Division Complete

The students took the division assessment on Friday of last week, and I was able to grade them this weekend.  Overall...I AM SO IMPRESSED!!!!!

Of the Seven 'I Cans' in this unit (see last blog for seven statements)
13 students mastered all
1 student mastered 6/7
8 students mastered 5/7
4 students mastered 4/7
2 students mastered 3/7

It is hard to say what the true contributing factor is to their great success in the division unit, but here are some observations about the week leading up to the assessment...
-The structure of the stations was all over the place, and that is completely my own doing.  Some days there were three rotations, some days two, it really all depended.  I was taking a deeper look at the students' homework and using that to focus in on who I needed to see that day in a group.  Based on their needs, the group members and their time with me varied.
-All groups got to play the activity once this week.  They loved it and even asked if this could be a recess  option vs. going outside.
-A few times I pulled students one-on-one for 10 minutes of focused practice.  We were able to use counters, and really get in some good practice/review.  It was so neat while working with Student J.  He is typically a low student and was really struggling with division.  One day he would get it, but would come back the next and completely forget.  During a one-on-one time I truly saw the light bulb go off in his head.  He is the student that mastered 6/7 I cans, when typically he fails every math assessment.  Because of the short week this week, we are spending time reviewing in math rather than starting a new unit.  After a weekend of no math...he still could divide today.  I think that is a great sign!!


So what am I finding about math groups...I don't think there is a set routine I need to set my class into.  I think it is dependent on the unit and the kids' needs.  Some days that may be three quick rotations, some days that may be two, and some days it may be no stations, but one-on-one work.
I think warm-up and mini-lesson as a class are a KEEPER.  Having the 40 minutes to group in a variety of ways works for me, and hopefully my students.  The students not with me know that their responsibilities are math journal, leveled work, or activity.  But most importantly we all must keep DESCA as the foundation for all of this, no matter the routine, to work.

New Unit...New Changes

The Division Unit got off to a good start last week.  There are seven I Can Statements for this unit:

·         I can divide multi-digit numbers.

·         I can write quotients using whole numbers with remainders.

·         I can write quotients using fractions or mixed numbers.

·         I can write quotients using decimals.

·         I can decide how to use a remainder.

·         I can solve real world and math problems using division and subtraction of decimals.

·         I can check my answers using the inverse operation

After pre-assessing the students on division, I quickly realized that there are more students that do not know how to divide, than do.  Because there are more students needing more focused instruction, I decided to try a few new things with the math groups.  Instead of having two twenty minute stations, I tried four ten minute stations.  I still did the warm-up and mini-lesson.  My hope was to see more students in one day.  I also decided to incorporate an activity/game as one of the stations.  My hope was to keep students more engaged, and more likely to self-manage.  An additional change I made was to evaluate the previous nights homework, and make 'daily' groups based on sensed needs.  The students still have there base group, this was just a random grouping for the day. 
Some observations about the new guided math instruction:  Four stations is too many!  There was not enough time to get through it all.  Monday and Tuesday we pushed our way through three, but in my opinion, the stations were very rushed.  My overall observation was that the students were self-managing well, aware of the intended outcomes, and worked really well in the small groups.  But just about the time they were really in a good groove, the timer went off, and it was time to switch stations.  Hence we kept going longer and only got through three stations.  We kept that model all week, to ensure that all four groups got to play the game.  They were really eager and on-task with the game, Divisibility Dash. 
Having 'daily'groups based on the homework was really nice.  I feel I was able to work with struggling students more closely and on a more consistent basis.  That will definitely continue for future groupings.

Well see what happens this week...we're introducing decimal division and that ALWAYS throws the students for a loop.  Let's hope they don't forget all of the great learning that happened last week!

Data Collection

This last week, we completed "Addition/Subtraction/Multiplication" unit in math.  Although I am pleased with the changes I see in our environment, the improvements in math are not as great as I had anticipated.  The students seem more engaged during math, and eager to participate but I am not seeing huge academic gains.  We are still working on the self-management aspect of the work stations.  There are improvements each week, but still progress to be made.  

Mastery of I Can Statements:  

After collecting the end of unit assessment and comparing it to "Preview the Year" (which was taught whole class) there is a slight improvement in overall mastery of student learning goals.

I feel it is important to note that for unit one (Preview the Year) there were eight learning targets to master, and for unit two("Addition/Subtraction/Multiplication" ) there were nine learning targets to master. 

~I am hoping to see further improvement for the division unit, because I plan to try flexibly grouping the students more often from day to day, rather than per unit.  I have been doing this for the last few days, and I feel much better.  I feel like I am able to work with the strugglers more often and really practice and focus specifically on their misconceptions.

~I also incorporated an activity this week into the math workshop time.  The math game (Divisibility Dash) was engaging, so the students were able to stay more focused and self-manage much better.   In addition, only one group was playing at a time.  That helped the noise level remain manageable, so the other students could concentrate on their table work.  I was also able to give focused, uninterrupted time to my small group of students.

Homework completion:

-- 29 students participated in "Preview the Year".  There were seven assignments to complete.  On average, 2.2 students turned their work in late.  Of the 38 late assignments, 14 were never completed.

--29 students participated in "Addition/Subtraction/Multiplication" .  There were seven assignments to complete.  On average, 1.2 students turned their work in late.  Of the 25 late assignments, 8 were never completed.

DESCA evaluations:  The students have completed multiple DESCA evaluations (there is a link on a previous post), but I can't figure out the best way to organize the data.  After reviewing it, the students have a good handle on the five principles.  In my observations, and those of a colleague, the overall environment has a positive tone.  The students are really working hard and aware of what they need to be doing.  

Ways that I plan on changing and adapting my plan as we begin the division unit:

• restructuring groups based on pre-assessment for division unit
• incorporating more student choice to stations
• explore with different group work formats (station rotations, games, activities, etc

"Addition/Subtraction/Multiplication" Unit complete

This last week, we completed "Addition/Subtraction/Multiplication" unit in math.  Although I am pleased with the changes I see in our environment, the improvements in math are not as great as I had anticipated.  The students seem more engaged during math, and eager to participate but I am not seeing huge academic gains.  We are still working on the self-management aspect of the work stations.  There are improvements each week, but still progress to be made.

graph here

Ways that I plan on changing and adapting my plan as we begin unit three:

• restructuring groups based on pre-assessment for division unit
• incorporating more student choice to stations
• explore with different group work formats (station rotations, games, activities, etc