With the variety of skills students come to you with Mathematically, it's important to meet the needs of ALL students. Teaching Math in small groups is a great way to come closer to meeting their individual needs. The big question:

What do the other students do while you're teaching math to small groups?

Here are some of the things that students can do when the teacher is busy with other students.

1.Independent Practice

Do you have a math series with workbook pages or practice sheets? This is where they fit in... but only if the children can perform these tasks on their own. Some of your more challenged students may need to be practicing skills that are more appropriate for them. They all love this, and it's a great way to build that number sense. (and easy to differentiate!)

Count to 1000 booklet

Ten Things for Students to do While You're Teaching Math Groups: It can be tricky to find activities for students to practice during math time that will keep them engaged and building skills. Here are some ideas.

2. Working with a partner

Children are social beings and absolutely LOVE when they get to work together! For those children who are a little insecure in their skills, having a partner might help them build a little confidence. Plus, working with a partner leads to those rich conversations that help internalize learning.

3. Playing math games

Children love games, and will play them over and over again! That means they'll be practicing the skills over and over! Try some of these popular Math games:

or try this collection

Sports Themed Bingo Math Games

4. Writing math stories

Some children LOVE to write! Here's a chance to let them do what they love while practicing math. Once they've written the math stories, they can share them with classmates for solving!

5. Facts practice

If students spend 5 minutes a day practicing math facts, they will develop math fact fluency in no time at all. Here are a few posts that tell more about building math fact fluency.

6. Explore math manipulatives

They do love those manipulatives, don't they? In order to learn with manipulatives, they need to KNOW the manipulatives. My favorites are pattern blocks and Cuisenaire Rods. Read about these here:

7. Digital task cards

I'm a HUGE fan of Boom Learning Digital Task Cards, and so are the kiddos! Here are a few favorites:

Another option would be a digital math program. I've had much luck with Happy Numbers. It's a research-based individualized program that is easy to use and adapts to the mathematical needs of the students. Plus, teachers can see a record of how each child is doing! It's easy for the teachers and fun for the students.

8. Practice with a teacher assistant or a parent volunteer

Some students need the assistance of an adult. I often refer to these adults as a "guest teacher." Sometimes, These adults have specific directions for their time with the child, and I'll let the child choose.

9. Math puzzles and brain teasers

I'm sure you have plenty on hand, and the children love these! Here are some examples:

Tangrams
Sudoku
Magic Squares
Dominoes

10. STEM activities

Who doesn't love a good STEM activity? This is a good time for children to work on a STEM problem that's already been introduced and needs more time, or one with easy directions, since the teacher is unavailable during this time.

Looking for some ideas on organizing these math activities?

Try this link!

Looking for some similar ideas for reading groups? Try this link!

Ten Things for Students to Do While You're Teaching Math Groups