A few years ago, my district adopted Eurkea Math, for the second time. There are things I like about the program, and there are things that I think could be better. I enjoy the fluency and the hands on aspect of the fluency development. However, the worksheets are boring. Even the games they include, like matching numeral to ten frames are boring. I started to add in Math Centers for the last 12ish minutes of lesson. I have 4 math stations per week and 4 groups of students. We do not teach math on Wednesday, so I only need 4 to make this work, but you may need 5 if you teach math five days or have a large group.
On Monday, I end my lesson 15 minutes early. I take a few minutes to go over each rotation, and then we start. I find students only need 10-12 minutes for math rotations. I will either pull a few students to work on a specific skill deficit, or I will be one of the rotations.
If the center is a new skill, I will just stay at that center all week to help students. Examples include introducing part, part whole, number bonds, and addition/subtraction. Also, I tend to introduce some skills earlier then Eureka, such as teen numbers.
I like to use a variety of activities. I tend to do hands on centers. If I want to do a worksheet, I will usually do that whole group, not during centers. To help with student engagement, I like to use the sensory table, count the room, pocket charts, the carpet, and tables. Yes, I spread students out.
