Math Journals in Kindergarten

I have been busy busy busy trying to get my math journals posted to share with you all, and they are finally done and posted in my TpT store! Here is a little overview of how math instruction looks in my classroom.

1. Everyday we start math with our calendar routine to review basic skills. This takes us about 10-15 minutes a day. I use the fabulous Calendar Books by Growing Kinders, along with several songs from You Tube and CDs to reinforce math concepts. You can find the calendar book here.

2. Next we take out our math journals and students work independently and sometimes collaboratively to solve open ended problems. I try to emphasize that there doesnt always have to be one “right” answer. As long as students are able to explain their thinking there is generally a lot more that one way students can respond. For example ” At Grandma’s house there were 10 legs. Who might they belong to??”

I just posted the journals in my TpT store if you’d like to check them out for yourself. The preview has 7 FREE journals for you to try before you buy the whole product. the full product has enough journals for about 6-8 weeks of instruction depending on how many days a week you get to them. (I usually do about 4 days a week.)

3. Last students rotate through math stations or meet with me in a small group. I usually fit in about 3 – 15 minute rotations a day so students generally choose two math stations and then meet with me once. Students can also choose computers or iPads as one of their stations.

All together this makes up about 90 minutes a day of math instruction. I’d love to hear how you structure your math block and how long you spend on math each day.

Thanks for stopping by, happy Friday!!