Organizing Math Stations

This Friday is the end of the first nine weeks of school!  I have been teaching through a math workshop model and am loving it!  Until now, I have had a very simple, predictable routine during our math workshop.  I am now ready to start introducing math games into my math stations.  In this post, I will share with you how I have started to organize my math games, task cards, and interactive notebook pages.

 

I am sure you are just like me - You have tons of resources, but need an easy, simple way to organize it all.  I will be specifically talking about how I organize the activities my students complete during 'independent practice'.  The first thing I did was narrow it down to three main items that I have my students complete:

1. Math Games
2. Math Task Cards
3. Interactive Math Notebook Pages

I bought the following  3-Drawer Organizers from Amazon a few years ago on Amazon.  I've decided to use these as my main organizing item.  You can purchase them in sets of 3 - they are 'wide' drawers, so they have plenty of space.

I then labeled them 'Games, Task Cards, and Notebook'.  It was very convenient since there are three drawers per organizer.  I even color coded them by standard :) The green pictured above is 3.NBT items.  I will share with you a free PDF file with the labels at the end of the post.

I have filled the Games drawer with games related to the math topic.  Pictured above is a collection of multiplication/division games.  These are not all the games that I have, but they are the ones that I want to have quick access to.  I plan to switch them out later on.  You will notice that there is a black binder inside this drawer.  It contain the recording sheets and answer sheets.

Inside the Notebook drawer I have math foldables related to the math topic.  I have gone ahead and made copies, so all I have to do is pull out the foldable I want my students to work on.

.... Now that you see how I plan to organize my math materials, let me share with you how I set up the choices for my students.


I bought the small paper bins at the Target dollar spot a few summers back.  I have Two Math Games for students to choose from.  I also have a bin with materials needed on the desk.

Let me share with you where my students go for independent practice...

The largest number of students that I have at independent practice is 6.  This works out great, because students can make 2 groups of 3 when they play a math game.  They have two different spots they can go to.  The first one pictured is 3 student desks put together (I wish I had an actual table).  The second one pictured is at the carpet (I bought at Wal-Mart!).

That is about it!  I hope you got some ideas on how to organize your math stations materials.  If you are interested in learning more, check out the links below:

• Learn about my math workshop routine
• View my 3rd Grade TASK Cards & Games BUNDLE!
• Download labels for 3rd grade OR blank editable labels

Thank you for reading!