Math at Home: Second Grade

Hello, 2nd Grade Parents!

Addition and Subtraction strategies play a huge role in 2nd grade. Number Talks would be a wonderful thing to do with your child while at home. This will help with mental math strategies, fact fluency, and numeracy – all skills that will help them be successful mathematicians.

Number Talks

Here is an example of Number Talk and the many ways your child may go about answering this mentally.

2.4(B) Add up to four two-digit numbers and subtract two-digit numbers using mental strategies and algorithms based on knowledge of place value and properties of operations;

Four two digit numbers – Second Grade students add a string of two-digit numbers (up to four numbers) by applying place value strategies and properties of operations.

Example: 43 + 34 + 57 + 24 = __

Example:

2.4(C) Solve one-step and multistep word problems involving addition and subtraction within 1,000 using a variety of strategies based on place value, including algorithms;

Within 1,000, using a variety of strategies

Algorithms-a process for solving a problem

Second Grade students extend their work with addition and subtraction word problems in two major ways. First, they represent and solve word problems within 100, building upon their previous work to 20. In addition, they represent and solve one and two-step word problems of all three types (Result Unknown, Change Unknown, Start Unknown).

One-step word problems use one operation. Two-step word problems use two operations which may include the same operation or opposite operations.

As second grade students solve one- and two-step problems they use manipulatives such as snap cubes, place value materials (groupable and pre-grouped), ten frames, etc.; create drawings of manipulatives to show their thinking; or use number lines to solve and describe their strategies. They then relate their drawings and materials to equations.

Addition Example without Regrouping Using Picture Form, Expanded Form and Number Line

Addition Example with Regrouping Using Picture Form

Sample Multi-Step Problems

Ben wanted to count how many writing tools he had at home. He counted 20 pens and 30 pencils. He gave 15 of his writing tools to his little sister. How many writing tools does Ben have left?

John had 54 pictures in his photo album. He took 15 more pictures and added them to his photo album. He decided that he didn’t like 19 of the pictures, so he took them out. How many pictures are in John’s photo album now?

Sebastian had 82 blue cubes and 95 red cubes. If Rylen gave him 76 green cubes, how many cubes does Sebastian have in all?

Vivian wrote a book with 127 words. She added 42 words during the writer’s workshop. She decided one sentence didn’t make sense, so she had to erase 13 words. How many words are in Vivian’s book now?

Holden had 214 Pokemon cards and Jude had 158 Pokemon cards. They brought them out to recess to play with them. While they were outside, the wind blew 34 of their Pokemon cards away. How many Pokemon cards do they have all together?

 Michelle went shopping and had $300 to spend. She bought a shirt for $110 and shoes for $62. How much money does Michelle still have left to spend?

Maria had friends over for a water balloon fight. Her mom filled up 100 water balloons before her friends got there. They used 75 of the water balloons, then her mom brought them 34 more water balloons to use. How many water balloons does Maria and her friends have now?

Lauren’s mom told her that she could play in her pool for 30 minutes. She swam laps for 8 minutes, dove off the diving board for 12 minutes, and did headstands in the pool for 3 minutes. How much time does Lauren have left to be in the pool?

Craig has a $50 bill. He buys a squirt gun for $12, Lego’s for $25, and a stuffed animal for $7. How much money does Craig have left?

Tricia’s mother let her play outside for 45 minutes. When she went outside, she played with her dog for 15 minutes. Then she rode her bike for 22 minutes. She spent the rest of the time catching bugs. How many minutes did Tricia spend catching bugs?

Sebastian had 345 blue Legos and 28 red Legos in his collection. He lost some of them at a friend’s house. Now he has 456 total Legos. How many Legos did he lose at his friend’s house?

Jimmy and Kelly ran a snack stand in their front yard. They sold cookies for 5¢ and cupcakes for 10¢. They sold 3 cookies and 1 cupcake. How much money did they make altogether?

Math at Home: 1st Grade

Hello, 1^st Grade Parents!

Place Value is an important concept that begins in 1^st grade. It is important that our students students learn to count beyond one to one and eventually by tens and ones. The following activities are based on Texas 1^st grade standards for place value.

Place Value

Compose and Decompose a Number in More Than One Way

Tools: beans, beads, macaroni, blocks

Give your student a number and ask them to represent it in more than one way.

