Number Talks, Take 5!

"Do not give up when things don't go perfectly well; make adjustments and keep moving forward" (p. 31)

And that is just what we plan on doing. We did, however take another break and dropped our Number Talks very readily this past month when our new strategies didn't produce the results we had expected. With report cards due, we all felt pretty justified in focusing our attention elsewhere. But now that they are all done, I finally had the energy to read Chapter 2 of Number Talks to find some fresh ideas. This last tip was at the very end; and yet it is the most important one. Staying positive and persistent when faced with challenges, are necessary qualities if we want to accomplish our goals. And it just so happens that promoting a positive mindset and/or GRIT is a board-wide endeavor this year. Keeping a positive mind set is the only way the students will succeed as well as us teachers.

So last week we restarted our Number Talks with some adjustments. Firstly, we decided it was best to continue to do Number Talks in small groups. This time, we did them first thing in the morning during Tabletop Activity Time when students are most alert. To avoid distractions of other activities at the tables, I brought them into a quiet corner of the room on the carpet and I sat facing outward so I had a view of the rest of the room, while they sat facing me. As Sherry Parrish suggests: "I have found it that it is easier to build a cohesive community and a focused discussion when students shift away from their regular routines and are removed from typical desk distractions" (p. 17). This shift in location, made a huge difference in terms of their attention and engagement. And within one week, students began to await their turn to join in a Number Talk. This past Monday morning I saw one student walk in and wander, so I asked if she wanted to join me for a special activity in the corner. She replied: "I've seen you doing the Number Talks in the corner." I asked if she was excited that it was her turn and she just smiled from ear to ear. Parrish notes: "One way to elevate the status of number talk time and signal its importance is to have a specific location in the classroom where the students gather for this purpose" (p.17). 

Click Here for a blog post on Small Group Number Talks in the Junior Grades

First, I reminded each group of the routine for our Number Talks. First, I would show a card of dots very briefly and then ask them "How many dots do you see?" and "How do you see them?". Then they would place a thumbs up on their chests if they were ready with an answer. I reminded them that it is not important to figure out an answer quickly, but rather that we give everyone a chance to take their time to think and come up with an answer. Since I began teaching, the importance of " wait time" has always been stressed; however this strategy of including a gesture is neat because it makes the wait time obvious to the students themselves. By making "wait time" known to students, they may better understand that speed is not the most important part of success in math. As Sherry Parrish explains: "Many students have the misconception that they are not good at math because they are not fast. We can easily reinforce this misconception if we begin gathering answers as soon as the first students are ready. " (p. 18). Using the procedure of giving a thumbs up is important to "send the message that all students are expected to think and contribute during this time" (Parrish p. 18). 

Set students up for success by grouping them
 by ability and providing tasks at their level.

Next, I explained I would invite those interested in sharing their answer to raise their hands. Keeping the groups small, to a maximum of three students, meant that students were not only more engaged but more comfortable sharing their thoughts. I also made sure to group the students based on similar abilities. Because I kept the groups small (max. 3 children) and carefully selected students with similar needs, all students were eager to share and even the shy ones participated, though they still spoke softly. Parrish also notes that by grouping the students based on their needs, it allows for those that are ready to be challenged (p. 25). I am not yet sure what kind of challenge I will present to those that are stronger but for now I will record their answers and then take the time to analyze them and plan for our second set of small group Number Talks. 

One of Parrish's 5 steps towards teaching for understanding (p. 28) suggests limiting number talk time to a maximum of 5-15 minutes in order to maximize engagement. Back in January, we had decided to review all the cards for number 4, so the Number Talk definitely went on for longer than 5 minutes. Even though it was in a small group,I found even I, myself, was quite bored since it was always the same answer. Although I was recording the answers and analyzing them throughout the Number Talk, this documentation took up way too much time and thus, the students were distracted. So finally I told them, this time our talk would be short so no one would get bored and they could go back to a table activity of their choice after only 5 minutes. Before we began, I set a timer so that we would not get carried away. We were able to get through just 3 cards (one set) with everyone sharing each time. The timer has been ringing just as we are discussing the final card. Limiting the talk to 5 minutes in Kindergarten is a rule I would definitely recommend. 

A few other tips I liked from Chapter 2 (p. 30):

• Offer a strategy from a previous student 
• If no one offers a strategy, give an example and ask if it will always work (checking for reliability).
• It is all right to put a student's strategy on the back burner.
• If you don't understand a student's strategy and they've already restated it, you can have students turn and talk about what they understand and brainstorm questions to pose for clarification.
• During this time, listen to students and get a sense if everyone is confused or you can build upon this idea.
• If not, tell the student you need time to think about it before continuing.
• This helps keep the conversation pace versus slowing it down and losing students' focus.

I especially like this last phrase because it reassures the student his/her ideas are still valuable and as Parrish says, you can meet later with the student to work through their strategy.

And finally, Parrish's last tip (p.31): 

Possible Next Steps:

• Use one half PLC day to meet with my colleague from my second class to explain Number Talks and plan to implement them.
• Read Ch. 3 of Number Talks for more specific strategies in the K-2 classroom to be shared with colleagues.
• Use my final half PLC day to meet with my first Kindergarten team and discuss possible next steps below.
• Devise new plans for recording students' thinking so that it can be easily shared with classmates. (Right now we are simply making our own handwritten anecdotal notes to share among the teaching team.)
• Discuss possible activities/questions Parrish suggested to add to develop more accountability in our Number Talks. (p. 25)
• Ask students to use finger signals to indicate the most efficient strategy.
• Require students to solve an exit problem using the discussed strategies. 

