Math Workshop

Math Workshop

2,4,6,8 Who do we appreciate? Carson Dellosa!

Have you been thinking about math workshop? Are you already doing it? Do you need some ideas and some support? Ready to take the plunge? Carson Dellosa has your back!

The new Math Workshop book from Carson Dellosa can help – no matter what stage you are in. They covered lots of information in a concise way and an easy to use way. I’m somewhere in the middle of Math Workshop. I try to do it as often as possible, but some days just don’t go as planned. Some days we can’t handle the centers, some days a whole group lesson goes longer than I thought, some days a fire drill throws everything off. It happens. It’s real life.

CD has set up the book in a very user-friendly way. There is an explanation of what Math Workshop is – my thinking has always been to run it like Reading Workshop. Just different material being worked on.  Just like Literacy – warm-up, mini-lesson, rotations/groups and closure. I personally set up my math stations just like my literacy stations. I have a separate center rotation chart (different combinations of students- we don’t want them to only be working with one student!). They also learn who is a good person to ask for help in the different subjects – we all have our specialties.  I think this helps the students with consistency also. There is nothing new or different that they need to do – helps makes them be an expert in the classroom.

Math Workshop tells what it can look like. It gives the foundation – you can take it from there and make it your own. It shares ideas on how to manage it. As I said, I manage it just like my literacy stations. There is a rotation chart. The tubs have numbers on them – get it, it’s math! Lol They are grouped heterogeneously. They have different activities in the tubs. I try to use the same type of games so they don’t need a huge set of explanations every time we get new centers. I usually try to change them the beginning of every month- but that is just me. You can do what you want. 😊 They use the smartboard. They use the student laptops for math games. I call the groups back that I need to see and work on the skills they need. Doesn’t have to be harder because it’s different.  CD gives you lots of planning pages also. Planning for the teacher and planning for the students. It’s all there. Of course, the book is divided up by the five topics of math – counting and cardinality, operations and algebraic thinking, number operations in base ten, measurement and data and geometry. Under each topic there are numerous lessons -all planned! They give you several pages to use for the rotations. Yes, they are in black and white, but you can make them brighter by using some colored paper. You could put them in sheet protectors or laminate them, so you don’t have to run off a class set. Options people, options! They did a great job with the lessons too! Essential Questions, warm-ups, mini-lesson, math talk, journal prompt, materials, workstation pages, guided math lessons for the groups (above, on and below level) and how to assess and extend. WHOA! IT’s done for you! And then, you can use the same basis to continue! Great format! The only downfall I see is that there isn’t a blank lesson page for me to fill in if I need more. I think I will manage! Lol

I participate in the Brand Ambassador Program for Carson-Dellosa and have received this product for free to review.