56

43

67

83

45

You may want to provide Ten Frames for them at first and eventually transition them from it. Remember that you want your student to eventually be counting the number by tens and ones and NOT one to one.

Use Objects, Pictures, Expanded and Standard Form to Represent Numbers up to 120

Tools: beans, beads, macaroni, blocks, Ten Frames

Give your student a number and ask them to represent it in picture, expanded and standard form.

Expanded Form is like a slinky. You can stretch it out. Standard Form is when the slinky isn’t stretched out.

58

76

28

94

45

Math at Home: Kindergarten

Hello, Kindergarten Parents!

I hope that this post finds you easing into your new routine without too much stress. We are all in this together…this uncharted territory. I wanted to pass on to you some things that you do with your student while you are beginning to grasp “home school” learning. An important concept that Kindergarten students have been working on in math is adding and subtracting within 10. In the state of Texas, by the end of the year, Kindergarten students will be able to:

K.3A – model action of joining to represent addition and the action of separating to represent subtraction

K.3B – solve word problems using objects and drawings to find sums up to 10 and differences within 10

K.3C – explain strategies used to solve problems involving adding/subtracting within 10, using spoken words, concrete/pictorial models and number sentences

Here are 3 types of problems that they have been working on:

Problem Solving:

This is an important time to work with the many ways to solve a problem. Talk with your child about what they know and what they need to find out. Allow them to choose the way that they would like to solve. Have them explain their thinking. 

Sample Problems:

Add to Result Unknown

1. Five bunnies sat on the grass. Three more bunnies hopped there. How many bunnies are on the grass now?
2. Two chickens walked outside. Three more chickens walked outside. How many chickens are outside now?
3. Three turtles sat on the rocks. Four more turtles sat on the rocks. How many turtles are sitting on the rocks now?
4. Randy has four gumballs. He buys five more. How many gumballs does Randy have now?
5. Mary has 6 pieces of candy. Tom has 3 pieces of candy. How many pieces of candy do they have together?
6. 3 friends are playing at PE. 2 more come and play. How many friends are playing now?

Take From Result Unknown

1. Tim had eight pencils. He lost three pencils. How many pencils does Tim have now?
2. Five apples were on the table. I ate two apples. How many apples are there now?
3. Katie’s mom made 9 cookies. Katie at 5 cookies. How many cookies are left?
4. 7 apples were on the table. 3 apples rolled off the table. How many apples are on the table now?
5. 8 friends are playing at PE. 4 friends left early. How many friends are still playing? 
6. Derek has six pieces of gum. He gave 4 pieces of gum to his friends. How many pieces does he have left?

Put Together/Take Apart Total Unknown

1. Four red apples and two green apples are on the table. How many apples are on the table?
2. Jasmine has five red starburst and three yellow starburst. How many starburst does Jasmine have?
3. Three brown bunnies and six white bunnies are on the grass. How many bunnies are on the grass?
4. 2 pieces of gum and 7 candy bars are in the jar. How many pieces are in the jar?
5. 5 blue fish and 4 red fish are swimming in the bowl. How many fish are swimming in the bowl?
6. 3 blue cars and 5 yellow cars are in the driveway. How many cars are in the driveway?

Put Together/Take Apart Addend Unknown

1. Five apples are on the table. Three are red and rest are green. How many apples are green?
2. Eight fish are in the fish tank. Four are orange and the rest are red. How many fish are red?
3. 9 pieces of candy are in the jar. 3 are lollipops and the rest are gum. How many pieces are gum?
4. Four bunnies are on the grass. One is black and the rest are brown. How many bunnies are brown?
5. 8 pencils are on the table. 5 are yellow and the rest are blue. How many pencils are blue?
6. Six kids are playing at PE. Two are boys and the rest are girls. How many girls are playing?

Ways to Solve

1. Act it out
2. Draw a picture
3. Use a Tens Frame – create one with painters tape or draw
4. Manipulatives (around the house) – clothes pins, pennies, buttons, blocks, units cubes

Number Talks

Work on math communication of facts within 10 using a tens frame. Write down all ways your child came up with the amount. Create a tens frame with painters tape or draw it. 

