Supporting math talk in the classroom - how can we reinforce and move the talk along?

The authors of Classroom Discussions write about 5 main ways to move the talk along.

1. Revoicing. "So you're saying that it's an odd number..." [This supports students who are not explaining their thinking/ideas in a clear way.]
2. Repeating: Asking students to restate someone else's reasoning. "Can you repeat what he said in your own words?" [Students who repeat ideas will have a better chance of following the conversation. This makes everyone more accountable for the talk time.]
3. Reasoning: Ask students to apply their own reasoning by agreeing or disagreeing. [This builds accountability AND critical thinking, especially when students need to say WHY they agree or disagree.]
4. Adding on: "Would someone like to add something more to this?"
5. Waiting and using wait time. "Take your time... we'll wait..."

 Talk Formats:

a) Whole class discussion
b) Small group discussion
c) Partner talk *

Interesting points:

Often, the teacher refrains from providing the correct answer and instead leads the students towards it with prompts, questioning, rephrasing, and repetition.


* This reminds of me a very interesting teacher that I met during a Ministry of Education conference. She used partners to further talk in her Grade 2 class. She mixed partners up every other week, and students used their "talk buddies" for every kind of Think/Pair/Share for two weeks. She said that it built inclusion and students' willingness to work with everyone. I think that would fit well into this kind of Math program.

How do we make math congress safe?

Establishing a respectful and safe community is important.

1. every student needs to listen to what others say
2. students need to be able to hear what others are saying
3. all students should participate and share ideas at some point

Why is communication during Math important?

After reading only a few chapters in Classroom Discussions, I have already read a number of interesting things. Key points so far:

• Research has been urging teachers to emphasize communication during Math for over 2 decades.
• Learning skills, such as communication, collaboration, and cooperation, fit nicely with this style of teaching.
• Asking different and open ended questions allow students to gain a deeper understanding of concepts.
• Students often understand when teachers explain but do not have a deep enough understanding to put their learning in their own words. "Math talk" does two things: 1. It allows the teacher and student to know how much they really do understand; 2. It forces students to explain what they do understand, thus further deepening their understanding. 

Math congress... how does it work effectively in Grade 1?

There is currently a huge shift in education surrounding inquiry based learning. A major focus of this shift is all about Math. While I have a lot of experience with inquiry based learning through problem solving, I'm excited to make this part of my program even better next year. Last year I really focused on improving my students' abilities to talk about Math and their learning. Questions like, "What were you thinking? Show us with pictures, numbers, and words." and "How would we know what you were thinking if we couldn't ask you?" greatly helped, but I want to take their communication skills even further next year.

I was given the book Classroom Discussions: Using math talk to help students learn, and I'm looking forward to reading it.

My focus question: How do I use math congress effectively in Grade 1?

Why blog?

The reason for starting this blog is simple. I want to record and compile the information, research findings, and ideas that I acquire on my journey as a professional educator. I am hoping that this blog will help me to organize and use everything that I learn easily - and maybe (eventually) it will help someone else too!