Guided Math: Flexible Grouping

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Hey there friends… Here is the second installment of my Get Your Groove On with Guided Math Blog series!  I hope you find this post helpful!

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There are basically 9 main components of Guided Math. If you would like to get Guided Math up and running in your classroom, you will need to focus on these components:

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Today we will talk about All Things Flexible Grouping!

Flexible Grouping

Flexible grouping is a very important part of your Guided Math instruction.

Prior to starting a new unit of study in math, I pre-assess my students on the content we are going to be learning and what learning outcomes I have for the unit as a whole. My 2nd Grade Common Core Assessments are short and quick. They are usually only about 5-10 questions.

Based on these pre-assessments, I will create my Guided Math Groups for the unit. This is a pretty powerful part of Guided Math, because your students move around from group to group throughout the whole year. You will be surprised by what your students know prior to beginning your unit of study.

I use a dry-erase marker on my Guided Math Rotations Board group cards to organize my students into my 3 or 4 groups. You must base the amount of students you will have in each group to how many total students you have in your class. Ideally, your Guided Math groups should have no more than 6 students in each group.

There are times, however, as you are progressing through a unit that you will notice that one or more of your students are struggling with a concept or have a very strong understanding of the skills and concepts.  That is the beauty of Guided Math because you can easily switch your students into different groups that will better fit their needs.

Using anecdotal notes is an important part of informally assessing your students skill level within a certain unit of study.  I use my anecdotal notes every day during our small group instruction sessions and I use these notes to decipher if a student could possibly be moved to a higher or lower group depending on their skill set.

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I also use another Anecdotal Notes sheet that is organized based on my table and where each student is seated. I actually created this anecdotal notes sheet after I read an AWESOME-SAUCE post by Michael Friermood from The Thinker Builder.  If you haven’t read his blog, you MUST READ it!  He is one talented teacher and shares some amazing tips and lessons to do with your class!

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So..in a nutshell that is how I organize my Flexible Groups for my Guided Math instruction! If you want to head back to my main post to read the rest of the installments on Get Your Groove On with Guided Math, click here to head on back to my main post to read about the next component of Guided Math!

If you would like some Guided Math Freebies to get some of your organization up and running, complete the form below:

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Anna D.

2 thoughts on “Guided Math: Flexible Grouping”

  1. Pingback: Get Your GROOVE On with Guided Math – Simply Skilled in Second

  2. Thank you all the Guided Math posts they have been so helpful! I am wondering if you could consider selling your pre/post assessments separately? I recently purchased your 3rd Grade Subtraction with Regrouping Unit and I find the assessments top be very thorough. I have always used pre-assessments to group my students, b but I really appreciate the alignment to the CCSS your assessments have.

    Last, I’m dying to know like everyone else in the world holding their breath in 3rd grade…do you have a due date for the multiplication unit by chance?

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I'm Anna DiGilio

Hi, I'm Anna! I was a primary teacher for over twenty-three years, wife of a firefighter, mother of twin teenage boys, obsessed with being creative and helping teachers and love my Saturday morning quiet cup of coffee!
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