Math Bins

Hi Everyone!  Today I am sharing an idea that works for me for Math Intervention.  My district requires us to have a daily twenty minute block for intervention and/or enrichment.

The hardest part is always keeping the other students engaged in MEANINGFUL tasks while I meet with students who need extra support or enrichment.  

This past year I FINALLY found something that has worked great for me...Math Bins.  
My students loved them!  
They were always disappointed if we didn't have time for them in a day.  

First of all, I LOVE these containers!  I found them at Target.  They were a little pricey, but I am glad I decided to use them.  I love the size of the containers, they are wide enough to fit lots of activities! They stack SUPER easy and don't take up a ton of space, you can see mine fit easily on top of a shelf. Also, they are very sturdy and have easy open handles for the kids.

I placed two or three activities in each bin.  I took part of my math instructional time to introduce any new activities before students used them in the bins.  Lots of the activities would be "repeats" that we had played earlier in the year. I always included some fact games, review activities, and new activities that correlated with our current learning targets. I always made sure to include all needed materials: dry erase markers, cubes, dice, etc. That ensured no roaming around the classroom or interrupting the teacher.

Every few weeks I would change the activities in the bins.  Originally I thought I would change them every week, but it was too time consuming.  I found by including more than one activity in the bins students would stay engaged with the activities for about three weeks at a time.

I used a pocket chart to organize who went to each bin each day.  Students stayed with their "Table Groups" and had an assigned spot on the floor close to their table for Math Bins.  Each day, I rotated the numbers so students went to a new bin each day.