It's true that Guided Math Workshop is all about how you plan and manage your small group instruction. So why is Whole Group Instruction one of the 5 Keys?
When you make the switch to Guided Math Workshop, you'll need to devote most of the time in your math block (whether it's 45 minutes, an hour, or an hour and a half) to small groups. Therefore, you have to make a big impact in a short time with whole group instruction.
It can be scary to think about trying to teach a skill to a large group of students in 10 or 15 minutes. Here's the thing to remember: they don't have to know it backwards and forwards by the end of that time. That's what small group instruction is for.
Ultimately, the goal of Whole Group Instruction is to introduce the skill. We want students to know it well enough to try it out on their own a little bit. In a well-planned and well-executed Guided Math Workshop, students will have a lot of opportunities to correct misconceptions, reinforce the skill, apply it, and extend it (if they are ready).
Part 1: Warmup
If you can spare maybe 5 minutes at the start of your math block, it will pay off big time. A warm up is a way to get students' brains in math mode. It can look lots of different ways, depending on the grade level you teach and the unit you're studying. Here are a few examples:
Poll
Ask your students a question at the beginning of the math block. You can post a multiple choice question and have students mark their choice with sticky notes on a chart, SMART Board graphics, magnets on a whiteboard or cookie sheet, clothespins on a ribbon, etc.
- Grades K-2: When I taught first grade, we used this Warmup while teaching the Measurement and Data standards. It tied in easily with bar graphs and pictographs.
- Grades K-2: Even when you aren't teaching Measurement and Data standards, you can preview or spiral review them using this method.
- Grades K-2: Using real data sets up natural questions about how much more, how much less, and how much in all. This gives students a crucial visual for understanding which of these questions lead us to add and which lead us to subtract.
- Grades 3-6: In upper grades, this can be an entry point for cross-curricular connections. Use a continuum bar and generate agree/disagree data on a social issue or topic you might cover later in more depth.
- Grades 3-6: Students at this level are ready to start using data in more sophisticated ways. Can you create a poll or series of polls that leads to a spreadsheet in Google Sheets or Excel? If you are blessed with Chromebooks or Google Suite, this could lead to publishing the data on Google Sites.
Problem-Solving
We'll discuss problem-solving strategies in greater depth in that post and in the small group instruction post. However, you can start off your math block with a problem. There are two main ways to do this. You can use problem-solving to spiral review or to preview the lesson.
To spiral review means to revisit previously taught content throughout the year. Maybe you taught decimal addition in November. You don't want to wait until standardized testing time to cram in a review of that and everything else you taught over the course of the year. Spiral review keeps students' skills sharp and helps learning last. If you have a curriculum, flip back to an old unit and grab a problem for review.
When you preview the lesson, you are using some type of open-ended problem that allows students to reason about how they might try to solve it using what they already know. This has a lot of benefits. First, students go into the lesson with increased self-efficacy because they have already had some success with this type of problem. Second, it activates prior knowledge and helps them connect their new learning with what they know. If you teach fifth grade, you might be interested in my Operations and Algebraic Thinking Assessments, which include a Daily Warmup that previews the lesson for that day.
One of my favorite ways to use problem solving as a warm up is with the My Favorite No strategy.
Other options
- Number Talks: Check out this book and these Number Talks for primary grades from The Brown Bag Teacher.
- Technology: We often use Reflex Math as a warm up. This is a product that your admin must buy, but free trials are available. Other options include Prodigy, Manga High, Multiplication.com, Freckle, ST Math, etc.
- Number of the Day: Ask your students to work with the same number in different ways. Free recording sheets for various levels are available at Curriculum Corner.
Part 2: The Minilesson
Yes, mini. Keep it short, short, short. What you're doing is going to vary by curriculum and grade level, of course. Start by setting up expectations for your students just as you do with every other part of your day. My expectations are that books are open (I project a digital copy), you write what I write, and we answer questions chorally. During the lesson, I move quickly, and I try to include time for at least one Timed-Pair-Share. We work together on some problems and try the strategy in a supportive environment.
Part 3: Formative Assessment
As I get ready to wrap up, I have them try one on their own. Later, they will have time to work with partners, but at this time I want to formatively assess what they know in the moment. While they work I circulate and try to notice who is struggling and in what way. Often, you'll see several students making the same type of mistake. Then, you have a chance to correct this misconception before you send them off on their own. If you see one or two who are just lost, you need to make a decision in that moment to have them join your most supportive group during small group instruction (if they are not already in it).
You can use a problem in your curriculum for this, or grab task cards (I love To the Square Inch for upper grades and https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Lucky-Little-Learners for primary), or exit tickets (also available in my Assessments product).
At this point, what comes next varies, but generally it's time to move into Small Group Instruction, which is next in the series! Stay tuned.
By the way, are you following me on Instagram? I'm @riverbendteacher and I would love to connect with you there and learn more about what's up in your classroom!
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