Formative assessment, developmental stages and starting the year well
The goal of formative assessment should always be to find out what each student NEEDS next, rather than focusing
With the year just beginning, it’s worth investing a few minutes putting together these simple maths hacks to save you time for the rest of the year.
Use small plastic containers as dice shakers
Three colour pen for anecdotal notes
Use a three colour pen to add comments to student work. Blue = A (like the colour of a first place ribbon), Red = B (second place ribbon), Black/Green = C or below.
Card games make rotations easier
Free rotation group card games can be made using the downloads at the bottom of the page here.
Or buy 5 pre-made card sets for $60 here.
Shoe boxes for games
In the first week of school, ask your parents to donate a spare shoe box. You will probably end up with 10-15 as everyone has just bought new shoes for the year. Use these to keep your most commonly used rotation group games in, stored neatly on a shelf in your room. That way you just have to put out the boxes on tables at the start of group time and everyone knows what to do.
Keep sticker frames. Stick them in the front cover of a book for tricky kids and have them try to fill them up.
Keep the outside sticky frames of smiley face or round stickers. For your really difficult students, place the sticker frame in the front of their book. They then try to get enough stickers to fill the frame. Give out stickers for set jobs (e.g. you get a sticker every time you remember your book, text, pen and calculator for class).
Master folder in files for each unit
Each time you start a new unit of work, open a new hanging folder in your filing cabinet. Every time you give out a photocopy or sheet to your class, and every time you do planning, place a copy in that file. At the end, add a contents page and bind the lot. That way if your electronic copies ever go missing you have an easy-to-access paper copy for every unit.
Set your phone time for rotation groups
For iphone: Hold in main button and say, “Set timer for five minutes”.
For Android, say “Ok Google, set timer for five minute
Shrink wrap all cords
You can buy rubber “Shrink wrap” at electronics stores to put around your chargers. This protects them from kids who bend them in the wrong direction. The wrap is basically a rubber tube. You cut it to the right length, slip it on the cord and add heat (lighter…). It shrinks to the right size and is very sturdy.
Use colours for differentiation
When making games for rotation groups, use mixed groups of students organised for behaviour rather than ability, but use different coloured paper for differentation. For example, higher end students always use the blue activity in the box… That way you can give differentiated activities when needed. Here’s an example of a hundreds chart jigsaw puzzle.
Don’t have white boards?
Laminating paper = instant white board.
Our Number Task Placemats are also great for quick maths tasks.
Have a fantastic year, and I hope these simple hacks get you started well!
Tierney
Want more?
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