Meaningful Small Groups in Math, Grades K-5
Meeting All Learners’ Needs in Any Setting
Target the Math…Support the Students…Provide Access for All
Corwin Mathematics Series
Target the Math…Support the Students…Provide Access for All
The need for focused small group math instruction has never been greater. Today’s education landscape continues to be fraught with learning divides, and unlike its reading counterpart, small group instruction in elementary classrooms has often been reduced to learning centers and rotation stations, without enough emphasis on differentiated, small-group, teacher facilitated learning. We need expanded ways of differentiating so we may fully support students who have remarkably varying levels of understanding and vastly different needs.
Meaningful Small Groups in Math, Grades K-5 offers practical guidance on how to meet the diverse needs of today’s students. Written for K-5 classroom teachers, math interventionists, and instructional coaches, this user-friendly, accessible book provides guidance on the necessary components of small group instruction in math, trajectories for small-group instruction on specific concepts, and practical steps for getting started. Readers will find
- Checklists and templates for implementing small group instruction, with sample lessons in the major content domains
- Emphasis on flexible groups that take into account students’ strengths and increase their math identity and self-efficacy
- Intervention and extension ideas for differentiating learning
- An appendix of tips for coaches and leaders to scale Math Small Groups across a school or organization.
To meet the needs of today’s students, a more focused, targeted, and equitable approach is needed. Meaningful Small Groups in Math is here to answer the call.
Meaningful Small Groups in Math provides teachers with two critical elements for success—practical strategies for managing small groups and thoughtful content trajectories for identifying the right learning for students in small groups. Building on the author’s rich classroom and coaching experience, the book provides support for creating and managing small groups in a variety of classroom contexts and structures. And building on the author’s deep content knowledge, the book organizes potential activities along content trajectories, helping teachers keep students moving forward in their learning. Dr. Kimberly Rimbey has written an excellent addition to our professional libraries.
Kimberly Rimbey’s book Meaningful Small Groups in Math is a teacher’s delight. Rimbey’s years of teaching, coaching, and designing come through clearly in every word. Organized around questions teachers would have when considering and implementing math groups—as well as questions teachers may not think to ask but are important—Rimbey writes the book in findable and understandable terms including chapter overviews, learning targets, success criteria—everything we know we should do in a lesson for our own students! Rimbey is an expert at taking the goal of small group learning and showing it in multiple structures that can be integrated with any math program. The practicality of this book is sure to win
teachers’ hearts. This book is a must for every elementary math teacher. I applaud Dr. Rimbey’s flexibility and multiple examples of using various structures and designs for planning so that there is sure to be a comfortable approach to beginning, extending, or revamping math groups for every teacher!
An essential resource for K–5 mathematics teaching! What a brilliant, practical guide for teachers in using small groups effectively to engage each and every student in powerful mathematics learning! Whether you are just beginning to use small group strategies or you are experienced, there is something for everyone. Rimbey’s Meaningful Small Groups in Math is a resource for teachers, mathematics coaches, and instructional specialists.
Meaningful Small Groups in Math answers all your burning questions and provides templates and example vignettes that make visualizing this work in your own classroom achievable. Whether you have used small-group instruction extensively, or you are looking to begin, Kimberly Rimbey’s Meaningful Small Groups in Math gives you exactly what you need . . . and then some! Rimbey masterfully weaves the what, why, when, and—most importantly—the how into an easy-to-read book chock full of resources and evidence-based routines.
Meaningful Small Groups in Math lays the groundwork for how to create effective mathematics small group instruction. Through vignettes and resources, this book supports your journey to empower student voice and ensure that every child has access to relevant, rich, and meaningful mathematics. This book emphasizes students’ assets and shares how to build upon student strengths. You will walk away with practical ideas for how to plan and create teacher-facilitated math small groups to grow students’ mathematical understandings.