Struggling Learners and the Guided Math Model

Struggling Learners and the Guided Math Model

Ways to REACH Struggling Students

• Revisit: frequent reviews of content
• Engage: involve, motivate, make connections
• Apply: practice using basic skills in problem situations
• Communicate: build in math talk
• Hands on: address all of your learning styles

Spiral Review in Guided Math Groups

• Fluency Center
• Fluency Checks with partners
• Math Warm-Up that reviews old concepts
• Use computer programs to target weaknesses
• Math remediation groups at the close of the school year

Simple Modifications for Struggling Students

• Use peer teaching
• Use a video lesson like Learn Zillion to do the teaching
• Modify the workload
• Extend Time
• Provide extra support
• Tier assignments - provide simpler data or fewer calculations to your strugglers

Support Staff for Small Groups

• Have special education staff meet with their students for small group time
• Have an aid or title teacher work on classwork with struggling students
• Double the time that struggling students spend in group (one slot for instruction, one slot for classwork)

Remediation in Guided Math

• Adjust centers so that struggling students receive remedial activities while advanced students receive more challenging work.
• Look at the MA entry points for special education and use those as a spring board for planning remedial instruction
• Seat work based on whole group lesson, group work based on a different skill that needs work

Group Meeting Ideas

• Reduce meetings with high fliers. Provide math projects for them to do with peers. Meet with them as they work to check in briefly.
• Teach into student work
• Teach the whole group lesson in three small groups instead
• Have special education staff teach the struggling students' small group