Non-Standard Number Lines

I must admit, prior to teaching math, I was not always the most proficient when representing decimals on number lines. I believe that a lot had to do with the fact that math was done out of a book and it was “sit and get” from the teacher. The expectation in math is to help create more conceptual thinkers. Conceptual understanding refers to an integrated and functional grasp of mathematical ideas. Students with conceptual understanding know more than isolated facts and methods. They understand why a mathematical idea is important and the kinds of contexts in which it is useful. When it came time for me to work with my students on this same concept, I was nervous at first. How would I be able to make my instruction meaningful so that my students were engaged and coming away with conceptual understanding about representing decimals on the number line?

I started off by creating two interactive number lines (one for tenths and one for hundredths) on the floor using black electrical tape.

I decided to represent one decimal, 0.8 and its equivalent, 0.80 on the number line. I also colored in a tenths and hundredths grid and placed it on the number line.

It was my goal for the students to use this number line and practice placing decimals on it. Each time a decimal was placed, I asked:

• How do you know that your decimal should be placed there?
• Why did you place it closer to one decimal than the other?
• Does it have an equivalent decimal?

This helped me take an informal assessment about who needed more support in this activity.

I also think that there should be an important conversation with the students about the different types of number lines. All students are familiar with the standard number line, but it is also important to point out non-standard number lines like scales for graphs, hundreds charts, thermometers, and clocks.

One other important non-standard number line is the tenths and hundredths grids!

I came up with this idea before working with a 4th grade Dual Language Math classroom. Sometimes I find that some of the best lessons are the ones in which I “fly by the seat of my pants.” LOL. We were working on representing (shading) the decimal in the tenths and hundredths grids when I came to the realization about the grid being a non-standard number line. After shading in the tenths grid for 0.3, I asked the students to cut the grid apart by tenths. There were 3 tenths shaded and 7 tenths left unshaded. After the tenths strips were cut, I asked the students to turn the strips vertically to make one long line (the number line) and make sure to place the shaded strips together on the left. Label 0 and 1 whole. This was the visual of where the decimal would fall on the number line.

There were a lot of “Aha’s” that day. The lesson was valuable for many of the English Learner’s in the class, but when you think about it, it’s just great differentiation! I also used this lesson with a small group of students who tend to struggle in math.

The video below is of our learning that day.

Materials Needed for BOTH activities:

Hundredths Grids

Tenths Grids

Scissors

Highlighters

Dry Erase Markers

Electrical Tape

Sticky notes

I’d love to see how this works out for your class! Please let me know!

The Amazing Race

According to the 2014 article, What’s the Racial Breakdown of American’s Public School Teachers, “Less than 20 percent of teachers are minorities nationwide, compared with more than half of students.” This startling statistic further proves the importance of equipping our teachers with the knowledge of how to reach and instruct ALL students. I personally do not feel that upper level college coursework is the most effective in preparing teachers to teach diverse student populations. Moreover, many student teaching placements and experiences vary. When pre-service teachers are looking for their first job, they don’t have the luxury of getting to choose where it will be. Their experience at the campus they are at for their first job may be totally opposite from their experience student teaching. I say this because it happened to me. I was fortunate to get a student teaching assignment at Riverchase Elementary, a non-Title 1 campus in Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD in Carrollton, Texas. The campus was not necessarily diverse at the time and the students were from fairly affluent families. The students “looked” like me and had similar experiences as I had. However, I was also fortunate to get my first teaching position in that very same district….only it was across town at Sheffield Intermediate, a Title 1 campus where the students didn’t “look” like me and had different experiences. I had to reflect and change my instruction numerous times that first year so that my students would feel successful and empowered. The changes that I made that year made a difference in my outlook as an educator and have fed into my passion for culturally responsive instruction.

If someone were to ask me, “What is the first thing I need to know about culturally responsive instruction,” I would say it’s all about relationships. In order to develop relationships, it is important for teachers to understand their student’s lives which are quite often different from their own. One of the best ways to develop these relationships is to meet your students on their turf. Students love when their teachers attend games and recitals or even seeing their teacher at the grocery store. Invite your students to have lunch with you in the classroom. It all works.

This is Darryl, a precious student of mine, in 5th grade and now in 10th. I still go to his football games!

As a follow-up to a staff meeting that I led about implicit bias earlier this fall, I was allowed to coordinate a very cool activity with our teachers during a district PLC day. The objective was to get our teachers out into the community that feeds into our campus. I called it “The Amazing Race.” The rules were simple. As a group, decide which places to visit from the following list:

Each grade level needed full participation and two hours to complete as many of the tasks as possible. Their proof? Take a picture at the spot and bring back the information. After the two hours was complete, the team with the most points would win. Here are some pictures from that fun outing:

Once the “Amazing Race” was finished, we met back in the cafeteria where I shared these photos along with countless others with the staff. We also discussed the following questions:

• Did a specific student come to mind when you visited these locations?
• What was your personal experience (ex. Extended stay hotel)?
• Did you learn anything new about your community?
• Are there any places that you would visit again?
• Do you feel that you have resources that you could recommend to the families in your classroom?

