Math Rotations – The Why

I am so excited to start this new blog series for the month of February.  This series will focus on all things Math Rotations.  Look for new posts each Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday during the month of February.

Introduction:

For today’s post I am sharing with you my why for switching to math rotations.  I have taught math the more traditional way for many years and made the switch two years ago to using math rotations.  I was finding that I was having difficulty reaching all of my kids during math lessons.  With the majority of the traditional math lesson being done in whole group with independent practice, I wasn’t able to reach my struggling learners or my learners who were ready for a challenge.  Due to that, students weren’t as engaged as they could be and weren’t really getting what they needed.  So… I decided to make a change.

Here are my reasons why I use Math Rotations:

• Math rotations allow you to differentiate daily for EVERY group.
• Whole group lessons still exist, but are more of a mini lesson with the majority of the instruction taking place at the child’s independent level during small groups.
• Math rotations offer opportunities to review and fill in gaps for students who are struggling while also an opportunity to challenge students who are ready to be pushed.

Coming Up:

Thank you for checking out today’s introductory post for Math Rotations.  Stay tuned for information on:

• Creating Math Rotation Groups
• How to Start Math Rotations
• Math Mini-Lessons
• Rotation Process and Management Tips
• Teacher Time Ideas
• Seat Work Ideas
• Tech Time Ideas
• Game Ideas

FREE Math Rotations Planner

Math Rotations can seem a little overwhelming at first especially when you are trying to differentiated to meet the needs of all of your students. To help make this easier, I’ve created this digital or printable planning sheet that you can use to plan out your whole rotation for the day – standards, mini-lesson, rotation activities, and differentiated small group activities. This is a FREEBIE that you can sign up for HERE. Happy math planning!

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