Presenter is Fiona Foley, MANSW Education Consultant
Number talks are brief discussions (5–15 minutes) that focus on student solutions for a single, carefully chosen mental math computation problem. Working collaboratively, students share their different mental math processes aloud while the teacher records their thinking visually on a chart or board. The teacher often names the strategies each student uses to building connections and making their mathematical understanding explicit. Demonstrating their understanding, students may question, critique, or build on the strategies that are shared.
During the workshop, participants will develop their understanding of strategies and action plans in K – 2 Number Talks, such as:
Participants will develop knowledge of strategies to support and understand students’ thinking in Years 3- 6 through Number Talks with a focus on:
Number Talks are a wonderful way for teachers to develop a toolkit of ideas to build the working mathematically components of communication, problem solving, reasoning, understanding and fluency.