HOW TO SCHEDULE YOUR DAILY MATH BLOCK

math block

Depending on how much time you have for guided math, find ideas on how to schedule your daily math block to include key components for success.

Ever wonder what your daily math block should look like?

A well designed math block incorporates whole group and small group instruction. It also provides time for teaching new skills, practicing for mastery and reviewing previously taught skills.

However, there are two things I want you to keep in mind. The ideal and the real. And I’m going to share both.

First, let me share what an ideal elementary math block looks like. When I say ideal, I’m talking about a math block that is 75 minutes or longer.

Warm Up Activity For Books

Purpose: (1) Review math skills or (2) Introduce a new topic

Any good lesson starts out with an engaging opening. Math is no exception.

This section of your math block should be fast paced. This is either the time for a quick review or a way to interest your kids in a brand new topic. Remember, you want to spend the bulk of your time in centers so that you can work with your teacher led small group.

Here are some examples of things you can do during your warm up:

• Number Talks
• Calendar Activities
• Problem of the Day
• Number of the Day
• Kinesthetic Math Activities
• Number Sense Routines

Whole Class Mini-Lesson

This is the part of your daily math block when you are teaching a mini-lesson. You’re teaching and modeling new concepts by using think-alouds and clear visual models.

It’s also the time to do guided practice. Set aside a short amount time for students to actually practice what you’re modeling. This can look many different ways: interactive large group activities, partner work, etc.

Be strategic. Stay focused on the topic. Otherwise you may find yourself going down a rabbit hole and then not having enough time for math centers.

Here are some examples of things you can do during your whole group mini-lesson:

• Math Read-Aloud
• Hands-On Activities with Manipulatives
• Partner Work
• Group Activities

Teacher Tip – Since this is a “mini-lesson” after you explicitly model you may not get to guided practice on the same day. That’s OK! You can do guided practice the next day. The important part is to make sure you are modeling AND then providing support.

Math Centers and Teacher Led Small Group

Purpose: (1) Differentiate instruction for all learners and (2) provide ongoing practice and review of previously taught skills

There are 2 different things going on during this portion of your math block.

Math Centers – Students practice and review math skills in small groups or pairs, without teacher support (You’ll be at working with your small group).

Examples of math centers can include:

• Math Games
• Journals
• Task Cards
• Fluency Activities
• Problem Solving Tasks
• Math Sorts

Teacher Lead Small Group – This is my favorite part of the block! While the rest of your class is working in centers, you’re targeting instruction with a small group of your students in order to meet their needs.

It’s that magic time of the math block because you get to see and correct misconceptions up close. This is where you get to move your students.

You’re finished with your last teacher led small group and the rest of your students are cleaning up their stations.

Now, what?

It’s time for your kids to show what they know. Let’s move to the last part of an ideal daily math block. Time to assess.

Student Reflection

Purpose: (1) See what your kids know and (2) Inform instruction

This is the time to do a quick check of the day’s learning. It’s not a formal test.

What about if you only have 45 minutes?

This definitely isn’t ideal. But let’s keep it real, I know that some of you only have 45 minutes. The first thing, I strongly suggest that you advocate for more time for math.

With that out the way let’s get real creative.

In this scenario, I suggest keeping both the warm up and the reflection time 5 minutes each. This will leave you with 35 minutes each day for alternating teaching a whole group lesson OR doing math centers. See example below:

Monday: Warm Up (5 min.) – Whole Group (35 min.) – Reflection (5 min.)
Tuesday: Warm Up (5 min.) – Math Centers (35 min./2 groups) – Reflection (5 min.)

Then continue the pattern for the other days of the week.

Kids Faces 3 Types Of Math Errors And How To Prevent Them

When you are learning a new skill, do you do it perfectly the very first time? Do you know all the answers before you even begin? Of course not! The same is true of math. Learning math requires practice, and making mistakes is part of the process. But as I’ve shared before, making mistakes in math is a good thing, and can help kids learn and understand more deeply. Today I want to dive a little deeper, because all mistakes are not equal. There are different types of math errors that students make, and understanding how to prevent them and how to learn from them is essential.

types of math mistake

3 Types of Math Errors:
As I’ve thought about the different mistakes students of all ages make as they solve math problems, I’ve narrowed them down to 3 categories:

• Careless Errors
• Computational Errors
• Conceptual Errors

Careless Errors:

Careless errors occur simply because they are not paying attention, or are working too fast. Some examples might be:

• Copying the problem wrong to begin with
• Writing a wrong number
• Dropping a negative sign
• Sloppy handwriting
• Not following the directions
• Typing it wrong into their calculator

Here are some simple ways to help kids prevent making careless mistakes:

• Slow down

This seems obvious, but students are often in a rush to finish so that they can move on to something else. Rushing is the easiest way to ensure careless mistakes. Encourage kids to take it slow and pay attention to what they’re doing.

• Circle important information

Whether it’s a worksheet or word problems, circling important information will help students know what to do. Circling something in the directions will help them follow them correctly. Circling key information in a word problem will help them think through their strategy and make sure they don’t forget anything.

• Use graph paper

Using a sheet of graph paper to work out problems can be a really simple fix for kids who struggle with neatness. Graph paper allows kids to line up the numbers correctly and prevent sloppy mix ups.

Computational Errors:

The second type of mistake is computational. This means somewhere in the process they incorrectly added, subtracted, multiplied or divided.

Making one computational mistake in a multi-step problem means the rest of their work will be wrong and the final solution wrong.

As a classroom teacher, I always required students to show all their steps because if they used the correct procedure and showed me that they understood the concept, I was not too concerned about a small computational error.

Yes, that may have meant the “whole problem” was wrong, but to me, the final solution is not as important as understanding the concept and the process.

Still, we never want to encourage carelessness in computation.

Here are some ways to help students prevent computational errors:

• Slow down
• Check the answer after solving
• Use a calculator

Conceptual Errors:

Conceptual errors occur because kids have misunderstood the underlying concepts or have used incorrect logic. This is the most difficult type of error to identify at first glance. This is also the most difficult type of error for students to recognize, but it is the most important to catch and correct.
When students make conceptual errors, it’s possible that all the math computations are correct. If they’ve misunderstood a concept and thus used an incorrect method to solve, they can work out each step meticulously and correctly but still get the wrong answer.

Ways to prevent and correct conceptual errors:

Obviously preventing conceptual errors is not as easy or straightforward as careless or computational errors. And of course, all students will have varying degrees of understanding, and will struggle with different concepts
But here are a few things you can do to try and encourage conceptual understanding and prevent future conceptual mistakes.

• Introduce concepts in hands-on, conceptual ways
• Teach a concept more than one way
• Have math talks
• Use math journals