The Math Lab at George Hall Elementary School is run by a full-time teacher who teaches second through fifth grade classes four days a week. On the fifth day of the week the Math Lab teacher serves as the school’s math coach by addressing curriculum needs of students and teachers. During this time small groups of students are pulled to work on specific math issues. Materials and lessons are also created for teacher’s who have identified areas of need for their classes. The Math Coach creates problem solving assessments that are administered school-wide. These assessments are scored and return to teachers’ with detailed notes concerning a class’ progress.

The Math Lab focuses on teaching the state assigned curriculum through data collection, hands-on activities, and test prep assignments. The purpose for teaching math through the use of hands-on activities is because math is a life-long skill that must be internalized rather than learned through rote means.

Lessons are prepared based on what the second through fifth grade teachers have to cover during each quarter. Since each class comes to the Math Lab 45minutes to one and a half hours, depending on the grade level, one time per week we typically cover curriculum needs each grade level specifies for that particular week. For example, if the second graders are learning about making change, then the data collection activity, hands-on activity, and/or test prep questions will be about money and making change. At the beginning of the year to mid-year the lessons usually begin with a math story that is the basis of the whole lesson. Mid year to the end of the year the Math Lab takes on more of a test prep role since state testing begins in April of each year.

In Alabama, we take the SAT 10 and Alabama Reading and Math Test (ARMT) as our high-stakes assessment. In order to prepare the students for the math portions of these tests the Math Lab teacher meets with teachers to see that in-class instruction includes prep time for items that have been outlined in the compendium for the SAT 10 and blueprint items such as open-ended questions and gridded response questions for the ARMT. These curriculum items are also addressed in the Math Lab so students become familiar with the format and content that will be on the high stakes assessments.

The Math Lab is a place for students to come and learn about math in a hands-on way with math tools that help them better to internalize math concepts. It is our distinct belief that having a Math Lab has increased test scores in the area of math.

It should also be mentioned that our school has a contract with an individual math consultant who is a retired mathematics supervisor. She comes several days within the school year to meet with the Math Lab teacher, classroom teachers, and students to work on specific curriculum needs. Her presence has also greatly affected our math scores on local assessments and high-stakes assessments.

Click here to download and/or view math lesson plan (Microsoft Word Document)