any ideas? Open to all suggestions! Thank you!

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a few ideas, hope they help On 9/27/11, Amy K. wrote: > Hello all! For the first time we are not leveling for math > this year. And, understandably, I have the very highs and > the very lows, and the rest in-between. Advice? Teaching > whole group is not working. I feel so bad for my two > extremes! Any ideas? Open to all suggestions! Thank you!

I have...See MoreOn 9/27/11, Amy K. wrote: > Hello all! For the first time we are not leveling for math > this year. And, understandably, I have the very highs and > the very lows, and the rest in-between. Advice? Teaching > whole group is not working. I feel so bad for my two > extremes! Any ideas? Open to all suggestions! Thank you!

I have a couple of suggestions and hope they help, but I am not sure if you are bound to doing things a certain way so I am not sure what would be appropriate for your school/group, but here's some suggestions.

The first thing that comes to mind is small groups. Can you break the class into small groups, maybe by ability. Work with each one for about 10 minutes and then give them indenpendent work to do while you move to another small group.

Can you elcite volunteers to work with a small group? While you are working with a group, a parent volunteer can be the exra set of hands to just help those who you are not working with.

OR small groups that are mixed ability and do alot of cooperative work so that lows and highs work with each other.

I used to teach K, and those littles ones are all over the place ability wise. We did alot of math using dice, cards, dominos....for counting and basic things. But, I would 'fix' it so that the really low kids only got cards 1-3, or made my own dice with the lower numbers written on them. Kids who could handle more got the higher cards/dice. Maybe you could apply the same idea when working with a mixed ability group. The nice thing about a deck of cards or homemade dice when working with mixed abilities is that all the kids are using the same materials so it may not be obvious that they are working at different levels. Older kids may be savier to things like that, though.

Speaking of cards, I found a great on line resource for math called Acing Math One Deck at a Time. I don't have a link, but you can google it. It is a free printable book with lots of great ideas on how to reinforce math skills for all levels using a standard deck of cards. Just a fun way to practice skills. My own daughter loves playing the games and I don't feel like I am drilling/killing her with math fact.

Sep 29, 2011

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Louise I have 31 students and like you have the range from those working well above grade level to those well below. I have introduced centers this year. I began the year by assessing students in all areas of number and have grouped them accordingly. To date I have got lots of activities for addition and subtraction and multiplication and division from th...See More

Sep 30, 2011

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Ms. Daniels On 9/27/11, Amy K. wrote: > Hello all! For the first time we are not leveling for math > this year. And, understandably, I have the very highs and > the very lows, and the rest in-between. Advice? Teaching > whole group is not working. I feel so bad for my two > extremes! Any ideas? Open to all suggestions! Thank you!

This f...See More

Oct 1, 2011

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Jasme Sounds like a regular class to me. You need to differentiate to meet the needs of all students. The easiest way to do this is to differentiate the product. Provide open ended tasks that all student can access at their own level of thinking.

On 10/01/11, Ms. Daniels wrote: > On 9/27/11, Amy K. wrote: >> Hello all! For the first tim...See More

Oct 3, 2011

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Amy K. Thank you everyone!!! We had parents in today, able to practice a skill at many different levels! Kids happy! Parents happy! And - one very supported teacher happy! Thank you all!! n 9/27/11, Amy K. wrote: > Hello all! For the first time we are not leveling for math > this year. And, understandably, I have the very highs and > the very low...See More