Spiral Math Homework {3rd grade...your turn!}

You can see the homework here.

If you are a follower of this blog, you know that there are certain things I do in my room that I am really passionate about and truly believe in.  One is Calendar Math. I could go on for days and days about it (and from all of my posts here, I probably have ;) )  Another is the Spiral Math Homework.  You see, when I first started teaching, there was no such thing available to me.  I would give the kids the problems from the math book that we just had worked on that day and never go back again.  Doesn't make for very good retention.  So when I was teaching 3rd grade for the first time (back in....gosh...SO long ago...2003)  I started to create my own spiral math homework.

It was simple.  A few problems from all that we had learned, sprinkled in amongst stuff we did that day.  To my great surprise, the kids retained it all...and their scores soared!  They were learning the rote basic math, leaving me time to work on the concepts of it all.

At first, it was hard on everyone.  The kids and parents were just not used to this style of homework.  They expected a review sheet of what we did that day in class. Some literally freaked out when something new that hadn't been taught before was on the homework.  After time though, I found that the parents and kids actually *enjoyed* the homework like this.  They saw the growth I was seeing and they liked it just as much as I did.  The kids began to use strategies from class to tackle problems they had never seen before......and they were getting them right!  Homework because *easy* for them.

Then, I had my first baby and went to 4th grade.  I made up the math homework there...and the same magic happened!  When I moved to 5th a few years later, the math homework continued...and so did the soaring.

So here we are...10 years later and I swear by it.  When I started my blog, I made some homework for you all in the 5th grade (since that is what I am teaching now.) followed by 4th grade...and I know some of you have caught the spiral math bug.  I am getting emails DAILY from people who are seeing just how magical and beneficial it is (as test scores are coming out now ;) )  Thank you so much for emailing me. I  mean, I know how it works in my own room, but I love hearing how it works in your rooms too!

Well, I have finally gone back to my roots.  3rd grade teachers...your wait is over!  The first quarter of 3rd grade Spiral Math Homework and Quizzes is ready!!










 Now, I do have to say, this is a tiny bit different than the 4th and 5th versions in that it is less problems.  I just felt like the students were still so itty bitty (I mean, they were just second graders not too long ago) so they didn't need 10 problems right away.  I start them with 5, then move up to 6.  As the year goes on, they will eventually make it to 10 problems a day...and be ready for 4th grade.  :)

Have you used Spiral Math (mine or another one) in your room?  How exactly do you implement it?