Number Talks - Plans for Next Year

Kindergarten Number Talks PLC

Today we introduced some colleagues to the concept of Number Talks through videos and discussed plans for implementing them next year.

Key ideas we learned from this year:

• We must be more consistent with the gestures for Number Talks.
• Ask Question “How many dots?” - Thumbs up to chest when ready.
• Ask “Who wants to share?” - Raise your arm with thumbs up.
• We must be conscious of the language that we are using:
• How are we asking the questions?
• “What do you see?” - Their answers reflected pictures versus Math.
• When we asked “How many dots?” their answers reflected number sense.
• Emphasize the idea that it’s ok to change your mind.

Questions, Concerns, and Possible Solutions:

• Is it possible to do Number Talks every day?
• Can be time-consuming. Teachers got bored because the process seemed slow and we were using really low number sets and many cards for the same number.
• Can we use dot plates instead?
• Do we have to show every string for a number? There are 6 strings for number 5.
• Maybe we need to show a few strings instead of all of them and then move onto the next number.
• Why don’t we stop repeating the number in French and instead split up the strings so English day does the first two strings of a number and French day does the next two.
• Can we incorporate dot cards into table top activities?
• Can we use Number Talks for other Math concepts that need to be covered?
• Can we use the gestures for other topics besides math?
• Would be beneficial to help them understand the importance of allowing everyone time to think.
• If it’s used in Kindergarten what will happen in Grade 1? Can we share it with the Grade 1’s?

Next Steps:

• Begin to teach Number Talks in the fall as whole group to introduce gestures as shown above.
• As the year goes on, differentiate into small groups during table tops.

Order of concepts:

1. Dot cards with sets of 1-5 (whole group)
1. Number Talks Twice a week focus on one number a week
1. Once on English Day & once on French Day
2. Limit Talk to 5 minutes. Do 2-3 strings of one numbers.
3. Invite only 3 students share per card.
2. Assess where SK students are at and group them as shown below.
3. Differentiate into small groups:
1. Group 1 - focus up to 10 (Goal for SKs)
2. Group 2 - focus up to 5 (Goal for JKs)