Launching Math Workshop, Part 2

If you missed part one of this series, be sure to check it out here to find out what I do on the first day of math workshop.

Read on to find out what the 2nd day of math workshop looks like.

For me, day 2 is all about *modeling*.

I start off by briefly explaining to the students what math workshop will look like this year:

- We'll use the website blendspace for their directions 

- They'll watch an instructional video for their lesson

- I'll be pulling groups every day

Then we pull up our first blendspace. Since our 1st unit is place value, I introduce workshop with a place value review.

You can find the blendspace here.

Every blendspace will start with a video. I've found my kids focus better watching a short video than they do with the distractions of a whole class mini-lesson. I can also get the information across in a shorter time in a video. 

I'll show the video whole class and we'll pause the video and fill out our anchor charts together. (I make a student copy of the anchor chart for each video). I do lots of "think alouds" during the video and make sure the kids really understand what's expected of them while they're watching an instructional video. 

After we've all completed our anchor charts & glued them into our journals, we make an anchor chart on watching instructional videos. 

Then I have the students think-pair-share what they think they'll be doing for the next activity in the blendspace. They work on the 2nd activity, which incorporates their iPads, on their own. During this time I walk around the room & provide feedback. 

Once everyone has finished, we come back together and discuss the next activity in blendspace. Again, they complete it on their own as I walk around the room. 

Once they're finished, we come back together and discuss things that went well & things that need to change for the next day. 

I tried to choose activities that all students should be able to complete independently, even if they're below level. 

You can download all of the materials for these activities here for FREE.

If you like these activities, be on the look out for more digital math stations in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

Stay tuned for part 3 - gradually releasing responsibility to students!