These questions allowed the teachers to really open up. One teacher admitted that she had never been in a pawn shop until that day. Others were not aware of the variety of services food pantries provide. All the teachers saw the value of going to these several places and admitted that it helped give them more perspective about the precious students in their class. Some even remarked that it was a humbling experience. That was the entire point. Yes, it was a team building activity, but more importantly, it placed our teachers in the environment that their students live in. This was the first step in coming face to face to a world beyond their own and an opportunity to start building a relationship with each of their students.

Formative Assessment With the End in Mind

In the last few years or so, differentiation has become quite popular in schools. Educators began to realize that instruction was not “one size fits all.” The same can be said about assessment, both formative and summative. No student learns the same way. In my undergraduate course work, I used to believe in one type of instruction and assessment, and that my students would follow my chosen way. I heard the terms “kinesthetic, auditory, and visual learners” and thought I’d make sure to meet those needs. Little did I know that my differentiation needed to go deeper. This journey didn’t happen overnight! I can tell you this – it happened after serious reflection of my lessons and instruction, feedback from others, and becoming culturally responsive. As an Instructional Specialist for K-5 math, I have worked with many teachers who want to effectively assess their students without solely depending on the data that a standardized test can give. There are a few instructional methods that I’ve helped teachers implement, including:

1. Taking time to Notice and Wonder
2. Co-create criteria so that students are aware of what is to be expected of them prior to the lesson and/or assessment
3. Clear and Effective Learning Targets that are about learning and not doing

Deconstructing Learning Targets

A popular planning and instructional practice with teachers is to plan with the end in mind. This practice can also be implemented with students! It allows your students to preview the end of unit assessment. I’ve always had the students collaborate in small groups. Allow the students to take several minutes to notice and wonder about what they are looking at. Their task is to identify key vocabulary and concepts that they will need to know to be successful on the assessment. Students will be most likely be able to identify the new topic of the unit (ex. Fractions or Multiplication). Academic vocabulary will also be noticed, as well as other key terms and ideas. Did I mention that the students absolutely enjoy this? They feel like they’ve discovered gold because they have the chance to view the assessment early!

For teachers, this serves as a wonderful formative assessment while walking around and conferring with the small groups. The data that is gained during this activity is quite profound. Valuable information can be gathered during this time, including student knowledge that they have retained from previous grades as well as misconceptions about the content. Once students have been allowed time to create their sticky notes, invite them to place them on the board or chart paper. Ask the students to gather around and help you sort the ideas into like categories (You will usually find that three categories will come about). These categories become the “Big Rocks” of the unit and will help you create student generated learning targets.

Below is video taken from a 3rd Grade Dual Language Classroom. Notice the rich conversations that the students are having as they collaborate!

This activity works well with all subjects and grade levels. I would suggest that with the younger students you might want to write on the sticky notes for them. Make it work for your classroom. The best thing about it is that you are assessing your students’ learning in a differentiated way.

Are Your Students Just Doing Math or Being Doers of Math?

3rd Grade Math, Woodrow Wilson Elementary

After you’ve given your students a math word problem to solve, have you ever thought to yourself, “They’re just circling the numbers and underlining the question. They aren’t paying attention to what the story says. They just want to write an equation and solve!” Chances are, most of you have experienced this. In math problem solving, teachers have grown too comfortable with creating a set checklist for students to use when tackling word problems:

• box the numbers and the noun that are being used
• underline the question
• circle KEY words that will help you determine what operation to use

It’s more than likely that your students will not be able to problem solve and get the question wrong when depending only on a checklist. Also….some key words are used for more than one operation. One thing that I always wanted to stress with my students is that they need to VISUALIZE what they are reading. Encourage your students to picture a movie playing in their mind when they are reading their favorite book and when they are reading math story problems. So….how do you do this?

