Table Of ContentGuided Math in Action
Learn how to help elementary students build mathematical profciency with
purposeful, standards-based, differentiated, engaging small-group instruction.
This best-selling book from Dr. Nicki Newton provides a repertoire of in-depth
strategies for conducting effective guided math lessons, scaffolding and managing
learning in small groups, and assessing learning. Dr. Newton shows you the
framework for guided math lessons and then helps you develop an action plan to
get started.
This fully updated second edition features helpful new sections on beliefs,
teacher moves, planning, talking and questioning, and kidwatching. It also
contains a brand new study guide to help you get the most out of the book and use
it with your colleagues. Perfect for teachers, coaches, and supervisors, this popular
resource is flled with tools you can use immediately, including anchor charts,
schedules, templates, and graphic organizers. With the practical help throughout,
you’ll be able to implement Tier 1 and 2 lessons easily. This book will help you
guide all your students to becoming more competent, fexible, and confdent
mathematicians!
Dr. Nicki Newton has been an educator for over 30 years, working both nationally
and internationally with students of all ages. She has worked on developing Math
Workshop and Guided Math Institutes around the country; visit her website at
www.drnickinewton.com. She is also an avid blogger (www.guidedmath.wordpress.
com), tweeter (@drnickimath), and pinner (www.pinterest.com/drnicki7).
Also Available from Dr. Nicki Newton
(www.routledge.com/eyeoneducation)
Day-by-Day Math Thinking Routines in First Grade:
40 Weeks of Quick Prompts and Activities
Day-by-Day Math Thinking Routines in Second Grade:
40 Weeks of Quick Prompts and Activities
Day-by-Day Math Thinking Routines in Third Grade:
40 Weeks of Quick Prompts and Activities
Day-by-Day Math Thinking Routines in Fourth Grade:
40 Weeks of Quick Prompts and Activities
Day-by-Day Math Thinking Routines in Fifth Grade:
40 Weeks of Quick Prompts and Activities
Leveling Math Workstations in Grades K–2:
Strategies for Differentiated Practice
Daily Math Thinking Routines in Action:
Distributed Practices Across the Year
Mathematizing Your School:
Creating a Culture for Math Success
Co-authored by Janet Nuzzie
Math Problem Solving in Action:
Getting Students to Love Word Problems, Grades K–2
Math Problem Solving in Action:
Getting Students to Love Word Problems, Grades 3–5
Fluency Doesn’t Just Happen with Addition and Subtraction:
Strategies and Models for Teaching the Basic Facts
With Alison Mello and Ann Elise Record
Math Workshop in Action:
Strategies for Grades K–5
Math Running Records in Action:
A Framework for Assessing Basic Fact Fluency in Grades K–5
Math Workstations in Action:
Powerful Possibilities for Engaged Learning in Grades 3–5
Support Material
The templates listed below are also available as free downloadable PDFs, so you
can easily print them for your own use. They can be found on the book’s product
page on our website, www.routledge.com/9780367245740. Click on the “Support
Material” link to access the free downloads.
Figure 6.3 Kidwatching Notes
Figure 6.4 Anecdotal Notes
Figure 7.11 Student Refection
Figure 7.12 Exit Slip
Figure 7.14 Student Refection on Test
Figure 7.17 Teacher Self Check-In About Assessment
Figure 7.18 Keeping Parents in the Loop
Figure 7.19 Recognizing Student Achievement Along the Way
Figure 8.3 Quick Plan
Figures 8.4–8.9 Guided Math Planning Templates
Figure 8.10 Guided Math Planning Sheet
Figure 8.11 Differentiated Lessons
Figure 10.7 Talk Refection Rubric
Figure 11.5 Planning Form
Figures 12.8–12.9 Certifcates
Figure 14.15 Blank Template
Guided Math
in Action
Building Each Student’s Mathematical
Proficiency with Small-Group Instruction
Second edition
Dr. Nicki Newton
Second edition published 2022
by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2022 Taylor & Francis
The right of Nicki Newton to be identifed as author of this work has been asserted
by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identifcation and explanation without intent to
infringe.
