Small group and center time is my least favorite time. Or at least it was my least favorite. There I said it. I would much rather teach a whole group, then pull individual students who need extra support. That is, until I got my math small group organization system down pat. 

That being said, it’s a necessary evil of teaching. Small groups and centers are how we move kids from approaching grade level to above grade level. Giving them that support with only a few kids around them is how they learn. Having centers makes it fun, in a chaotic sort of way. 

In my years of teaching math, I’ve come to understand the importance of center time and giving students the opportunity to practice and learn in a small group setting. I have tried several (hundred) systems before I finally landed on this one that works for me, and I want to share it with you.

Before we jump into the organization, let me just share the structure of our small group / center time.

 

Small Group & Center Time Schedule

I spend 20 minutes a day in our center time block, seeing one small group each day. The groups stay the same for each cycle until I give a progress monitoring assessment. I have four or five small groups in my class, depending on the size and needs. 

My center time rotating schedule looks like this:

  • Monday: I work with the red group while the green group plays a center game, the yellow group does a tech center, and the orange group does a fluency center.  
  • Tuesday: I work with the orange group while the red group plays a center game, the green does a tech center, and the yellow does a fluency center.
  • Wednesday: I work with the yellow group while the orange group plays a center game, the green does a tech center, and the red does a fluency center.
  • Thursday: I work with the green group while the yellow group plays a center game, the yellow does a tech center, and the red does a fluency center.
  • Friday: Small group based on the lessons of the week, so basically I go rogue from the plan and just pull kids who need help on current lessons. 

 

Small Group & Center Time Planning

Initially, I plan and organize my small group based on the diagnostic. I choose a focus skill and make leveled groups based on that skill. Red = remedial, orange = approaching, yellow = on grade level, green = enrichment.

In the beginning of the year, all groups are working on the same standard, but broken down by leveled skills. I choose a foundational standard from the major works of the grade and make the groups leveled based on the diagnostic data. 

For a standard like 2.NBT.5, that might look like:

2.NBT.5 Fluently add and subtract within 100 using strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction.

For group one, I would plan activities centered on place value. Work through using base ten blocks to really solidify the foundation for regrouping. This is the remedial group that needs extra support with adding and subtracting. I might work through a cycle and end with adding and subtracting within 50 to build confidence before moving them on to the next group. 

For groups two and three, I would follow the CRA approach in my planning. Start concrete with base ten blocks, move to representation with drawing pictures, and then relate those strategies to the abstract way of solving, or the algorithm. 

Group four is the group that has a good understanding of adding and subtracting, with and without regrouping. With this group, I would focus on number properties and expanding their knowledge on the relationship between adding and subtracting. 

 

 

 

 

I do have a CRA planning guide for you if you want, learn more about it here!

 

Teacher Organization for Centers & Small Groups

Now, that schedule looks chaotic, but I definitely have learned some new systems that I keep in place in order to streamline the transitions in my classroom. 

I have a planning folder for each group, color-coded ofc, which includes:

  • My low-inference notes template
  • My copy of the lesson packet with teacher model questions
  • A checklist of the lessons so I can check off as we do them
  • A list of centers that align to the skill so I can pull them quickly

 

 

At my small group table I keep a clipboard that has a table with all the groups and their lessons, the standard or skill each group is working on, and a bin for each group with their center folders & my planning folder in each one. 

I do follow an “I do, we do, you do,” format for my small groups, so my lesson packet template follows that as well. I plan for 4ish weeks at a time and then rotate as needed based on my progress monitoring data. 

If you’re looking for progress monitoring tracking support, take a look at this post where I share my 3-part system for keeping tabs on all things progress monitoring. 

Organizing for myself took a lot of trial and error, and organizing for the kids took even more! 

Student Organization for Center Time

In my class, each kid has a center time folder that lives in the classroom. Actually, it lives at my small group table. The folder holds their small group lesson packet and any paper that they do for their center or fluency group. 

If their group is up to their center day, they know that when they are working they have to show their thinking on a Center Time Recording Sheet. This keeps them accountable to actually play the game and gives me another piece of info seeing how they’re doing with the skill. 

Since there are four groups going at once, I use bins to help me stay organized. I have two big bins for center time, one is for the center game and the other is for the fluency game. Within each of the bins is an envelope folder* for each group, labeled clearly. I even went ahead and color-coded them, but that’s totally not necessary.

Also in this bin are all the materials that each group will need, usually in a zip-loc baggy, any extra tools or resources they may need for the game. 

My center game table is the same table every day, so near that table I also have a basket of center time recording sheets for students to use when they are working. This is my accountability sheet for them so that I can see that they are actually working during centers and not getting too distracted. 

The tech center has a laminated page that includes the code they have to work on in IXL or Nearpod. The group that I’m pulling for teacher time has their folders by my kidney table with everything they need there. 

These groups do change, but when it’s center time the groups are listed on the board and color-coded (are you sensing a pattern?) so that the kids can be reminded of where they should be.

Basically, kids know from the beginning of the year on, whatever color their group is on the board, that’s the only folder they’re using both in the fluency center and at the center game. This is truly the only system I’ve been able to keep up with all year long. 

 

How I Store and Organize Math Center Games

Now, when it comes to the center games themselves, I have really gone back and forth about how to organize them. I’ve tried envelope folders, hanging file folders, and even just using bins & zip-locs. The system I settled on was Manila folders, or pocket-less file folders. 

Each folder has the game inside, laminated, with a learning target, directions and whatever materials come with the game. I label the top of the folder with the game and the letter of which copy it is. 

Pro-Tip: if a game has cards, label all of the cards for one copy “A” on the back, then “B” for the second copy of the game. Makes for easier sorting for cleanup!

I keep magazine holder bins for the games right now, but I plan on making a bin for each strand so I can find which skill I want to pull a center game for easier. 

 

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That’s it. That’s the system. It’s streamlined and compartmentalized for my ADHD brain to process, which makes it easy for the kids to follow too. 

Looking for tools to help you get your small group time more structured? Here’s what I got for you:

 

Send me a DM on instagram if you’ve tried any of these strategies, I’d love to hear from you!