Here’s how I use math small groups in my fifth and sixth-grade combined classroom.
Math Small Groups Each Day
I use guided math each day in my classroom. It sounds like a lot, but once you have it up and running, it works like a well-oiled machine! Honestly, I think my students could run it without me! They cheer when I say that it’s time for guided math! It takes less than 30 minutes a day. 20 minutes for the small group centers and definitely less than 10 minutes to set up, go to your space and then tidy up afterwards.
I have 5 stations for guided math:
- Work with the Teacher
- Independent Work
- Puzzles
- Fact Fluency
- Technology
You can check out the decimals bundle I use in my math small groups here!
How I Group My Students
The first thing to figure out is how you will group your students. I have 25 students this year, 10 in fifth grade and 15 in sixth grade. It almost seems too good to be true, right? I have two fifth-grade groups and three sixth-grade groups.
I’ve been doing variations of math small groups for more than 5 years. In the past, I grouped my students by academic level, but now I do mixed levels for many different reasons. My number one reason was that students decided which group had the “really smart kids” and it just brought the whole class’s morale down.
Now we do mixed academic levels, students can help each other and learn from each other when they share ideas and their problem-solving logic. This also helps relieve the need for them to leave their rotation to come to ask me for help! They can usually figure it out in their group.
You can read part 2 here! I will go explain how I plan my math small groups and get the students “trained” so that it works like a well-oiled machine!
