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!