Kindergarten Workshops, Part 3: Math Workshop

Since this is my third post about kindergarten workshops, I have been wondering about the origins of the word workshop.  A quick Google search produced this graph (graph=math, right?) Evidently, the term workshop was hardly ever used until the industrial revolution when it began to refer to a room or a building where goods were manufactured or stored.  In the mid-twentieth century, it acquired the more modern meaning of a meeting where a small group of people engage in intensive discussion or activity about a particular topic.

As explained in my earlier posts on Writer's Workshop and Reader's Workshop, the actual workshop teaching model follows a definite sequence of mini-lesson, guided practice, and independent practice ( or "I do, 2 do, you do.") My Math Workshop runs a little differently.

I use the Promethean Board (interactive white board) a lot during math lessons.  Each day, I start our math lesson by displaying this flipchart which I created with the help of clipart panda to remind students that math is all about thinking.  We start each lesson by pretending to fasten our math thinking caps.  Some kids pretend to tie on their thinking caps, others use Velcro. Over time, as we build our schema of math, we add pictures around the thinking cap (ie; math is patterns, math is numerals.)  

Our daily Math Workshop begins with a warm up or a fluency drill.  Our district has used Bridges Math for the past 3 years.  Before Bridges, we were all scrounging around for Common Core-worthy math curriculum.  I discovered and utilized EngageNY math lessons.  So, my warm ups and fluency drills are from both Bridges and EngageNY.  These 3-5 minute quick activities get the students to start thinking about math.  For example, we might count forwards and backwards to 19, drill the numerals 10-19, or tell how many dots on  double tens frames.

These are from our Bridges Math program.

After the warm up or fluency drill, we proceed by reading and discussing that day's math objective.  As described in an earlier post, I have decided on a trimmed-down list of math objectives based on the Common Core.  Here is one from my list:

We read the objective, discuss whether or not it is familiar (links to prior learning) and then take a look at a Think Aloud which I have created on the Promethean Board.  For example, here is the flipchart that corresponds to the above objective:

Partners turn and talk to one another about the questions on the Think Aloud.  I select one pair of students to come up and share their thinking with the class.

After the Think Aloud, I describe today's activity or game from our Bridges curriculum.  Then I will model it with a partner either using a document camera or "in fishbowl."  If you are not familiar with "fishbowl," it's a great technique for gathering students close to observe something. I sit down at a table and my helper of the day sits next to me.  Then, half the class kneels around the table while the other half stands behind them. I've done this with as many as 25 students.  It looks like this: 

Then, the students are off to their tables to work as a class, with partners, or independently on the lesson.  Sometimes I will have an enrichment option for a lesson.  After completing the assigned activity, students may ask their partner if they want to try the "math challenge."  I put the challenge in a large envelope at each table.  The back of the envelope looks like this:

In other words, if both partners want to try the challenge, then they definitely should do so.  If one wants to try and the other does not, then they definitely should try it because the willing partner might be able to explain it to the less certain partner.  If neither one wants to try the challenge, it probably is too difficult for them.

After cleaning up the math materials, we usually conclude with an exit ticket.  I wrote about exit tickets in my August 12, 2017 post, Kindergarten Magic. Here is what I wrote:

 At the end of all of our numeracy-based lessons, I pass out a simple exit ticket to each student.  I actually prepare two versions of the exit ticket so that neighbors receive different versions.  This makes it a little harder to copy off of someone.  I wear my magician's hat while they complete the exit ticket on their own. After a student finishes her exit ticket, she stands. When everyone at her table is standing, that group comes up and puts their exit tickets in my magician's hat.  After we are all gathered on our mat spots, I pull out an exit ticket, make sure it was correctly done, share it with the class, and that student gets to be first to exit the room for recess (or at the end of the day.)  I do keep track of who has been thusly rewarded so that everyone gets a turn. This is a culminating activity that is fun and educational, of course.