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Use This Book to Support You on your Math Workshop Journey

Math workshop is a model of instruction and a philosophy of how math class can be structured to maximize opportunities for differentiated instruction, formative assessment, and student-centered learning.

The teacher chooses from the following three math class structures, as detailed by Jennifer in her book, depending on her assessment of the needs of the students and the content being taught each day:

  • Task and Share
  • Focus Lesson, Guided Math, and Learning Stations
  • Guided Math and Learning Stations

Every class starts with a number sense routine and ends with reflection. In between, students are involved in purposeful math tasks, either individually, in pairs, or small groups, focus lessons, guided math groups, or learning stations. As the teacher assumes the role of a facilitator, students explore and discover math ideas together. 

What You Will Find in the Book:

  • Insight into the “three buckets” for a highly successful math workshop: Classroom Arrangement, Routines & Procedures, and Mathematics Community.
  • Twenty minilessons that support the communication and practice of expectations surrounding the workshop model.
  • Three classroom-tested math workshop structures, providing practical ideas for routines, focus lessons, guided math groups, learning stations, and reflection so you can get started with math workshop in your classroom today.
  • Online video clips that invite you inside K–5 classrooms for a look at math workshop in action. Seeing clips of actual teachers and students engaged in math workshop is the next best thing to observing the model in a classroom.
  • Templates, tools, and ideas available in downloadable format.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The middle school version of Math Workshop is in progress! Look for updates on that book here!

5 things I noticed immediately after switching to a math workshop model:

  1. Students who thought they weren’t good at math or who hated math started to participate in class and even smile every now and then.  
  2. I was able to quickly identify the students who already understood the concepts and those who still needed more time.
  3. I had the time in the class period to address all students - those that already knew the grade-level concepts, those that were still working on them, and those that needed some support.
  4. I didn't feel behind in my pacing. I had a structure that allowed me to meet the individual needs of my students without getting behind.
  5. I started to feel like a successful teacher of mathematics and saw the difference it was making in my students.   

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Reviews

Math Workshop is our school's primary resource for providing all students with an opportunity to access mathematical concepts and skills. It helps teachers and students see that math can be fun. It helps build student resilience and confidence in mathematics. And it promotes differentiated instruction, student discourse, and strategy sharing. Look no further than Math Workshop!

Jason Pannutti

Principal, Alexandria, Virginia

Regardless of the curriculum you use, Math Workshop creates a clear vision of how math classrooms can be a space for engaging all children. By using the math workshop model, students' learning is differentiated, students have the opportunity to work with their teacher in small groups, students are provided choice in how they spend their time, and students do math centered around big ideas. So many resources exist related to reading and writing workshop models--I'm excited that there is now one for math!

Lucy Kersting

Math Coach, Clark County School District, Las Vegas, Nevada

Math Workshop drives explicit and differentiated math instruction for all students. The resource clearly lays out five steps for implementing math workshop. The "look-fors" included as reproducibles are easy to follow and a great resource for administrators to use during walk-throughs and teacher observations.

Amber K. Walters

Principal, Nora Elementary School, Indianapolis, Indiana

Math Workshop expertly blends workshop philosophy with practical ideas, strategies, and structures to engage all students in high-quality mathematics learning experiences. The resource brings together all of the components of math workshop and is supported by research-based best practices. Jennifer Lempp's mantra, "Go Slow to Go Fast!" stays with teachers as they develop structures, routines, and a community of mathematicians. The video clips and reflection questions provide powerful guidance as teachers implement and refine their math workshop practices. It feels like Jennifer is there, coaching teachers as they read, plan, teach, and reflect. This is an essential, "go-to" resource for all teachers of mathematics, coaches, and administrators.

Melissa Pearson

Supervisor of Mathematics, K-5, West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District, NJ

Math Workshop is an incredible resource for educators who want to build their understanding of the what, why, and how of developing an effective math workshop. It has everything teachers might need to develop and improve the structure of their math block, including sample minilessons, number sense routines, and video clips showing math workshop in action!

Lindsey Covey

Math Instructional Coach, Title 1 School, Falls Church, Virginia

Educators today face daunting challenges in their classrooms – how do we meet the diverse needs of our students so that they can all achieve at high levels? This challenge can feel even more overwhelming in the mathematics classroom. In Math Workshop, Jennifer Lempp effectively makes the case for successfully implementing a workshop structure that meets the needs of all young mathematicians. Once you’ve experienced the innumerable benefits of math workshops, you’ll never want to go back to your old methods of instruction – and your students will be begging for more math!

Katie Eustis

Teacher, Woodley Hills Elementary School, Fairfax County, VA

Math Workshop is a pedagogical philosophy that transcends curriculum. It enhances student agency by making learning more student-centered – pushing students to reflect, reason, collaborate, communicate, and make sense of mathematical content – transforming them from math students to student mathematicians. Jennifer Lempp details in clear, manageable, immediately actional steps how every teacher- novice to seasoned - can elevate core mathematics instruction to simultaneously provide intervention and enrichment, thereby improving student achievement and engagement. Working through this book is like welcoming Jennifer as your personal instructional coach. Her strategies are practical, and her tone is encouraging because she’s been there. As educators, we want to implement the math workshop model in its entirety immediately; however, Jennifer helps us take comfort in knowing that this is a journey best navigated one step at a time.

Trish Kepler

Math Coordinator, The Greenwich Country Day School, Greenwich, Connecticut

This resource is the perfect companion text for our district course for teachers who are seeking to implement math workshop. The included structures and components enable teachers to meet students’ individual learning needs while empowering students to be more self-directed. As teacher promote collaboration, problem solving, and communication throughout their learner-driven classrooms, Math Workshop helps them take their instructional practices to the next level.

Sarah Putnam

Director of Teaching and Learning, Arlington Public Schools, Arlington, VA