I started stations in Maths today and I use mixed ability groups. However, I also use maths partners. Each child has a maths partner who is at the same level as them (where appropriate). To decide on Maths partners, I used the children’s Sten scores from last year and then used teacher observation/assessment to best pair the children.
Today for stations, the children worked in groups of 6/8 (two groups of 6 and 2 groups of 8). I worked on long division (our current topic), my SET teacher worked on multiple bar chars, two other groups worked independently one on addition and subtraction and the second on long multiplication. Within the two teacher led stations – we could then differentiate to best suit the children.
For the independent stations, the children started with a set amount of questions which they completed and then corrected using a calculator. After this they worked with their partner and created trickier questions. (Work given for addition/subtraction was based around 4 digits – as their challenge they increased this to 5/6 digits which were completed in copies or on whiteboards.)
Within the long division group for example – some children were working on dividing 3 digit numbers by 2 digit numbers, some were working on word problems and some were working on dividing 2 digit numbers into larger numbers e.g. 4/5/6 digits with and without remainders.
With maths partners – the children can all work at their own pace but each pair is challenged appropriately to ensure that all children can reach their full potential.