Collaborative Math Inquiry Lesson Plans: Car Caravan Math Task

As part of the Collaborative Inquiry in Learning Mathematics (Funded by EOSDN), we have been given some PLC days in order to plan for our math tasks. Today, our primary team met to discuss and plan for the Car Caravan task. This task has been given to all teachers in our board from Kindergarten to Grade 8. We will be gathering documentation on target students and coming together to analyze our findings with the goal of promoting a growth mindset, more positive attitude towards Math in general and encouraging the development of proportional reasoning.

Here are our plans for the Car Caravan Task:

Day 1 

1) Introduce the Car Caravan problem by showing a small group (including the target students) the following photo and asking:

• What do you see?
• What are you wondering?

Document their wonderings with video and/or anecdotal notes. Videos can be shown to the whole group for discussion.

(Gr. 2 students willl all be put into small groups to work on their own.)

Our intention: to allow target students to develop a wondering. By presenting in a small group, the target students may have more confidence to speak and  share. This will allow them to have a voice and develop a more positive mindset versus potentially withdrawing  if the problem was presented in a whole group and feeling intimidated.

2) Present the problem to the whole class and present the video of the small group’s wonderings and discussion. Ask the whole group if they have any other wonderings.

3) Analyze documentation and list of wonderings. Choose a wondering to focus on for the following day, based on target students’ interests. Gather potential materials to assist in solving the problem tomorrow.

Day 2

4) Challenge of the Day: Present the chosen wondering of the day at the end of community time as an optional centre time activity, guided by the educator.

**If the target students do not willingly join the challenge, (perhaps they are hungry and want to go to the snack table right away), the educators will invite them to join later. If they are resistant, then give them time to do another activity and invite them back later. Document their response and engagement.

5) Provide the small group with the photograph and the specific wondering (written on a paper). Ask them what materials they need to solve the problem. And guide them to discuss and attempt strategies and work on a solution.

6) Consolidation: During sharing time, we will have small group of students present their strategies either orally or through a video/pictures.

Pedagogical Documentation Look-Fors:

• Describe what you see and hear.
• Do they have a curiosity about the task?
• Look at their understanding and ability to explain their thinking.
• Look at their persistence.
• What other factors contributed to the students’ engagement : Did anything else happen that morning? or the night before?

• What materials did the students suggest.
• What language are you (the educator) using to pull out the information?

Next week we will meet for another PLC day as a primary team and use the following success criteria to analyze and evaluate both educators and students learning. We are very excited to put our plans into action and discover all the learning that will take place!

Kindergarten Success Criteria

Success Criteria Teachers	Success Criteria for Students
Using descriptive feedback more than just saying wow and passing it along	Having them explain their thoughts and they can have a voice – they can be the teachers too
Planning open ended activities for all entry levels	Demonstrates interests and curiosity by taking risks and attempting to solve problems in play areas
Praise the students based on their abilities rather than their output	Shows willingness to collaborate with others when solving problems.
Allow the students to use their own strengths to communicate their thinking	Displays persistence when facing challenging problems and when experiencing failure
Using intentionality in placing the manipulatives and allowing the students to be creative in their explanations.	Seeks opportunities to extend their mathematical learning and make connections to real life situations
Using your language to help pull out the proportionally reasoning language (You can go and wash your hands if you are wearing more red on your shirt than any other colour)	Allow the students to use their own strengths

Learning French Sight Words

I gave the group of students a list of French sight words for the first time and asked them to take a few minutes to see if they could figure out how to read some of them. We had a very interesting conversation so I decided to share it below!

Mme: So, have you been able to figure out any of the words?

Student 1: pointed to le and said: This is “Il”!

Mme: How did you know?

Student 1: I recognized the letter.

Mme: So you sounded it out?

Student 1: Yes

Mme: Does everyone agree this is Il? (pointing to le).

Student 2: I think it’s La and this (elle) is Il.

Student 3: No, this one is La! (pointing to la)

Mme: How do you know?

Student 3: Because llll...aaa.

Mme: Does everyone agree?

Everyone: Lll...aaa, la! Yes!

Mme: So are these two words the same? (Pointing to le and la).

Student 1: No, the ending is different.

Mme: What’s similar?

Student 4: They both start with the same letter but end with different ones.

Everyone agreed.

Mme: So, if the first sound is L, can this word (le) be Il?

Student 2, Student 3, Student 4: Noooo!

Student 1: Yes!

Mme: Let’s look at the first letter. What is the first sound?

Everyone: LLLL

Mme: And the next one?

Everyone: EEE (letter name), Leee!

Mme: That is the letter name. If you recall, the French sound is different from the English sound so we were focusing on the English one. What is it?

Everyone: e (short vowel sound)

Mme: I told some of you the French sound last week. Does anyone remember?

Student 2: e (French vowel sound)

Mme: So let’s blend the sounds together.

Everyone: L-e... Le!

Student 4: This one (elle) is Il!

Tia: I agree with Alyss.

Student 1: I do too!

Student 3: Me too!

Mme: That’s great. We will work on that next time for sure. For now, we know 2 of our French sight words - le and la! Le’ts see if we can find them in our French books!