Math Work Stations Blog Party Week 4

Oh My! I am really behind with this math work stations blog party. On the bright side I just spent a week at math training so I now have a better understanding of what my administration is expecting from me. I was told that my county will begin using the Common Core Standards with the 2012-2013 school year. This year I will have to follow my state's course of study, however, this will be a good year to implement many things in preparation for the common core standards.

This post is my response to Chapter 5: Addition and Subtraction Workstations.

Below I will give my answers to the guiding questions on our Math Work Stations Book Mark that I got from Deedee Wills over at Mrs. Wills Kindergarten.


1. How do you support math vocabulary (math talk) at Addition and Subtraction Work Stations?
I think the key is to teach children how to use the math vocabulary through model lessons. Students needs to hear math vocabulary being used. I think that this can be supported through math talk cards, model lessons, and "I can" charts.

2. How do you build addition and subtraction fluency?
During my training this was a huge topic. Some teachers that I talked with said their schools had specific programs that targeted math facts fluency. The Investigations training instructor's opinion was that fluency is build through practice using the math work stations.

3. What type of story problems have you been working on?
I was given a wonderful idea during the workshop that was new to me. The instructor worked with story problems every day as a routine. She used a routine that she called "ICEE". Each child had some type of notebook. She taught them how to draw the four quadrants on the paper. Then children glued the story problem across the top. (I think you could also use peel and stick labels.) In the first box the children Illustrated the picture. The the student Composed a number equation. Next, the students had to Explain their answer (write how they got their answers). Last was a box that was labeled "Extra". I have tried to upload a sample that I made.


ICEE Story Problem Example


4. What is your student's favorite addition and subtraction work station/activity?
I'm not sure what my student's favorite will be because it has been several years since I thought second grade. If I had to guess it would be the computer station. I plan to have that as one of my math workstations and I will begin with XtraMath.

This Chapter in the blog book study is being hosted by Cheryl at Primary Graffiti. There are so many wonderful activities other bloggers have shared and your can find them linked over at Primary Graffiti.