On the walk home today Parker was excited to tell me about the number talk they had done in school because he got to share his strategy. From what he described the teacher held up a card that looked like this (Parker confirmed that this is a "pretty good" picture of what they worked on):
The teacher holds it up and then puts it down so the kids can't count the dots by ones. Post a comment below: What strategies can you come up with for figuring out how many dots there are?
Parker's Strategy
Parker said 4 and 4 is 8, and 1 more is 9. Then he said he counted on three: 9... 10, 11, 12.
Number (or Math) Talks
I'll post more about number talks (or math talks) in the future. They are great ways to build up students' understandings of number and they can be used with young children, high schoolers, and everything in between. The basic format is to pose a problem of some type and have children solve it mentally. They generally put a thumbs up on their chest when they have a solution and extend additional fingers on their hand if they come up with more answers or strategies. Then the teacher records all the answers (without hearing any strategies) on the board. Finally, kids are invited to defend or explain one of the answers on the board. The teacher may repeat this process with more than one problem, but many teachers try to keep the entire thing down to 15 minutes.
Dot cards work great for young children, and you can use simpler ones with smaller numbers when children are just building their understanding of number. They can also be used to provide opportunities for practicing particular skills. For instance, you can create cards that emphasize doubles or making ten or other important facts. As kids get older teachers might use a problem like "38 + 37." Later kids can do math talks with fractions, patterns, and algebra. I've used the geometry book, Which One Doesn't Belong? by Christopher Danielson with kindergartners in a number talk format. Here are some other great resources if you're interested in number talks:
Number Talks: Whole Number Computation, Grades K–5 by Sherry Parrish
Number Talks: Fractions, Decimals, and Percentages by Sherry Parrish
Making Number Talks Matter: Developing Mathematical Practices and Deepening Understanding, Grades 4-10 by Cathy Humphreys and Ruth Parker
Post a Comment!
Share a strategy you came up with for how many dots there are!