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Tips for Teaching Math Talk

MATH TALK is an essential part of teaching math in the primary grades. Math talk involves students explaining their mathematical thinking, listening to their classmates' ideas, and discussing math concepts collaboratively. Learning to explain their thinking helps children develop the skills they will need for more difficult concepts in the junior grades.  Here are some TIPS for promoting math talk in your classroom:

Encourage students to explain their reasoning: 

Encourage students to explain how they arrived at a particular answer, even if it is incorrect. This will help them to understand their mistakes and to learn from them.  Often as a child is in the process of explaining, they will realize an error and self-correct on their own.  

Create a safe and respectful environment: 

Create an environment where students feel comfortable sharing their ideas without fear of ridicule or judgement. Make sure to emphasize that there are many ways to approach a math problem, and that everyone's ideas are valued.

Use open-ended questions: 

Use open-ended questions that require students to explain their reasoning, such as "How did you get that answer?" or "What strategy did you use?" This will encourage students to think more deeply about the problem and to explain their thinking.  A good example is the question from the last post where students had to solve how many apples could be red or yellow.

Use small group discussions: 

Divide students into small groups and give them a math problem to solve with a piece of chart paper and some markers.  Encourage them to discuss their ideas with each other and to come up with a solution collaboratively. Then have each group share their ideas with the whole class.  Children love this method of problem solving.  Everyone is excited to share, whether they just drew a picture, wrote a number sentence or solved the whole problem.  And the rest of the class is eager to see what the other groups did, totally engaged and asking questions.  While this does take time, it is a rich lesson in math and highly encouraged.  

Celebrate different strategies:

Celebrate the fact that there are many different ways to solve a math problem. Encourage students to share their strategies with each other and to appreciate the different approaches that their classmates use. This will help to build a strong math community in your classroom.  I remember in one of my Grade 1 classes, most of the students had shared how they solved the problem.  I asked one of the quieter students if she would like to share.  She was reluctant to share at first but, with encouragement, said "Well, I only did this (explained her strategy)" and it turned out to be one of the more efficient ones.  Celebrating different strategies builds student confidence and a love of math!

Math talk is an extremely effective way of encouraging student engagement in math, critical thinking, confidence in solving problems and enjoyment of the mathematical process.  While it takes time at first to establish it as a routine, once students understand the expectation, they will readily join in.  I have used this for years in my math classes and can assure you that is well worth the effort!



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