A New Look at the Daily 5 Math.... (2024)

I decided to take another stab at the Daily 5 math. Since I became interested in using a structure similar to the Daily 5 for math, I have tried many different things. I was especially excited when I saw that The Sisters (The Daily Cafe) were beginning some work on creating a math structure. Although it was in the early stages, I began my journey with Daily 3 math. This consisted of three rotations; Math with a Teacher, Math By myself, and Math with a Buddy. There would be choice within those three rotations, but the objective would be to get to each rotation daily. This worked very nice for a little while, but the kids were not as invested in math, because they weren't in charge of choosing when they go to each station. I really wanted a system that made it possible for the children to be in charge of choosing what they were working on, setting goals for themselves, and having small group and 1:1 conferencing with a teacher, similar to The Daily 5. The next thing I decided to try was implementing Math Daily 5 exactly like The Sisters had explained it. When they first started developing their math structure the five choices were; Number Games, Fact Games, Strategy Games, Math Tools, and Paper and Pencil. If you click this link, it will bring you to my post from a few years ago, explaining how I started the Daily 5 math. It is a very helpful post with a lot of pictures and free math games. It takes you step by step to show you how I set my classroom up. I had been using that structure for the past 2 years.

So out comes the new Common Core. With this, it was very important that I looked and reflected upon my math block to see how it aligned with the Common Core. After collaborating with colleagues and constantly reading other teacher blogs, I decided to tweak my Math Daily 5. This is what I came up with. As you can see in the picture below, the 5 choices are; Paper and Pencil, Number Games, Fact Games, Patterns and Shapes, and Math Technology. Within each of those categories, there are many different choices the children have. Take a look at some of my pictures to get a better idea how this works. I have a check-in board that is displayed on my interactive whiteboard. They use this exactly how they use my Daily 5 check- in board. I also have a list of all the options in Number Games, Fact Games, and Patterns/Shapes. So not only do the children choose what they would like to work on, they get to choose which way they will work on that skill. So far, I have to say, this is working great. Adding a Math Technology column helped to integrate all of the wonderful math apps I have and it also gives them a chance to use their Everyday Math Online Games. They each have a user name and password and it tracks their progress as they play these games.

I still am using the Math Binders that I have made for each kid. In those binders are every game board we have learned. They also have all the materials they need for each game. If you look at THIS post, it will explain how I set up the binders. This has not changed.

I hope you enjoy my updated Daily 5 Math. If you have any questions about how I set this up in my classroom, feel free to email me.

Here is my Math Daily 5 check-in board on the interactive whiteboard.

Here the children are dragging their names up to choose their first math session.

This is where I keep a running list of all the games we have learned and that are available to use.

A New Look at the Daily 5 Math.... (2024)

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