Every wonder what it sounds like in our class? Today you can take a listen for yourself.
Number Talks are one of my favourite times during Math. I have even had kids mention how number talks are FUN! I began using them consistently last year, and have continued to use them daily this year. This is how we regularly start as a whole group - a time for brief practice mentally solving computation problems. Students focus on process as they are asked to explain the strategies that they use to arrive at an answer.
In essence I put a question on the board. Students sit quietly giving me a little signal when they have solved. When enough time has passed we collect responses for possible answers. Then students share the strategy that they used to solve the question.
It's cool to see how kids evaluate and listen to the strategies of others, naturally defending a response or looking for common errors. It's during this time I hear kids exposing their thinking. They are evaluating themselves and figuring out what makes sense and why. I am telling you - it is by far the favourite part of my day....I could go on and on and on...
We are only a couple of weeks into school but already I notice a level of trust in the class. Students are willing to share responses even if they are unsure. They know they won't be judged and are starting to realize that we learn from hearing each other and thinking about our thinking.
Today we built on yesterday's idea of subtraction. Today's question was: 42 - 19. That is all I write on the board. They have to compute mentally - always thinking about their thinking. In class there were five different answers that students shared - but each of these answers was justified by a student who was able to clearly articulate the process.
Have a listen by clicking on the link HERE. At this point int he video they were sharing strategies. They had already given solutions. If you are listening for someone specific, check out the following times as to when they speak:
Declan - Start
Lauren - 1:10
Luke - 2:57
Autumn - 3:57
Tyra - 4:37
Jarett - 6:13
Caden - 7:13
Hearing conversation of students talking - 8:00
After we had a few answers that students were able to clearly defend, I had them talk with elbow partners about what they were thinking. During this time I saw students in fairly involved conversations defending their ideas and looking for validity.
If you click HERE you will hear students sharing what they learned after their conversations. I liked how students were able to very clearly share what they learned from their partners.
Caden - Sharing Nic's Thinking - Start
Declan - Asking a questions : 1:00
Gracie - 1:10
Julia - 2:09 - Asking a question about her strategy - wondering why it doesn't work - trying to make the link to solving algebraic equations.
Thanks for taking time to take an audio peek into our math class!
Number Talks are one of my favourite times during Math. I have even had kids mention how number talks are FUN! I began using them consistently last year, and have continued to use them daily this year. This is how we regularly start as a whole group - a time for brief practice mentally solving computation problems. Students focus on process as they are asked to explain the strategies that they use to arrive at an answer.
In essence I put a question on the board. Students sit quietly giving me a little signal when they have solved. When enough time has passed we collect responses for possible answers. Then students share the strategy that they used to solve the question.
It's cool to see how kids evaluate and listen to the strategies of others, naturally defending a response or looking for common errors. It's during this time I hear kids exposing their thinking. They are evaluating themselves and figuring out what makes sense and why. I am telling you - it is by far the favourite part of my day....I could go on and on and on...
We are only a couple of weeks into school but already I notice a level of trust in the class. Students are willing to share responses even if they are unsure. They know they won't be judged and are starting to realize that we learn from hearing each other and thinking about our thinking.
Today we built on yesterday's idea of subtraction. Today's question was: 42 - 19. That is all I write on the board. They have to compute mentally - always thinking about their thinking. In class there were five different answers that students shared - but each of these answers was justified by a student who was able to clearly articulate the process.
Have a listen by clicking on the link HERE. At this point int he video they were sharing strategies. They had already given solutions. If you are listening for someone specific, check out the following times as to when they speak:
Declan - Start
Lauren - 1:10
Luke - 2:57
Autumn - 3:57
Tyra - 4:37
Jarett - 6:13
Caden - 7:13
Hearing conversation of students talking - 8:00
After we had a few answers that students were able to clearly defend, I had them talk with elbow partners about what they were thinking. During this time I saw students in fairly involved conversations defending their ideas and looking for validity.
If you click HERE you will hear students sharing what they learned after their conversations. I liked how students were able to very clearly share what they learned from their partners.
Caden - Sharing Nic's Thinking - Start
Declan - Asking a questions : 1:00
Gracie - 1:10
Julia - 2:09 - Asking a question about her strategy - wondering why it doesn't work - trying to make the link to solving algebraic equations.
Thanks for taking time to take an audio peek into our math class!