by Jeannie Curtis
George Lucas Educational Foundation
In this article Jeannie Curtis breaks things down into three tips on guiding math talks.
1. Spend Time Discussing Just One Math Problem- The purpose of this is so that the children answer this question in depth and use more than one strategy. This reinforces something I already do with my children by encouraging them to use more than one strategy however they have not really done this in a problem solving approach.
2. Use the Power of Think, Pair, Share- I have used this method many a times and can definitely see the benefit of it when doing problem solving. By doing this it is does allow children to have more time to think about their answer and to gain confidence before they share in front of the class.
3. Take Advantage of Discussion Aids- Use math tools, visuals and language support. I really like the language support idea and I plan to use these sentences including some others I will look for.
I see that you used Math Practice _____when you __________
I think it would be more efficient to ___________
I will use your strategy next time because ____________
The part of your strategy I do/don not understand is ____________
When I was stuck I ___________
The most challenging part for me was _____________________
A challenge I have is it is important for me to observe the children in their talking so I can have an understanding of where they are at in their understanding and how much maths talk they use.
Something positive I got from this article was that the children listen, watch and discuss maths and the more they do this the deeper understanding they gain. When the children listen to their peers then they can see patterns and make connections. The children will hear other ways to attempt problems which will definitely help them and open them up to new learning.
Thanks, Nicola for your post. This couldn't have come at a bette time as I am also looking at Maths Talk in my inquiry. I find the Think Pair Share such an empowering learning technique. It gives the students time to think and formulate an answer and enables them to share their ideas in a save way. This is definitely a technique I use across all curriculum areas. This week, I am going to introduce - "I will use your strategy next time because..." I feel this will get students actively listening and thinking about what their partners are sharing and in turn, reflecting on their own learning.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your first point in the article about just discussing one problem and getting them to solve it using as many strategies as they can. When they share back with the group you can see children that are wanting to share back a different way that they answered the problem. I have enjoyed my first week using the problem solving approach in our hub.
ReplyDelete