You may have heard from your student that they were able to take part in work places during math time, or that work places is their favorite part of math. So what are work places? What do they look like, and what is their purpose?
Work places are structured games and activities the students can rotate through near the end of every math time. There are several different math games that have been designed to help the students practice and explore the different concepts we are looking at in the math lessons. For example, the game Which Coin will Win? works with probability (which spinner is more fair?), collecting data (filling in the chart according to the spins), and interpreting data (How many of each coin did you have? Which amount is greater?). The game Ten and More helps the students explore what happens when you add a single digit number to ten.
There are always six work places available, and only six students can be at a work place at one time. The work places are rotated out when a new one is introduced. For example, the exploratory work place with polydrons will be rotated out this Tuesday for a work place called Domino Top Draw – where the student will be exploring addition using dominoes.
With about 15 minutes at the end of the math time, the students are able to take part in at least one work place. If they finish one, they can move to another that has room. They keep track of which work places they have gone to using a log sheet. A new log sheet is given for every unit.
Make sure to ask your student which work place is their favorite!