Guided Math

I have always heard of and even used guided reading, but I had never heard of guided math.  Then, I went to the GCTM math conference in Fall of 2010 and met the wonderful Kathy Spruiell who was a presenter that year.  She was wonderful!  She had been using guided math for over seven years!!

So..... with the motivation in hand and struggling students in tow, I created a guided math model for my own classroom.  The great thing about guided math is you can modify and change to what works best for you and your students.  In my two math classes, we have 50 minutes of core time and 50 minutes of more time for a total of 1 hour and 40 minutes.  During the more time we solve exemplars, work on spiral review, practice vocabulary, etc.  The core time is where we use the guided math model.

Generally, we follow the following schedule:
Monday:
Exemplar, Mini-Lesson, and review math calendar from week prior (no guided math)

Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday:
Mountain Math- 5 minutes
Mini-Lesson- 15 minutes
Guided Math Rotations (15 minutes each): three or four groups rotate between small group, stations, math calendar, or independent work.  If I only have three groups then I do away with the independent work.

Friday:
Mini-Lesson, some type of assessment