1.Select/Create Real World Story Problems That Are Relevant To Your Students

I always use the phrase, “Work smarter, not harder!” When it comes to math story problems, please keep this in mind. It takes so much longer to create your own story problems. Why not use ones that have already been created? Just change the character names, numbers, and questions. (By the way, students LOVE it when their name is used in the story problem!) The internet is chock full of resources too. As an educator in the great state of Texas, I tend to lean on STAAR questions taken from Lead 4Ward, a wonderful online resource. The Texas Education Agency also grants access to all STAAR released tests that are free to use.

2. Pre-Teach Vocabulary

I hate to admit it, but just this year I came to realize how important it is to pre-teach vocabulary…. even vocabulary that is not related to math! This pre-teach benefits not only your EL students, but every student in your class. As you read the story problem out loud, encourage your students to highlight words that they are unfamiliar with. Allow the students to take turns sharing a word. This is a wonderful time for discourse among your students. All of a sudden, your math lesson will become a mini reading session! Encourage the students to use context clues and synonyms to further understanding. Many times, they can help each other figure out the meaning of a word. I always ask the students to write the meaning of the word above it in the story problem.

3. Chunk and Take Away the Numbers

When you take away the numbers from of the story problem, it keeps the students from immediately wanting to write an equation and solve. Take the story problem sentence by sentence. I call this “chunking.” “Chunking” is also a great way to keep the students engaged and allows the students time to process the information. During this time, ask the students to talk about what they notice in each sentence that involves math. Many students will say, “This isn’t about math because there aren’t any numbers!” Ask them to look closer then. Some will begin to identify words that were used in place of the numbers, like amount, distance, number, and some. Encourage the students to write down what they notice. Repeat this for each sentence in the story problem. It’s amazing to hear what the students notice! This is a wonderful time to assess their prior knowledge and misconceptions.

4. Add the Numbers Back

The students are generally excited to actually “see” the numbers being used. I’ve heard many remark, “That number was more than I was thinking,” or “I was thinking that the number would be way less!” As they did earlier, have the students write down the math they now notice.

5. Take Away the Question

Taking away the question from the story problem allows the students to use higher order thinking skills. They need to analyze the information in the story problem and create possible questions that could be asked. This can be a struggle for some students, so be prepared to scaffold. Also….write down all questions that students pose, even if the question is not the one you are looking to answer. The students can answer those questions later.

6. Reveal and Solve

Usually the students are excited to “see” the actual question be revealed. This enthusiasm carries over to getting to solve the problem.

So….When Should I Do This?

The main point is to be intentional in what kinds of story problems you use with your students. I don’t believe that you must take the numbers away from every math story problem that you give your students. This activity also isn’t restricted to take place on one day. If you need to, do a little bit each day. Differentiate according to the specific needs in your classroom. The point is to really have deep conversations about what is being read and ensuring that your students comprehend what is being given to them.

Big Red Lollipop Review

Overview

America has been considered a melting pot of cultures from all over the world. The same can be said about our schools. Children learn alongside their peers and consider many of them friends. But, how well do they really know their friends, especially the ones they don’t share the same culture as? In a world where cultural competency matters, books serve as guides for students to a world of cultures different than their own. According to Diverse Book Finder, “of the notably small number of books depicting Middle Eastern, North African, and Arab characters at all, most are portrayed in stories about cultural particularity (Beautiful Life) or in traditional tales (Folklore). Perhaps more notably, they are the most underrepresented characters in any books that do not make race, ethnicity, or culture a part of the plot.”

In Rukhsana Khan’s Big Red Lollipop, culture and customs become part of the plot.  Young Rubina has been invited to attend a classmate’s birthday party. It’s her first American party to attend! Her excitement wanes when Rubina’s mother insists that she bring her sister to the party as well. Her mother is not familiar with American customs and is not open to Rubina’s protests. To make matters worse, Rubina’s sister behaves badly, and even eats Rubina’s prized party favor…a big red lollipop. When Rubina’s sister is invited to her first American party, Rubina does not want to ruin her sister’s time and gently explains again to her mother about American customs in that children are not required to bring their siblings to parties.

Key Takeaways:

For Teachers: Rukhsana Khan’s Big Red Lollipop gives teachers an opportunity to use more diverse characters and authors in their classroom instruction. The book also demonstrates how everyday situations present children of immigrants with an extra layer to navigate. This is done without making the book ABOUT cultural differences, which is always a goal when seeking out books to help students develop empathy. Big Red Lollipop tells a tight, cohesive story that has underlying emotions and complex human interactions that are great for discussing with students. The great thing about this book is that the underlying message isn’t ever spelled out, which makes it a fun discussion book for the students in your classroom.

