After my first year of teaching, I heard about this interesting way teachers set up their rotations for Reading. There were even a few teachers in my building (all primary grades, K-2) who were using this Daily 5. I asked my questions about it and looked online and found a similar Daily 5 but for Math. ( I teach Math, Science & Health). I like to do things based on research or books---but there was none for Math. So using what I found, I set up Daily 5 Math in my classroom.
Year 2 of teaching was my first year having Daily 5 Math in my classroom, and my students loved it! Since it was still new, the implementation was a little shaky to begin with, but it progressed fairly well throughout the year. As a result, we didn't have Daily 5 for Math every single day. On days we didn't, students always asked.
Part 1
Planning
First thing was to decide what I wanted to focus on in Math. I found this great resource on tpt from Love of Learning. The set of posters feature the following options:
- Math by Myself
- Partner Math
- Math Technology
- Math Work
- Math Writing
- Math Vocabulary
- Math with Teacher
For my purposes, I decided to choose 5 'centers' since I had 5 flexible math groups.
- Math by Myself
- Math Technology
- Partner Math
- Math Vocabulary
- Math with Teacher
At first, I tried using Math Writing but it did not work so well for me so I changed to Math Technology (once we were able to use Chromebooks on a daily basis in the classroom.)
I also found some amazing worksheets, from That's So Second Grade to keep track of the activities and for planning purposes. I tend to be an on the fly person, so I didn't use these much last year. This year, however, I plan to use these so I can keep a better record of things.
They allow for both weekly planning as far as resources and materials, as well as student group planning. Great for differentiating.
Part 2
Implementation & Rotations
Obviously, students should be introduced to the activities one at a time. I usually do this whole group first, then once students are comfortable it is moved to one of the center choices. Towards the middle/end of the school year, I was able to do a quick preview whole class and start the center that same day.
Initially, I used these two boards for student rotations:
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| This showed the names of each student in the groups. Also the options for each of the 5 choices. |
These posters were great, but at the beginning of each round, I had hurdles of students crowded around. So I created bookmarks and an automated PowerPoint to ease the transition of rotations.
These are the bookmarks.
They are double sided. One side is labeled "A" while the other is labeled "B". There are 3 rotations on each side. I used the same resource mentioned above to place the name of the choice and expectations directly on the bookmark.
They are double sided. One side is labeled "A" while the other is labeled "B". There are 3 rotations on each side. I used the same resource mentioned above to place the name of the choice and expectations directly on the bookmark.
Part 3
Schedule
I teach 4th grade and I have 2 classes, about 50 students total.
This is the schedule I follow:
The goal was to have Daily 5 Math 4 times per week.
Monday - Carpet Time, Number Talks, Whole group Lesson
- Monday's are get ready for the week. Introduce the new skill, relate it to the current unit, complete interactive journal entry. This usually included writing I can statements, and some sort of I do, We do, You do. Mostly pre-made printable's for the INB and/or pages from the Math textbook.
10 mins
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Overview, introduce (or refresh) new
center, review expectations, clarify any misconceptions
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20 mins
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Round 1
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20 mins
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Round 2
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20mins
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Round 3
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10mins
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Wrap-up & Exit Ticket
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For accountability, I created an effort rubric for students:
