4th & 5th Grade Crew // Math Lab

Math lab is our designed time to work on skills at our individual levels. Using a combination of NWEA Test scores, Math Benchmarks and Unit assessments groups are designed. Students are paired and grouped with student who are working at the same levels as themselves. While students work in pairs or with their groups, I am able to meet with small groups to review, reteach or introduce new skills. This year I have been concentrating on how to hold students more accountable, make station materials more durable and more organized. 

 Students receive weekly trackers that include their objectives for the week, a schedule of their centers, an end of the week exit ticket and a reflection. Students use this tracker daily to record, compare and reflect on their progress throughout the week. This tracking system increases my ability to identify the exact needs of the students. It gives me immediate insight about how objectives should be adjusted for the following week. With the combination of trackers and weekly exit tickets I feel more confident to address the immediate needs of my students. 

 Throughout the week, students have the opportunity to grapple with and work on expanding their understanding of their objectives. Recently we have begun to use Khan Academy to address our current unit. Khan Academy compliments our EngageNY curriculum, it allows for students to watch videos of the skill we’ve learned and then they are given the opportunity to practice them. This year, in addition to using Khan Academy to compliment our curriculum, I am now assigning students more individual assignments to helps with filling in the gaps of their previous school year. While we aim for our entire day to be intentional, lab time is the most focused and individualized time of the day. Check out how we organize our stations and whats in each bin.