First edition published by Routledge 2013
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-0-367-24574-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-24575-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-28325-3 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9780429283253
Typeset in Palatino
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
Foreword for Guided Math Second Edition ............................................................ viii
Preface ........................................................................................................................ x
Meet the Author ...................................................................................................... xiii
Acknowledgments ................................................................................................... xiv
1 An Introduction: Guided Math ����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 1
2 Beliefs That Frame Guided Math ����������������������������������������������������������������������� 11
3 Five Teacher Moves for Small-Group Success ������������������������������������������������� 21
4 Guided Math in a Numerate Environment ������������������������������������������������������ 33
5 Managing the Math Workshop ��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 49
6 Kidwatching ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 59
7 Balanced Assessment: The Key to Grouping Students
for Guided Math ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 69
8 Planning, Planning, Planning ����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 89
9 Building Mathematical Profciency ����������������������������������������������������������������� 109
10 Questioning in the Guided Math Group �������������������������������������������������������� 123
11 What Are the Other Kids Doing? ��������������������������������������������������������������������� 135
12 More About Math Workstations ����������������������������������������������������������������������� 167
13 The First 20 Days of Math Workshop: Setting the Stage
for Effective Guided Math Groups ������������������������������������������������������������������ 179
14 Book Study Guide ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 197
References ................................................................................................................ 215
◆ vii
Foreword for Guided
Math Second Edition
In 2013 while attending a math conference, I hung on every word of the keynote
speaker, Dr. Nicki Newton. I had never met her before, but I remember think-
ing immediately that knowing her would change me. I had never heard anyone
so well versed in educational research and so capable of making it accessible to
teachers. She spouted off researchers and studies effortlessly from memory and
easily connected them to classroom practice. What? Who does that? Dr. Nicki
does, and she does it effortlessly. As she shared ideas from her book, Guided Math
in Action, I knew that I had to have that book. I had to read it and I had to know
it. I had to bring it to life in my classrooms and in my district. That encounter
changed my life and my professional practice forever. Since then, it has changed
the experience of math instruction for countless schools, teachers, and students
across the country.
When I got my copy of Guided Math in Action, I devoured it. Dr. Nicki’s passion
was inspiring, and her words leapt off the page. It was evident that her ideas were
grounded in best practices and driven by a genuine desire to help teachers meet
the needs of all learners. As I read, I knew that what I was learning would serve as a
lever to achieve equity in math class long before it became en vogue. The idea was
to focus on what students could do and go from there to guide them through the
learning trajectory. It was a way to actualize Vygotsky’s zone of proximal develop-
ment. It was about making informed instructional decisions based on evidence of
student learning. It was about teachers knowing the math and how to teach it for
understanding. It was about creating safe spaces for students to think, wonder,
make connections, solve problems, and build competency in the fve strands of
math profciency. It was about providing a road map to give students mathemati-
cal power by focusing on agency, ownership, independence, and self-refection. It
was practically perfect in every way and I wanted to see it grow.
After developing a graduate course where Guided Math in Action served as
the text, I saw the model expand to many districts in my state. As more teachers
were implementing Math Workshop and Guided Math, the transformations were
incredible. Over time, I observed how teachers refned their practice and how they
made Guided Math work in their classrooms. Among their innovations were uti-
lizing menus in lieu of station rotations, shifting from “I Can” statements to “I Am
Learning” statements, and leveraging technology to capture student thinking and
make data immediately actionable. I also noticed some trends in the questions that
emerged as they dove deeper into differentiation, personalization, and progress
monitoring. Typically, questions focused on the same areas: collecting useful data
during guided math lessons, forming and managing groups (which change fre-
quently), skillful questioning, and overall planning and provisioning.
viii ◆
The second edition of Guided Math in Action brings us the answers to these ques-
tions and more! Dr. Nicki has gone back to the research to help ensure that our
efforts to implement this model yield high returns for all students. She debunks
the misconception that Guided Math involves the creation of “low,” “middle,” and
“high” groups, and she provides even more evidence of the power we have to use
this model as a lever for equity. She updates and refreshes our well-loved chapters,
and brings us new chapters that provide illustrative examples, address our burn-
ing questions, and offer clarity in areas where we need it most. She highlights the
importance and power of kidwatching, reminds us to value the whole child, and
examines the danger of placing labels on students. In short, she elevates her previ-
ous work by once again bringing us the research and best practices in practical,
accessible terms.
Guided Math in Action 2nd Edition is what we need to take our work to the
next level. It is flled with helpful tools, examples, and anecdotes from the many
classrooms that Dr. Nicki has visited. It is refective of the growth of her vision,
experience, and research and is truly a signifcant extension of the original. It is a
testament to her commitment to continuous learning. It has everything we loved
about the frst edition, everything we were waiting to learn, and things we may
not have thought about but will be thrilled to know! The second edition provides
an even clearer roadmap to develop, grow, and sustain a robust, effective, support-
ive, and productive math environment. Through her work, Dr. Nicki has left an
indelible impact, one that will infuence generations of learners and practitioners.
For some, this book will be the beginning of an incredible journey. For others, it
will be the springboard to enhance and refne what they have already built. For all
of us, this book further affrms the value of meeting with students in small groups,
knowing their strengths as learners, and nurturing their mathematical power by
offering them a learning environment that allows them to reach their full potential.
Dr. Alison Mello
Foreword for Guided Math Second Edition ◆ ix
