The Structure of a Math Period... and Homework

Structures...
I wanted to take a moment to describe for families the general structure of a math period with me. Usually we have about 70 to 80 minutes of time for math. During that time we'll go through these activities:

• Math Review
• On Mondays and Wednesdays we take 10 minutes to do four review math problems. Then we take about 10 minutes to go over the answers and to share strategies.
• On Mondays and Wednesdays they also take a new math review home to do as homework. 
• On Tuesdays and Thursdays we start the day by going over answers to these math reviews. 
• As we are going over answers, students are responsible for recording what they get right and what they get wrong and for recording strategies that they didn't use or writing notes about what they got wrong and how to fix it. 
• On Fridays we have a four question quiz covering problems similar to the ones that were on that week's math reviews.
• Check-in Time
• I check in to see what students are working on right now.
• Math Workshop
• This is self-paced time. Students work on the assignments on their roadmaps, they self-correct using answer keys, they should go back and correctly solve anything incorrect, they work on mini quizzes.
• Students may work with a partner on any problems and/or ACE questions. But each student must write down his or her own work.
• "Target Practice" assignments and "Flash Feedbacks" (the mini quizzes) must be done individually.
• Check-up Time
• Students tell me what they're working on right now and what they will do as homework that night.

30 Minutes of Math Each Night!

Homework is a little different in this kind of structure. 6th grade students are expected to have 60 minutes of homework a night. I expect 30 minutes to be spent on math.

• Every Monday and Wednesday night:
• Students should review that day's math review at home. Anything they got incorrect they should try again at home. This might mean practicing calculations, memorizing vocabulary, or reworking story problems.
• Students will have a new 4-question math review. They need to do all four problems.
• Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights:
• During Check-up time, students tell me what they will work on that night for homework. Essentially, they must spend time getting farther on their current roadmap. 
• Occasionally students will be at a point where there is nothing to work on (these are called Flash Feedbacks and they are done only in class). In that case, they should look for "ACE" questions in the book that they haven't done yet and should choose some to work on. 
• Fridays
• Fridays are usually homework-free days. But sometimes there will be an exception.