When you became a teacher, you probably thought about all the great books you’d read, activities you’d do, and other fun things for your classroom. But, you probably didn’t think about all the planning and preparation it takes to prepare these activities and lessons daily. That is why I decided blog post #3 of the math series will be about batch lesson planning for math.
Batch Lesson Planning For Math (made easy)
When planning math, it is always best to look at the whole unit. This way, you know precisely how each lesson builds upon the other. This is why batch lesson planning for math can easily be done.
Plan With The End In Mind
When batch lesson planning for math, it is best to look at the ending assessment to understand what students need to master to do well on the assessment and fully understand the concepts. Many programs include extension questions or lessons built into the curriculum to expand students’ thinking.
While these lessons should 100% be taught, remember if they “go over” some students’ heads or some do not truly understand them, it is ok! Since you’re planning with the end in mind, you will know what your students need to know and which lessons are more of an extension.
Manipulatives Planning
When looking through your curriculum or standards, a list of which manipulatives would be helpful when teaching. You want to ensure you have all the materials that will make the lessons easier on you and helpful to students in the learning process. If you are teaching fractions…do you have fraction tiles? Do you have number lines? When you are batch lesson planning for math, it is best to get through all the lessons and be prepared with manipulatives.
Lesson Plans
While batching out lessons, I suggest planning week by week. Trying to plan for all the weeks in a unit at once will seem like a great idea until you have that assembly you forgot about during math or an unexpected snow day. These events can take an awesome-looking batch plan and turn it on its head!
Although, batch lesson planning for math is about being efficient and getting ahead of the game. You do not want to get ahead of yourself!
When batch planning, do not feel like the lesson plan must have every little thing filled in. Come up with an easy weekly lesson plan template or even a batch lesson planning template that is simple and to the point. This way, you can look at it and know the main pieces: the standard(s) you are covering, the materials/manipulatives needed, the activity, groupings, and anything else you think may be important to that particular lesson.
Hands-On Fun
Hands-on activities are my favorite part of planning for math. There are so many options, and I try to include some type of hands-on activity when I am batch lesson planning for math. Try including some type of a hands-on activity every other class period. It may be a board game, an around-the-room activity, or just a simple word problem using manipulatives.
The hands-on activity can add great value to a lesson when well planned and help students use what they learned independently or in small groups.
I love using math board games. A simple spinner and game pieces make it easy for students to follow, and since most of the games follow the same type of rhythm, my students do not need to try and figure out the directions to each game and can just start playing!
Another fun activity that does not take a lot of class time to explain is math puzzles. A simple two-piece puzzle helps students review important math vocabulary and concepts. Teachers love how easy it is to prep, and they can be used for review before a test or throughout the year, so topics stay fresh in the student’s mind.
Simple spinner games using a piece of paper and a paper clip are also easy and fun for kids. Plus, they can be used as an early finisher or independent center. No need for large groups or anything to review concepts!
You can grab all of these activities and games in my 5th grade Math Centers Bundle! It will give you plenty of hands-on fun for the entire year!
Quick Batch Work Tips
Here are a couple of tips for batch lesson planning for math:
- Grab a simple teacher planner to make your life easier.
- When planning, ensure you have all important school activities/dates marked.
- Planning a lesson can be simple
- If there is more than one teacher in a grade, plan together.
- Always plan backward, so you know where you need to end before the beginning.
Batch Lesson Planning For Math
Batch lesson planning for math seems like an enormous task and may seem out of reach for many teachers. It is always a good idea to make sure you are familiar with the standards and curriculum before trying to batch plan. You want to know what is expected of you and the students before deciding on lesson plans and activities!
Are you looking for more math series blog posts? Check them out here:
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