For Students (Central Themes or Main Ideas):  The experience of reading a book that affirms a student’s identity yet speaks to all students can be validating and empowering. So many books depicting the Middle Eastern culture are folklore or informational text. Students will then only view the Middle East as exotic or a land far, far away. Big Red Lollipop offers students a glimpse into the life of a Pakistani family maneuvering their way in the Western World.

Recommended Strategies for use with this book to achieve Education Justice or Classroom Equity: Empowering the students in your classroom is an integral part of creating a classroom culture of acceptance and understanding. Big Red Lollipop by Rukhsana Khan is another picture book that can be used as a way for students to see the similarities and differences of their own cultures and customs. Pair students together to compare their own experiences using a Double Bubble Map. Use it to let the students talk and share or Think/ Pair/ Share  about their customs surrounding birthday parties. This book also puts the Middle East on the map in a positive way, unlike the news. Give students the opportunity to find the middle east on a map and research it. Find other picture books written by Middle Eastern authors and make them a part of your classroom library.

Reflection: One of the greatest qualities an educator can possess is the willingness to be reflective over their instruction. I used to have a 45 minute commute each day, and at this time was when I reflected. My second year of teaching, I had three students from Pakistan, twin sisters and their cousin. I taught Reading, Writing and Social Studies. At the time, I considered my instruction to be culturally responsive. I was accepting of all cultures and didn’t “see” color. I had the best intentions for my students and wanted all of them to feel accepted. I specifically remembered asking the girls to explain to the class about Ramadan and their mother even brought in a delicious treat to share with the class. I only touched on the surface level of cultural responsiveness. Unfortunately, I don’t think I helped them feel empowered. Had I known then what I know now, my classroom would have not only have served as a window to the world, but also as a mirror for my students. My classroom library should have been plentiful in books representing the students in the classroom. Writing prompts should have been more open-ended. These three students didn’t have that. Big Red Lollipop is the perfect book to use to introduce your students to a world a little bit different than their own. Your students are familiar with birthday parties and problems with siblings! This is a wonderful chance to allow your students to see many commonalities with other cultures. I ask that you take time to reflect about your classroom, your instruction, and your library. How can you make some changes for all your students to feel accepted and empowered? It’s okay to start small.

Number Talks

After having the fortunate opportunity of being in dozens of teachers’ math classrooms over the years, one thing that stands out is that students lack numeracy. Numeracy is defined as the “ability to understand and work with numbers.” We can all think back to when we were young in the classroom and remember that fact fluency was so important. Simply memorize the facts and life will be easy. While I do believe fact memorization has an important role in being successful in math, having numeracy plays just as an important role. 

What is a Number Talk?

Using a Number Talk is an excellent way to improve fluency in your students. Every operation can be addressed, and your students will be engaged as they are displaying a sense of ownership and justifying their reasoning. They should last 10 – 12 minutes and are perfect as the Hook in Math Workshop for ALL grade levels. Number Talks focus on ONE equation where students mentally solve from already constructed strategies and explain their strategy out loud. It allows students to make mathematical connections and the discussion allows the teacher to facilitate more efficient and/or elegant strategies with the class. 

How to Conduct a Number Talk

One of the most important things to remember when conducting a Number Talk is that students are solving mentally. Encourage them to put a “thumbs up” when they are ready to share their answer. Call on several students and make sure to write down ALL answers…even the wrong ones. When it is time to select a student to explain their thinking, I tend to choose a student that has given a wrong answer. I find that as they are explaining their thinking out loud, they tend to “catch” their mistake. It is also important to ask the students to share their thinking if it is different than another student. Remember, Number Talks are an opportunity to display efficient and/or elegant strategies. The students can help you determine those after they’ve shared. 

Why is this beneficial to teachers?

Number Talks serve as a great way to take an informal assessment of student learning. Teachers automatically can identify students who have a strong understanding of strategies and students with misconceptions. This will help them create strategy groups during small group time. Number Talks also help teachers move students away from memorization and towards understanding. This will help increase numeracy. Another benefit of Number Talks is that they are short and engaging. They are a perfect way to get students thinking about math before they start their lesson.

Why is this beneficial to students?

