Worksheet Turned Math Center

Ok, the week I did this lesson, I was being WORKED!  Stressful week, too much on my plate, irritated easily, emails galore, always feeling behind, beating myself up for not having better lessons because I planned it last minute... ever happen to you?

Well, this is not the best lesson I have ever done, BUT it turned a would-be worksheet into small centers and allowed students to move more often.  And since not every lesson can be so amazing, I thought I'd share how I tweaked a bland lesson into a more fun one. I thank the combination of "last minute planning" and "beating myself up for not having better lessons" thoughts the day before.

First, I took the 8 problems on the worksheet and called them tasks.  I then copied the question as many times as they would fit onto a sheet of paper, copied them on different colored paper, & cut them into strips.  My plan was to have them keep these work examples in their math notebooks. (If you weren't doing that, I assume you could leave space below for them to solve & then cut the paper.) I found by doing this, I also saved lots of paper!

I then placed each task in a different place around the room with a task number and glue bottle.

Students' jobs were to start at a task (didn't all start at #1) and move around the room at their own pace.  They glue in the strip, complete the work, get checked, and then move on.  

Of course, because they are working at different paces, some will be moving to a different station faster than others, and that's okay.  This would be the case anyway with a worksheet.  I had an activity ready for early finishers in addition to using them as "tutors" for those who need more help.  

For next time...

• One thing I did NOT do and should have was start my lower students at the same station so that I and/or my math aide could help them all at once on skills they needed and moved them together from station to station.  
• I will think about putting in an answer key at each station so students can self check.  I did originally want to do this, but knew many students would check incorrectly.  This is because we are modeling and I wanted to check for accuracy.  Perhaps I will only put in answer keys at some stations so I won't be so bombarded by checking answers.