December Math Centers

Here's a funny to make you smile: I had my back to the class and was writing on the board and one of my students was raising his hand.  He said, "Mrs. M-C, I have a question."  I said, "Ok, honey, what is it?"  He said, "No...my name is Sam." I had to sit down I was laughing so hard!

Anyway! My newcomers are capital-L Loving math centers! I had resisted using them because these students have such a hard time working independently, so it's certainly not the "center time" you might think of, but the practice they get in math, language, team-work, and learning to play by the rules is so incredible that I use them every chance I get.  Centers have quickly shown me who is a team player, who can take initiative, who my neediest kid is, and who will be ready to fly the nest in the next few months.  (Fly the nest? No! I will keep them forever!)

Here we are working on some of our favorite centers from A Burst of First.

Teamwork!

Their English is still very limited, but it is amazing how much they have picked up in just three months.  Three out of four can speak to me in 3 word sentences from memorized language, and four out of four can read sight word sentences! Yes!! 

They have fallen in love with spinner games...I don't know what the allure is, but they love them and beg for more, so I decided to make them a spinner game quickly before class the other day, which led to another game after class, which led to...

...and a few more as well!  It's my first foray into making math games, and my students are loving them.

Have a great night!