Brain Farts & Easter Math Stations

I have been struggling with our new math series, Go Math.  It just seems to slow us down with all the extra "stuff"  that the textbook company feels we need to teach.   I am almost done with chapter 4 out of 12 chapters which is just crazy behind.  I have pretty much tossed the textbook aside and only use it to help guide me in planning the lessons.  The kids and I hate how certain topics are introduced / taught and there is concepts that are missing or rushed.  I do not know if I am frustrated with the textbook company or the Common Core.  Maybe both??

So I have been wanting to do math stations once a week but could not if I followed the Go Math textbook.  The week before spring break seemed like a perfect week to use math stations for some multiplication and division reinforcement.  Here are my four stations that we started today and will wrap up tomorrow.

Station....
1.  I stole borrowed this idea from A Teacher Without A Class,   "Scrambled Eggs Multiplication."  This time of year I always have a gazillion plastic eggs rolling around hence where I got the Easter theme for my stations.  On one half the egg I wrote a math fact from 5 - 9 and then on the other half I wrote the product.  I took the eggs apart and the kids had to match the facts up correctly and write them down on a sheet of notebook paper that they turned in.  For some reason my kids are having, "brain farts" or memory loss with their multiplication facts.

2.  This is one of my favorite websites for math games, Math Playground.  I use my Smartboard for groups to play Penguin Jump Multiplication.  Another attempt to refresh their multiplication facts "brain farts."  They love this game.

3.  I am lucky to have 3 desktops in my classroom so I have a group playing Snork's Long Division on them.  This online game has the kids complete one step at a time for long division and even gives them a hint.  You may need to turn down the volume or have the kids use headphones, the music can get on your nerves.  LOL

4. This station was the entire reason I wanted to do stations.  I have three students at a time come to me with a dry erase boards and practice their long division skills.  I then can try to redirect and prompt them through each problem. 

No pictures.   I was really trying to focus on my 2 groups today.  Maybe I will take a few of the kids in the stations tomorrow and add them to my post. 

I am very lucky because currently I only have 12 kids in my fourth grade math class so I made 4 groups of 3 kids (low, low medium, medium and high).  I have decided to have the high group try division with repeated subtraction and partial quotient after I demonstrate  instead of boring them with more long division problems.  The high group has shown me mastery with long division so I want to challenge them but the other groups are still really shaky.  Hopefully I can start doing different stations every Friday.  I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Happy Monday,


I have bee