NUMBER TALKS: FOCUS ON REASONING PART 1
BY CORY A. BENNETT
Sharing Good Practice
Tips for Getting Started
When you first begin, start with a mathematical exercise that lends itself to multiple ways of thinking. For example, in a second grade classroom I would start with something like 7 + 5 so that students could use a make-aten strategy( breaking 5 up into 2 and 3 to combine the 3 with the 7 and then adding the 2), doubles plus 2( breaking the seven into 5 and 2 and then adding the 5s to make a 10 then adding 2 more), or even simply counting on. In each case, it is not about ensuring students produce 12 as a solution, but hearing and defending why each of their strategies make sense. Getting students to this place also requires asking the right kinds of questions. At AUS, the teachers pre-plan their questions so that they are better able to probe with higher-order questions that help students make clear connections to the mathematics.
Number Talks are a highly effective way to help students learn to reason and communicate mathematically. Students have opportunities to learn to think and behave like a mathematician, which is central to their growth in mathematics. The American United School of Kuwait( AUS) is now in their second year of successfully implementing Number Talks across elementary and secondary grade levels which has led to major improvements in the teaching and learning of mathematics.
The first installment of a two-part article will share the nature of Number Talks and some key considerations that helped AUS when they first began Number Talks in the elementary grades. Part two will focus on the adaptations to make Number Talks more appropriate for secondary grades.
Nature of Number Talks
Number talks are often short, five to ten minute, whole-class moments wherein students mentally calculate solutions to computational exercises to develop flexibility in thinking and reasoning. Students discuss their ideas, attending to the“ why” instead of just“ how.” The teacher records the student’ s thinking in a non-evaluative manner, probing for clarification if specific steps or decisions are unclear, and then using students’ ideas and ways of thinking to help them make specific connections to the mathematical relationships. This process is about developing creative and flexible thinkers in mathematics and not about getting correct answers; the beauty of number talks lies in the process, not the solutions.
As with any strategy that you try, this will take more time than you think it will( or want it to) at first but it will become easier to implement as you become more familiar with it. Also, the underlying success of Number Talks goes beyond just deliberate practice, but beginning with deliberate planning. Your planning matters tremendously here. My suggestion is to begin with answering the following questions first: What should they be considering in the task you provide? How do you want them to consider this task or what do you want them to focus on? What mathematics will be involved or be the focus? And what questions will you ask to probe for clarity? Regardless, of what you want to focus on first, just begin. The more often you use Number Talks, the better your students will be in adopting the identity of a student mathematician in your lessons.
Dr. Bennett is a passionate educator who strives for equity in learning for all students. As a global consultant and an Associate Professor of Education specializing in curriculum and instruction, he has worked with educators throughout the United States and across the Middle East, Europe, Australia, and Asia.
Class Time | | Nov- Dec 2017 | 37