Math Talks in the Elementary Classroom: Everyone's Talking About it!

How many of us have felt this way during math class? I did, especially when it came to high school math!

We all know a strong math foundation starts early.

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While the kiddos were home today, teachers participated in a wonderful professional development day for school improvement. 

One of our goals, as we begin to select a new math series for the elementary level, is to see which programs include math talk and rich tasks. Until one is carefully selected, each classroom will be doing more to incorporate these best practices.

What exactly is Math Talk? 

 Math talk is a short daily routine in which the teacher presents a problem and asks questions to help the students communicate their problem-solving approach, develop computational fluency using strategies and to improve their mental math skills. 

This description is from Math Solutions:

Math Talk

The Importance of Math Discourse and Common Core State Standards

Math Talk aligns with the Common Core State Standards by promoting the use of dialogue and conversation to explore mathematical thinking. Math Talk provides students an opportunity for deeper understanding through communication. Individually or in groups, students articulate and defend their ideas and analyze the reasoning of others.

Why Math Talk™?

Using communication in the classroom to represent, explain, justify, agree, and disagree shapes the way students learn mathematics. Classroom dialogue engages students, encourages them to learn more, and allows for the exploration of ideas, strategies, procedures, facts, and more.

Learn More!

Maybe you too have heard about it, but haven't quite taken the leap to working it into your busy day! To read more about Math Talk and for more information on how to get started in your classroom, you can download a free PDF from Math Perspectives.

I am going to work on adding more Number Talk time into my daily schedule as part of my morning meeting. It will be 15 minutes well-spent!

 Here are some ideas for 2nd Grade:

Add a 2-digit number and a single digit number (17 + 5)

Subtract a single digit from a multiple of ten (50 – 4)

Subtract a single digit from a 2-digit number (62 – 6)

Add two 2-digit numbers with and without regrouping (23 + 17) before and after teaching the algorithm.

Subtract two 2-digit numbers with and without regrouping (72 - 18) before and after teaching the algorithm.

Money problems (How much is 2 quarters and 4 dimes?)

Multi-step word problems or problems involving irrelevant information

Missing addend problems

Subtracting numbers from 100 (100 – 44)

Adding numbers to 99 or 98 (99 + 24)

Guess my Number

Tomorrow, I plan to use a three card flip activity. We will set the procedures and expectations for math talk time then go on to generate ideas using math talk. The question will be simple~ What can we do with these three numbers?

When I locate my file for these cards on my school computer, I will share them with you! 

The 8 Standards for Mathematical Practices are all about Problem-Solving! 

Math Talk time can include many of these!

Number Talks on Pinterest

In the meanwhile, while I do my best to focus more on math talks...

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Ha!:)

How do you do number talks in your classroom?