You Oughta Know About...BUILD Math Groups

Hey guys! I'm linking up with Mrs. McClain with my You Oughta Know About...BUILD Math Groups! Have you ever heard of BUILD math groups? I hadn't either until I was doing some Pinteresting! {Adventures in Teaching} has a great post about BUILD groups! This was what got the wheels turning to create my way of doing my math groups. Make sure to check it out, after reading my post of course;)

BUILD isn't just a group rotation, I guess it could work just fine that way, but that isn't how I am planning on using it in my classroom. I am going to use it to differentiate my math groups. Oh yes, you heard me right, each student will be in a leveled group and will have their specific tasks to work on through the week!

Let me start at the beginning. BUILD stands for:

For each group, I have a shoebox ($1.00 at Dollar Tree) with activities for the students to do through the week. I put a variety of activities so students will not get finished too quickly or get bored.

In Buddy Math, students pick a game from the tub that (is bulging out the top) has several different games inside. I try to only put enough materials in the box that only a few kids can be in this group at one time. There are only four dice in the box. Once all the dice are used, no one else can play a game that needs dice. There are three decks of cards, and once again when those are gone, students have to choose a different group.

Oh Snap! AKA "WAR but not.."

Popular Buddy Games:

{Bump}- Students need cubes and dice. They roll the dice and put their cube on the answer. If another student rolls the same number, they can bump the other off! There are several free versions available on TPT!

{Oh Snap!}-This is like WAR but instead of seeing who has the bigger card, they are racing to see who knows the answer first! This can be adding or subtracting!

{File Folder Games}- I have several games that are like a board game, but instead of going to the shape, they have to answer the math fact that the card has.

The games that are linked above are very similar to the ones I use in my room and may or may not be the exact game we use.

Using Manipulatives is one group that I have trouble with. I provide base ten cubes, counters, dice, cubes, and work mats right now. As we go along, they will have clocks, money, and whatever else I can find in my cabinets! I bought some {task cards} the students can use to give them ideas on how to use their manipulatives. These have been a life saver!

Popular Manipulative Activities:

Multisided Dice and Base ten blocks- Roll dice, make number with base ten blocks.

Red/Yellow Counters- Create a pattern

Cubes- whatever you want( I do this so it won't be such a big deal to get them and use them correctly because they will get all their playing out.)

Independent math is a group that is easy to put together for me. In my room students work through Accelerated Math. I have also added working on their math interactive notebooks at this time. This is math that they can do all alone, without teacher help.

Learning about numbers is where I have students meet with me or they can work in their math journal doing a journal prompt. They are really getting into their journal prompts this year.

Doing math is one of my favorite groups. Students use task cards to work on math problems. They do not have to do all the task cards like I usually have them do. They pick ten that they want to work on. I love this because it gives them the feeling of making a choice while still working on what I need them to.

In my room, students use the BUILD checklist to work through their groups. I guess I need to stop saying groups because they are more like rounds. Students are free to choose whatever group they need to go to. Students get a small page that tells them how many times they need to visit the group for the week. Each student has to go to 15 groups/week. For example a student who is pretty good at math and can do our lessons alone has more Independent math than someone who struggles. The strugglers go to more buddy math or doing math. Students have a checklist that they use to track how often they have visited their groups.

If you look close to the letters, this student has written his numbers for visiting the group along the side. That is from the monster at the top of the picture. I was very worried about just letting the kids "go" to whatever group they wanted. They have to stay at that same group until time to switch. We usually get in about 3 rounds a day.

To keep all the work straight, I have instituted a BUILD menu. This helps students know what to do in which group. Since students have all the supplies and lists of what to do, I just grab students who need small group or one on one attention. I turn on my princess light and students know they cannot bother me or my group. They come to tell me something, see the light, get a funny look on their face, and walk away! It is the funniest, most helpful thing ever!