Guided Math Centers are just stations where students engage with math instead of just listening passively. Students can practice number sense in Kindergarten Guided Math Centers while second graders can practice math facts in this same station.
Don’t let the idea of math centers scare you! They are just stations that students rotate to. They complete work or activities to help them solidify their understanding of math.
I have several Pinterest boards below to help you find ideas for different stations. My Guided Math centers are teacher-led lessons with me, math fact station, skills review station, and engaged math activities station. (Read some of my other posts about each of these centers and online resources.)
Here is a board on Guided Math Centers.
Follow Guided Math by Angela Bauer’s board Guided Math Centers on Pinterest.
One question teachers ask me regularly is: How often do I need to change the activities at the station?
Dice Activities in Guided Math Stations
I usually have two to four activities at my engaged math activities station. I change it based on several factors. The first is if the students have mastered the concept the game is on. For example, I use several games from Dice Activities for Multiplication by Didax. These games practice multiplication facts and algebra. They can stay out for two to three weeks. As my students become better at multiplication, I trade out the x2 and x3 games with the x6 and x7 ones. This way we are still practicing multiplication, but improving on complexity of facts.
Dice Activities for Multiplication are great to use in Guided Math stations
Check out my Pinterest boards for math center ideas. Also check out other articles in Guided Math Resources tab on my website. I have other articles that talk about Dice Activities for Math and other games by Didax. Resources are not limited to that one type. Read about other games too.
When I taught first grade, I left the dice games out for 3-4 weeks. The students learn them and then continue to master the math concepts over the weeks. It is also a great idea to bring back these games throughout the year. The students will be successful with them because they know the game and they have improved in math. This is also a good way to incorporate skills review into your station. For example, one game has the student roll two dice, add them together and then place a marker on the correct sum on a graph. Reuse this again in November. This game is in the resource book called Dice Activities for Math for grades K-2.
If you are still hesitant to have math stations, here is one idea to get you started. Get a couple of math activities to put in a station for students to do when they are done with their work. It provides more math practice for them in a fun game format. This also means you have something ready for those early finishers:)
Happy Guided Math Centers!!!