Number Talks

Joy took a class this summer that ties in well with our new program, Math in Focus. After she shared with me some of the strategies presented in the class, I asked her to write a blog post about what she learned. I copied and put one sheet of information in your box, however, Joy has more information if you are interested.
Thanks for sharing Joy!!

Guest Post from Joy Bartholomew:

This summer I took a class called Instructional Strategies for Math Teachers.  It was a good class that I think helped to prepare me for Math in Focus.  I think it will be offered again next summer if anyone is interested.

 

In this class, they focused a lot on Number Talks.  (We did one in class with the representative from Math in Focus in in-service.)

You give the students a problem they can do mentally and then discuss the different strategies they used to solve the problem.  Sometimes, you can also look at the strategies and order them in a sequence by the different ways they relate to one another.

For lower grades K-2, you can also try something called “Quick Images.”  Looking at various images (usually dots) for a brief period of time (a few seconds) and then asking students “how many dots did you see?”  They then share their strategies to explain how they know the amount they saw.  “How do you know you saw 6 dots?”

Both methods offer opportunity for mental math, math discussions, and seeing more than one way to solve a problem.  I know we are trying to get Math in Focus figured out first, but Number Talks may definitely be something to think about trying in the future.  I know I am. I think they would be a valuable addition.  It is not something you have to do every day, but doing them on a consistent, regular basis is good.

 

Anyway, if you are interested in trying some of these types of problems, here are some resources you can look at.

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/visualizing-number-combinations

www.teachingchannel.com (search for videos of teachers doing number talks with their students)

 

 

You can definitely google “Number Talks” or “Quick Images” and find even more information.

 

I have some articles/handouts on Number Talks too.


Joy

Model Drawing

Model Drawing

 

This summer I was introduced to model drawing and immediately -  I was hooked!!!

Before learning about model drawing, my teaching of word problems went something like this ........

"Make sure to read the problem carefully"
"Underline/circle/box the important information"
"Draw a picture"
"Guess and check"
"work backward"


Unfortunately, this didn't always help many students. Although I tried many different ways to teach word problem strategies, I still had students struggle through complex and multi-step problems.

This made me so sad!! I believe God has created us to be problem solvers and to think logically. God created math with order and structure so that we can use it as a tool. But, if we can't use the tool to solve problems we aren't living up to all we are created to be.

None of the strategies and ideas that I used in the past are wrong, they were just missing something. After learning about model drawings I realized what was missing - visualization. 

Why am I so excited about model drawings?

Model drawings help students accomplish many things:

• transition between concrete and abstract (algorithm) by giving them visuals they can manipulate
• gives them a way to handle written information
• gives them strategies to tackle complex, multi-step problems
• allows them to visually communicate their thinking through drawings
• makes algebraic concepts more concrete - develops algebraic thinking
• helps students visualize the part-whole concept

 

Math in Focus begins model drawing in 2nd grade, but the ability to see the part-whole concept was developed starting in Kindergarten. Thanks K/1 teachers!

Singapore teaches students to use rectangles as their model when solving problems.

So, What's Special About These Rectangles?

 

While, there is nothing special about the rectangular shape that is used in Singapore Math, and therefore in Math in Focus, rectangles are used for several reasons.

• When all teachers use the model drawing and rectangles to solve word problems, we are consistently and systematically teaching students to think through complex problems.
• Rectangles are easy to draw and divide.
• They can be used to represent large numbers and show the relationship between numbers.
• Mainly, it helps students visualize the problem.

Watch this video!

Dr. Yeap Ban Har is a fabulous teacher/lecturer from Singapore. I had the opportunity to attend several of his teaching sessions this summer. In this video he explains the importance of bar models to help students visualize the problem. Singapore teachers are consistently asking their students "can you see this" or "can you visualize this". The advanced math students can do this with very little directions, but we need to teach the average and struggling learners to visualize.

We will have our first Math Night, September 24, where I will show this strategy to parents. You are welcome to attend. I also have the book Step-by-Step Model Drawing: Solving Word Problems the Singapore Way. You are welcome to borrow it any time.



Blessings,

Shari