Taylor School Students Explains 'Number Talks'

From Foxborough Schools Assistant Superintendent Amy A. Berdos:

Teaching and Learning Highlight

May 17, 2016

Number Talks was featured at Monday night’s School Committee meeting as the Teaching and Learning Highlight. Ms. Alison Mello, K-8 Director of Math and Science, Ms. Nancy Curran, second grade teacher, and Ms. Jackie Zabbo, third grade teacher, were joined by some of their young mathematicians from Taylor Elementary School to show the power of mental math and how they are increasing number sense and computational fluency.

Brian Sullivan and John Marcelonis (second graders) and Ciara Fitzpatrick, Amanda Peck and Lauren Avery (third graders) were eager to illustrate how the class routine of using Number Talks helps them to think critically and communicate their strategies for solving equations accurately and efficiently. Ms. Mello explained that Number Talks is a structured part of math instruction where students have the opportunity to engage in mental math strategies to increase computational fluency.

During Number Talks instruction students engage in problems by actively thinking and discussing possible ways to find the solution with their classmates. To demonstrate this process, students and teachers invited school committee members to participate with them by solving both an addition and a multiplication problem. It was explained that participants would be given individual “think time” and then were asked to communicate silently using specific hand gestures to show they were ready with a solution and a strategy to share.

For the demonstration, students and school members were asked to mentally solve 37 + 28. Brian (grade 2) shared his thinking explaining, “I added 30 + 20 = 50 and then I did 7 + 8 that equals 15 and then I added 50 and 15 to get 65.” When questioned by Ms. Curran on how he knew 7 + 8 = 15, Brian said, “I did doubles plus 1 (7 + 7 + 1).” Teachers record students thinking on a chart which can be used later as a resource to go back to. This is an example of how students are able to find numbers hiding in other numbers and are able to recognize that numbers can be easily broken apart or decomposed, Ms. Mello explained.

The rationale behind Number Talks in the classroom is to build number sense with students to help them think more flexibly and critically. “We noticed that there was a need to build greater number sense, specifically, we noticed that eighth grade students were stating that they did not know 14 x 3 because they did not learn their 14 tables. They did not see 14 as a composite of 10 and 4. They needed a stronger foundation in number sense,” Ms. Mello explained. Number Talks provide a chance for students to build number sense in a collaborative way. “They feel most comfortable when they get to work with each other. They are able to engage in the mathematical practices, defend their answers, and critique the reasoning of others,” said Ms. Mello.

When asked, why Number Talks, students and teachers agreed that engaging in mental math activities, talking about strategies and learning with each other is an effective way of finding solutions and solving problems with efficiency. “It’s not us telling them how to solve the problem, they are inventing the strategies and having multiple ways to solve,” shared Ms. Curran. If they get stuck, they have other ways to solve. Ms. Zabbo expressed her awe with what students are able to do mentally, sharing that the classroom learning environment is key.

“Students make mistakes in front of each other and they are okay with it!” From the students’ perspective, they were in agreement. In John’s words, “I like number talks better than math worksheets because you get to hear other people’s thinking and share your strategies.” Number talks are a great way to meet the Standards for Mathematical Practice. Two of these standards: Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them, and Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others are among those that come to mind right away!