The
Classroom Environment
Creating an environment in your classroom
that will foster successful Number Talks takes time, patience and consistency.
Students need to feel they are in a safe place to communicate their reasoning,
make mistakes and take risks. Creating a safe, positive environment for your
students will get your Number Talks off to a flying start!
The Discussions – some easy steps!
v Present a visual arrangement of objects or computation question to be
solved
v Give your students time (VERY IMPORTANT) to solve mentally
v Have your students use the ‘Hand Signal’ protocol when they share answers
v Teacher asks 3-4 students to share how they got a particular answer (the
strategies used and names, if possible)
v The correct answer is given and discussed
Use signals to the chest
So others are not distracted during thinking time!
The Teacher Role
As teachers, we are all too familiar
with telling and explaining. During Number Talks, our role must shift to being
a facilitator; guide the discussions so everyone is learning, including you! I
shift my questions from “What answer did you get?” to “How did you get that
answer?”
The Role of Mental Math
Find a comfortable spot in your classroom and leave the paper and pencils in the desks! Solving problems mentally as a regular daily routine will allow students to become more efficient with numbers and strengthen their understanding of place value.
Grade 6 Number Talk in September
Purposeful Questions
Planning the ‘just right’ questions is
important! The skill you want to focus on will determine the operations you
will use in your Number Talk.
There are many variations to how a Number Talk will look in a classroom; where students gather and even the hand signals for answering but the goal will always remain the same......get students talking about math!
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