Making Math Workshop Work

Starting up and maintaining a math workshop model in middle school can seem like a daunting task. Two of the road blocks that often come up are how to structure math centers in different class sizes and class lengths. I have used several different math workshop structures throughout my teaching career and am here to help! This post highlights several different ways to set up middle school math centers, depending on your specific class sizes and class lengths.

I was inspired a few years ago by one of my Instagram followers, who asked me if I had ideas on how to set up math workshop in a 45 minute math class. My first thought was...THERE IS NO WAY. How could you squeeze in math stations in that short of a time! Then I began thinking more about it...and I figured it would be good to start a place to look into some of the various ways math workshop can be started. Below, I highlighted some of the different structures I have either tried or brainstormed. Also, be sure to check out a few of the links at the bottom of this blog post if you are looking for math workshop materials and resources to get these math centers started in your middle school math classroom!

*Update: For a complete rundown and guide to beginning and implementing math workshop, you can register for my Making Math Workshop Work online, self-paced course. Registration is typically only open for two registration periods, in January and July. It is currently open until January 18th!

Every Center Every Day
Works for: Long length and large class size OR medium length and small class size

If your class schedule makes it possible, I feel like this is the best math workshop set up. If you have 60 minute classes and smaller class sizes, this math workshop model can work. Students are split into four different groups, with four to six kids in each one. Students then travel to all four of the centers every single day. I like to do a quick warm-up problem, a brief introduction to the lesson for that day, four 10 minute centers, and a brief exit slip to wrap up class. Centers can change depending on the day, but I have had success using a Teacher Center, Homework Center, Technology Center, and Hands On Center. I don’t believe that these need to be set in stone. If you have a great idea for a math center, you should use it. What you choose for your centers might also depend on what you have available in your classroom or school, especially as far as technology goes. Be creative and have fun with what you are asking students to do at each rotation!

The set up described above also works with 80+ minutes classes and larger class sizes, it might just need to be adjusted a little bit. In this situation, one option is to split students into five groups, which helps keep the size of the groups manageable. For example, a class of 30 students could be split into 5 groups of 6 students. The five group option does require some extra planning, since students are in five groups and travel to 5 centers each day. There will be one extra math station, or center, to plan for each day. I used this format one of my first years running math workshop and divided my stations into a Teacher, Homework, Technology, Hands-on, and Problem Solving center. It was the same as I described above, however I added a Problem Solving center. The other option is to keep the four groups and have more students in each group. It is not ideal to have more than 6-7 students per group, but it still can work.

Lesson - Work Time - 2 Centers
Works for: Medium or long length and any class size

With this workshop structure you have a regular warm-up and new lesson, as a whole class, to introduce your new concept. This would last a total of about 20-30 minutes. This would be followed by a work time of about 10 to 15 minutes for your students to begin the homework problems. After this homework time, students would then go into four different groups. However, different from the every center every day structure, each of the groups only travels to two rotations each day (about 10 minutes each). As an example, let's say students are divided into groups A, B, C, and D and there are four centers 1, 2, 3, and 4. If a student is in group A, I would go to center 1 and 2 on Monday and then center 3 and 4 on Tuesday. The chart below gives a possible rotation. This format can also work with bigger class sizes that are split into five groups. Again, it will take a little more prep to add the fifth center, but it can work. What you actually have students do at each center, like I stated above, can change depending on the teacher and students.

Lesson - Work Time - 1 Center
Works for: Short or medium length and any class size

This math workshop model would be similar to the two center format described above. However, the big difference is students only travel to one center each class period. This option works well if you have short class lengths, which I consider to be 50 minutes or less, but still would like to use some of the aspects of math workshop each class period. Students would complete a quick warm-up problem and new lesson. This might take about 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the class, teacher, and concept. The work time for homework would be short… maybe 10 minutes. This would leave you with a 10-20 minutes for each group to travel to one rotation and then maybe do some sort of exit slip at the end of the class period. Here is what a possible math workshop chart could look like for this model.

Regular Lesson 2 Centers Per Day
Works for: Short length and small class size

This is yet another possibility if you have shorter class lengths (50 minutes or less). This workshop model would include a brief warm-up and new lesson on the concept (20-30 minutes). After that, students would go to two math centers. However, you will probably want to make sure each student has one center that is a work time on the homework each day. To be sure that this happens, your chart might look like this.

If you are interested in getting some resources to get you started with math workshop in your classroom, I have bundles available for 6th grade math, 7th grade math, and 8th grade math at the links below. Even if you don’t decide to implement a math workshop model, the math games, task cards, and activities can be used in a variety of ways!