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Are you curious about Number Talks and want to see a Number Talk Lesson in action? If so, we’ve got you covered.
Number Talks are short, powerful activities that can significantly increase your students’ mathematical understanding, while at the same time build computational fluency.
If you read our last post, What Are Number Talks?, you know that Number Talks can be a powerful way to build mathematical thinking in your students. They are highly engaging activities that provide students with the challenge of figuring out their own solutions to problems in a way that makes sense to them. Through number talks your students’ mathematical reasoning will grow leaps and bounds.
Following is a lesson example to help you envision how Number Talks can be put into action in your classroom.
First, present your students with a mathematical problem that they can (preferably) solve mentally.
When students have an answer, have them put a private thumb up (if students raise their hands, students who do not yet have answers may quit trying to solve the problem).
After all students have a thumb up, ask them to turn to a friend and share both their answer and how they know their answer is true.Teach students to keep thinking after they have an answer. Ask students to either think of another answer to the problem presented (if applicable) or think of another way to solve the problem (i.e. use a different strategy). Have students put an additional finger up for each additional answer/idea they come up with.
Ask students if anyone came up with a different answer, or came up with the same answer, but used a different strategy. Allow students to share and engage in discussion. After all, students have had an opportunity to share their thinking with a partner, call on one to share their ideas aloud. Record ideas. Ask students to show the “me too” signal if they came up with the same answer using the same strategy.
It is important to accept all answers, right or wrong.
Because students are always asked to share how they know their answer is true, they will oftentimes make corrections themselves while processing through the problem. If not, another student will recognize that an incorrect answer needs to be adjusted.
You will want to teach your students how to respectfully respond to their peers using sentence stems.
These are the stems we use in our classroom:
- I agree with you because…
- I respectfully disagree because…
- I like what you said about…
- I would like to defend my answer…
- I would like to add…
- I used the strategy…
- I do not understand.,,
- Can you please explain…
So, if you are looking for quick, engaging, fun activities that will change the way your students think about and process mathematics, we encourage you to give number talks a try. You will NOT regret it!
We wish you the best! And Happy Number Talking!
Cindy
Click here to see our year-long Number Talks programs
What age would this be for? What questions would you ask 3/4 year olds
Hi Michelle!
These number talks would be better suited for first graders (six year olds). For 3/4 year olds who already know how to count, I would begin with subitizing tasks such as dot cards. This helps children to see numbers flexibly…which helps them with mathematics down the road. If you have a document camera, you could place a few counters down for a few seconds then cover them. Ask students how many counters are there and how they know…how did they see them. (Example….show four counters….Did they count them all? Did the see three and count one more? Did they see two and two and know that’s four?). You could also do activities with more and less. Which one has more? Which one has less? It depends on the children and their abilities, but those are a couple of ideas you could use.
You are very welcome!