Structuring Math Time

K-5 Math Framework

K-5 Math Framework document

Mathematics Instruction FOUNDATIONS & COMPONENTS “Look Fors”

How you use the 60-80 minutes of math time depends on your students' needs. Number sense building activities, problem solving, and purposeful closing activities must be done daily. The amount of time you need to engage students in rich problem solving tasks and small group work (guided math) depends on your formative feedback from students. Whatever you decide, remember, ALL students need productive struggle daily to develop a deep understanding of mathematics.

More information about this structure, often called Math Workshop:

Number Sense Routine

Number Talk “Look Fors”

You need to do a short activity every day to engage students in thinking. This does NOT have to be at the start of your math block, though that is most common. If you have a 10 minute gap in your schedule, use that time to engage students in an activity that allows THEM to think deeply, problem solve, develop strategies, communicate, reason and justify mathematical ideas.

Number Sense Routines can be one of the activities listed here (Splat, Which One Doesn't Belong, Visual Patterns, Esti-Mysteries, etc.). It can also be a time to purposely build students' strategies for math fluency expectations through Number Talks and Number Strings. See the "Fluency" tab at each grade level for resources and activities around math fluency.

Rich Problem Solving Tasks

Problem Solving “Look Fors” & SMP

ALL students need productive struggle daily to engage in deep understanding of mathematics. These could be a way to launch the essential question or as a midpoint check to see and hear what students already know. It could take the entire math block, like a 3-Act task or Youcubed task, or just part of the time, like an Open Middle or Illustrative Mathematics task. These different tasks are linked on the curriculum map for every essential question.

More information about how to implement rich problem solving tasks (series by Dan Finkel from Math for Love):

Overview 5:33 minutes
Launch and ignite their curiosity 7:44
Productive Struggle 7:56
Student Ownership 9:15

5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematics Discussions & The 5 Practices in Practice :

Small groups (aka, guided math) & stations

guided math tips Guide to the first 20 days workstations & GM "look fors"

Differentiation is the key to meet all students' needs. Small-group lessons are for providing more support or enrichment for students. Students are grouped homogeneously according to needs or strengths, as opposed to their mixed-ability math stations. This is a time to conduct individual conferences and to make observations of individual student work, discussion, and abilities through their work at workstations. Please note: small group time should not interfere with the time needed to engage students in high-quality tasks during whole group time.

More information about Guided Math by Dr. Nicki Newton:

https://guidedmath.wordpress.com/what-is-guided-math/
Overview 4:07 minutes
Workstations 4:02 minutes
Launching the First 20 Days

Closing

“Closure in a lesson does not mean to pack up and move on. Rather, it is a cognitive activity that helps students focus on what was learned and whether it made sense and had meaning.” How the Brain Learns Mathematics (2007) P. 104

There are many ways to wrap up and reflect the day's activities but this step is often overlooked or rushed. Purposely plan and allow time for students to have closure each day (even if it means setting a timer or daily alarm so you don't run out of time).