Monday, September 3, 2012

Guided Math Tubs

Well my week was exhausting, and I think I am finally above water...at least until tomorrow when we are back to school. I had to be video taped and had four conferences already! By the way, it should be against the rules to have a Friday afternoon conference. Whew!

I know some of you had a few questions about my Guided Math tubs, mostly what I am putting in them. Well this is my second year of Guided Math, and my first year doing it in 5th grade. Therefore, I am having to start from scratch (in terms of materials).


As I update my tubs I'll do a post to let you know what I have put in them. First of all, I have started off very slowly...introducing the games and tubs one at a time. This way I can see what they can or can not handle.

First I introduced the game Multiplication War. I discussed it and demonstrated it to the entire class, they then got to play with a partner. After that, it became tub 1. Here are the directions that we use for Multiplication War (even though they are fifth graders, the NEED fluency practice!!!!!) click to retrieve:


My other tub is Rolling Factors. This game was given to me by a friend and it is from Teacher's Mailbox. I looked for it online, but was unable to find it. Basically each student has two dice. They roll the dice and make a two digit number. Example: player rolls 4 and 2, they can make 42 or 24. They then have to list the factors for that number. Based on how many factors they make, according to the cart they can earn 1-6 points. Example 2 factors, 1pt; 4 factors, 3pts. After five rounds they add up how many points they got, the player with the most points wins.

I had both of theses tubs in rotation for a week. This week I am adding two more tubs. These are both task card tubs. They focus on two skills we have worked on in the previous weeks. I got the task cards from TpT. The first is expressions: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Math-Common-Core-Task-Cards-5th-Grade-CCSS-5OA2

I break the task cards up into groups of four or five and place them into Ziploc baggies. The baggies are then put into a large envelope along with a recording sheet that I have made. Click here if you would like the sheet. I usually have the same tubs for two weeks. So I also include an envelope in the tub that says I'm Still Working. This way if they don't get done they can put the WS in there. If they are done they turn it in for possible incentive, especially if they do well!


Again I will set it up the same way as the previous tub. Click here if you would like the recording sheet I made to go along with them. I didn't include the last five cards because my kids haven't mastered graphing an x and y table yet.

Each student must first complete seatwork, usually a short assignment from that day's mini lesson. Once I have checked their work they are then allowed to work on a tub. If a student is struggling with the seatwork this gives me a chance to work with them one on one or in a small group. My meet with teacher group is usually calling those over that may have struggled on the previous assignment or test for some extra help.

Hopefully I can keep you all updated on my tubs :)  I haven't even started my reading tubs yet! They are currently reading independently or going to the media center. One step at a time I guess.