Number Talks! What are Number Talks?
A Number Talk is a short, ongoing daily routine at the start of our math block that provides students with meaningful ongoing practice with computation. A Number Talk is a powerful tool for helping students develop computational fluency because the expectation is that they will use number relationships and the structures of numbers to add and subtract. Number Talks are structured to be short sessions alongside (but not necessarily directly related to) our math curriculum.
The primary goal of Number Talks is computational fluency.
Children develop computational fluency while thinking and reasoning like mathematicians. Children are asked to make connections and look for relationships and thus are engaged in "doing mathematics." When they share their strategies with others, they learn to clarify and express their thinking, thereby developing mathematical language. This in turn will serve them well when they are asked to express their mathematical processes in writing. It will also serve them well in first grade and beyond.
**In order for children to become computationally fluent, they need to know particular mathematical concepts that go beyond what is required to memorize basic facts or procedures, (the way many of us learned in school) Students need to understand that:
• Numbers are composed of smaller numbers.
• Numbers can be taken apart and combined with other numbers to make new numbers.
• What we know about one number can help us figure out other numbers.
• What we know about parts of smaller numbers can help us with parts of larger numbers.
• Numbers are organized into groups of tens and ones (and hundreds, tens and ones and so forth.)
• What we know about numbers to 10 helps us with numbers to 100 and beyond
In my class we use Dot Cards. I hold a certain number of dots arranged in different ways. I ask the students, how many do you see and how do you see them? The students are to tell me the total quantity and using "math talk" they might say "I see 5, 3 and 2" or "I see 5, 4 and 1." I then write on the board the number sentence they just told me.... 3+2=5 and 4+1=5.
We also use various quantities of dots on a ten frame. I ask the students to tell me the total quantity of dots they see and again using "math talk" I ask them to explain how they see them. Both of these activities help them to learn how to make number sentences, which in turn help them with problem solving, and it helps them learn how different combinations of numbers put together make a new number.
Rekenreks are also used in our math talks. The students use their rekenrek to make different combinations of a number I give them. Currently we are up to 8. For example, I will ask the students to show me on their rekenrek to"make a combination of 8." It is fun to see all the different combinations they make! Some put 8 beads on the top and 0 on the bottom. Some have 5 beads on top and 3 beads on the bottom and so fourth.
Finally, another Number Talk activity is an Anchor Chart. These Anchor charts are posters of a numeral, for example, numeral 3. I ask the children to help me represent 3 on the chart/poster. The students have told me "3 dots on a ten frame", "a domino with 2 dots on the top and one on the bottom", "3 stars" or we even drew a tricycle! (3 wheels)
I hope this gives you a better idea of what we are doing in math and just how different learning math has become. I personally feel this is a fantastic way to learn math because it builds a really solid foundation.
