This activity has students working at a variety of math stations to practice skills, complete projects and reinforce mathematical concepts.
Additional Resources
Family Math: the Middle School Years by Virginia Thompson and Karen Mayfield-Ingram
Cooperative Learning and Mathematics by Beth Andrini
Challenge Math for the Elementary and Middle School Student by Edward Zaccaro
Lessons for Algebraic Thinking by Maryann Wickett, Katharine Kharas, and Marilyn Burns
Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom by Susan Winebrenner
The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners by Carol Ann Tomlinson
Math stations serve many purposes. Not only do they provide opportunities to differentiate curriculum according to student needs, but they also give the teacher a chance to work with smaller groups and better assess progress and understanding. This not only benefits gifted and talented students, but students who are struggling as well, because planning is well thought out to help each group achieve.
Before beginning, the teacher should put students into four different groups according to their needs and level of understanding (e.g., one advanced group, two medium groups, and one group with students who need more instruction and practice). I put students names on business card magnets (so I can use and rearrange them all year) and put them on the board under the station that they will be starting at. The following stations can be used as four rotations in one day or two one day and two the next.
Also, stations should be generally be self-correcting so that the teacher is freed up to work with the teacher team station. Answer sheets could be made available so that when students are finished, they can check their own work. This requires a high-level of trust and an independent-working classroom atmosphere that must be established prior to doing stations.
2. Become mathematical problem solvers.
6. Represent mathematical situations.
Invitation to Learn
Review with students the procedures of how to rotate among the stations, how
to record information in their logs, and what to do if they finish one station
early.
Instructional Procedures
Curriculum Integration
A fifth station could be added that focuses on Science. Students work with their
group to look for patterns in the Science or Social Studies topic that you are
discussing at that time. For example, during the "Earth's Features"
unit, students could look for patterns of earthquakes or volcanic eruptions.
Students could describe patterns in landforms and how future patterns could
be predicted according to erosion and weathering. Students could look at patterns
created by magnets and iron shavings during the "Magnet" unit.
Many patterns emerge in history and students could look for patterns and make connections in their study of America. This could lead to written reports or graphic organizers showing the repeating patterns.
Possible Extensions/Adaptations
As mentioned, adaptations can be made with each group of students. If one group
needs addition practice with equations, you could have them do that for two
station rotations. Or, if one group doesn’t need you as the teacher to
guide them at the teacher team station, you could let them work independently
while you assisted other groups. Stations allow for differentiation of curriculum
and of teaching processes.
Students use a “station log” to record what activities they worked on, whether the activity was completed or not, what they learned while working, and how they scored (if applicable). This log should be kept in a journal/folder that could also hold any worksheets they worked on and lined paper to show any work done.
If stations are used frequently, students could then turn in their logs to you every week or every other week for you to look over and evaluate. The best assessment often comes from the actual “working out” of the problems and the notes taken while completing the various station requirements.