Number Talks are beneficial for students because it allows students to solve in a way that they can be most successful. It gives students a chance to practice using academic vocabulary as they justify and explain. Number Talks also boost self confidence in students. Since all answers are written down, a sense of community is shown. Students are also able to use conversational moves, such as Talk Moves, as they communicate their thinking with others. They can politely agree or disagree or add on to their classmate’s thinking. 

Here is an example of a Number Talk during a 3rd Grade Intervention Time:

Let’s take a look at a Number Talk given to third graders. As you can see, three different strategies were shown…all displaying excellent thinking. 

Now, let’s look at a Number Talk given to Kindergarteners using a Tens Frame. The first Tens Frame was given. Students represented how to make 6 three different ways by moving the blue circles. 

It is important to remember that when you walk away from the math on the board, the problem should stand on its own. Make sure to display correct thinking. 

If you haven’t had the opportunity, I highly recommend you read Number Talks: Helping Children Build Mental Math and Computation Strategies by Sherry Parrish. The book has wonderful examples for grades K-6, as well as a DVD with examples used in classrooms. If you are an Instructional Coach, using a Number Talk is a wonderful way to get into teachers’ classrooms! 

Conferring in Math Workshop

Conferring is important in many ways:

• Helps us learn what our students know and don’t know
• Allows us to give feedback, including both a compliment and some teaching
• Helps the student learn something that is applicable to another day or problem 
• Helps with data collection for MTSS/RTI purposes
• Keeps a tighter rein on the whole class and prevents you from having to come up with too many rotations to see your students.

We are most often familiar with the idea of conferring when it comes to Reading and Writing Workshop and that’s okay. All you really need to do is take those same ideas that you are familiar with and apply them to Math….and even Science!

There are a few ways that you can confer during your Math Workshop.

Listen and Research. We need to know what the learner is trying to do, planning to do next, and what the learner thinks about the work. Be prepared to do some quick research. Take a moment to look through your student’s math journal. Do you notice any common trends in their work? Any misconceptions? Other times you will be able to draw on your own knowledge or research. Here are some questions that you can use during Listen and Research:

• What are you working on as a problem solver today?
• Last time that we met you were working……How is that going?
• May I look through your notebook for a second? Talk to me about what you were doing here.

This is an excellent way to reel your student in. I’ve seen many times where students are excited to see a teacher peruse through their notebook. This serves as an effective talking point during the conference and you will be able to learn quite a bit in such a short amount of time. This should take 1-2 minutes per student, so you will be able to meet with several students during the workshop block.

Compliment. With the compliment, it is important to be specific. “Good job” does NOT count. Instead, compliment the skill or behavior that you notice. It can easily be included in your teaching point for that particular student. Since you are being so specific, it’s highly likely that the student will continue doing the skill or behavior that you noticed correctly! Here are some ways that you can be specific with your compliments:

• One thing about you as a problem solver that is so fantastic is that….
• Your hard work at….is really paying off!
• I see that you are applying….This will really help you get better at…

I have noticed that students will hang on to every word you are saying when they hear this type of praise. Once they are hooked, their work will reap the benefits. This type of conferring should only take about 1 minute. You will have the opportunity to confer with a large amount of students during workshop.

Teach. When you teach, it’s important to engage the student and help make them feel that you are doing the work together. This is a perfect time to model the thinking you want your students to use on their own. Use language like, “Let’s try this” or “We could…” The following sentence stems are great to use during Teach:

• Do you see how I’m….?
• May I show you another thing that problem solvers do?
• If I were to…., I’d probably….so that….

The Teach may last 2-4 minutes, depending on student need. If you are like me, you’ll want to teach to mastery, but keep in mind that if the student is needing more, they should be pulled into small group for more instruction that is catered to their needs.

Another useful tool to use during conferring is a Scale of Help.

In order to determine where a student falls in their learning, start with a question from the middle like, “What is the question asking you to do?” Depending on how a student answers will determine if you need to move to the right with questions that show independent learning or to the left with questions that show more dependent learning. Simply laminate a copy and write student names on sticky notes to place on the scale. This serves as excellent data for documentation purposes.

The video link below shows conferring with the Scale of Help. Take a moment to look over the scale and then listen in to the conference.

Where would you place this student according to the scale?

Anytime students are working independently in math, a conference can take place in 5 minutes or less but have a powerful impact on learning. If you confer with 4-5 students a day, you can connect with most students each week, giving feedback and individual instruction.