Organizing Math Stations

Happy Saturday!  I hope you are having a relaxing weekend.  This post is all about organization! Here we go....

In my district, we are required to do math stations as a part of our hour math block each day.  They should take place for about 20 minutes.  I am excited about math stations because it gives me an opportunity to work in small groups with my kiddos who might need some reteaching or enrichment, however, let's be honest....I was wondering how I was going to fit stations in to an already jam-packed school day.  I know I needed a quick and easy solution.  I wanted all materials to be available for easy access to the students.  I also wanted students to be reviewing concepts that we were working on at the current time or we already covered.   So I put together these math station boxes.

 I picked six of these up at Walmart last spring for $5.00.  I have a sports themed classroom so each box has a football team name.    Here is what I have inside of each one. 

At the top of the box, there is a plastic opening that holds pencils, dry/wet erase markers, and cards for math games.

Inside of the box, there are hanging files, with games and activities for students to do.  I keep the games inside of a plastic bag then put them in the hanging file.  This helps keep them nice and neat.



 I use many activities from Teachers Pay Teachers and my own creations.  Here's one from Amy Lemons over at Step into Second Grade with Mrs. Lemons.  I used this one at the beginning of the school year.  Side Note:  I love using the foam dice instead of the hard small dice.  They are sooooo quiet!  Great investment! ...lol



 I also keep a travel size box of wipes in each box.  This helps clean up to run smoothly. 

There is a lot of prep on the front end to make these, but it makes station time run so much smoother.  Of course the activities are changed out throughout the year, but once it's all set up you're on your way.  Modeling the use of these stations takes place throughout the entire school year especially in the beginning. 

If you have questions about the organization of these math stations, please just let me know.  I'd also love to hear how you set up math stations in your classroom.

I going to go now so that I can enjoy some of this sunshine.  Don't forget to spring forward!

Shannon