| Why
Math Stations in the Middle Grades?
Differentiation
is the buzz word in education these days, but the challenge is
finding the time to plan and prepare activities that meet the needs
of all of our students. Adding math stations to your instructional
program can be an effective way of meeting diverse needs and finding
the time to work with small groups of students on targeted skills.
What
is a Math Station?
The
term “math station” can be a little misleading because it
implies that a specific game or activity takes place in a certain
location in the room. We envision elaborate “centers” around the
room where students go to complete activities and tasks. Who has
time to create those cute little centers? And even if we had the
time, what middle grades teacher has enough room to set up all those
centers?! For the purposes of this book, the term “math station”
refers to a set of directions and materials that students can take
to any location in the room to complete. They can even complete the
activities at their own desks!
Who
Can Use this Power Pack?
Teachers
in all grade levels can use math stations, but this Power Pack will
most benefit teachers in Grades 3 through 8. Not every activity will
work for all students because of the diverse span of abilities
across these middle grades. However, the packet includes lots of
blank templates for you to create your own math content to go with
almost any game or activity.
What
You'll Find in this Power Pack
- 62
pages of lesson plans, teaching strategies and blackline masters
- 25
prepared, content-specific games and activities
- Over
10 pages of directions and teaching suggestions
- Math
Station Management Ideas
- Descriptions
of 2 types of stations: Learning Choice Stations and Rotation
Stations
- Create
Your Own Game templates and blank blackline masters
Digital
Books vs. Print Books
Have
you started purchasing other digital content? If not, I think you'll
like the advantages of the digital format. First of all, having a
digital book means less paper is wasted unless you print out the
entire book. Personally, I would recommend you scroll through the
document and just print the pages you need. Also, you never have to
take that whole book to the copier to make copies for your class!
Just print copies of the page you want and you are ready to go. You
can rearrange the pages to fit your needs, and you can make hard
copies of the activities you like and file them with your other
teaching resources on that topic. Finally, you'll never misplace it
as long as you create a folder on your desktop for your downloads.
Why not make a folder called Laura's Power Packs and save your Power
Packs right into that folder?
Note:
The Power Pack is in PDF format and is not able to be modified in any
way. If you want to change it, you'll have to use the trick every
teacher knows - cut and paste! However, the template files are
available in Publisher 2003 format if you sign up for my newsletter.
When you sign up on my home page, you'll be taken to a page where
you can download those templates and modify them.
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