Number Talks
Math Institute
Summer 2014
Activating Strategy Discussion:
Which common errors would you expect to see?
47
+38
51
-36
5+28+9+133
2 + 3 = ___ + 2
Students often do not bring number sense to the work.
They need to be able to reason and solve mentally.
On a scale of 1-4, decide where you are with
Number Talks
 1-Never heard of Number Talks before today
 2-Heard of Number Talks, interested in learning
more
 3-Have tried Number Talks in my classroom
 4-Regulary use Number Talks in my classroom and
have either invited other teachers into my room to
observe Number Talks or have taught staff
development on Number Talks




Now…Find the chart paper with the same number as your
comfort level with Number Talks.
1’s-Write down questions you have. What do you really want to
know?
2’s-What questions do you still have? What are your next steps
and what is keeping you from diving deeper with Number
Talks?
3’s-What has worked for you and not worked for you? What
have you noticed about your students’ abilities to think and
talk mathematically? What do you think is important to share
with others?
4’s-What do you think are the most important things to share
with teachers who are just starting out? What suggestions or
helpful hints do you have to share?
“Our classrooms are filled with students and
adults who think of mathematics as rules and
procedures to memorize without
understanding the numerical relationships
that provide the foundation for these rules.”
- Number Talks
Computation Progressions:
Strategies (Student-Invented)
Algorithms (Generalized Strategies)
Standard Algorithms
Turn and Talk: At which grade levels should standard algorithms for
addition/subtraction with regrouping, multiplication, and long division be taught?
Common Core Standards/AKS
2nd Grade
16.NBT.8 use mental math strategies to
add and subtract 10 or 100 to a given
number between 100-900
4th Grade
16.NBT.6 find whole-number
quotients and remainders with up
to four-digit dividends and onedigit divisors, using strategies
based on place value, the
properties of operations, and/or
the relationship between
multiplication and division.
Illustrate and explain the
calculation by using equations,
rectangular arrays, and/or area
models
What is a “Number Talk”?
A five to fifteen minute classroom
conversation around purposely crafted
computation problems that are solved
mentally
GOALS of a Number Talk:
Accuracy
Flexibility
Efficiency
By sharing and defending their
solutions and strategies,
students are provided with
opportunities to collectively
reason about numbers while
building connections to key
conceptual ideas in mathematics.
Why Number Talks?
Students have the opportunity to:
1. Clarify their own thinking.
2. Consider and test other strategies to see if
they are mathematically logical.
3. Investigate and apply mathematical
relationships.
4. Build a repertoire of efficient strategies.
5. Make decisions about choosing efficient
strategies for specific problems
Steps to Number Talks
•
•
•
•
Present the problem
Allow for quiet think time
Thumbs up when ready
Teacher records all possible
solutions as dictated by the
students
• Students share their strategies
(3-4)
Classroom Clip
Classroom Link:
Before you watch this clip, think about how
you would mentally solve this problem.
496 ÷ 8
Classroom Clip
Classroom Link: Division String
(Pg. 329 Number Talks Book)
As you watch the clip, consider:
1. How does the succession of problems provide a scaffold for
students to solve 496 ÷ 8?
2. How does this sequence provide multiple ways for students to
access the problem?
3. In what other ways could 496 ÷ 8 be solved using the prior
problems?
4. The teacher repeatedly asks students to explain where their
answer is in their strategy. Why is this an important focal point
throughout the discussion?
Standards For Mathematical Practice
 Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them
 Reason abstractly and quantitatively
 Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning
of others
 Model with mathematics
 Use appropriate tools strategically
 Attend to precision
 Look for and make use of structure
 Look for and express regularity in repeating reasoning
Five Small Steps
1. Start with smaller problems to elicit thinking from
multiple perspectives.
2. Be prepared to offer a strategy from a previous
student.
3. It is all right to put a student’s strategy on the back
burner.
4. As a rule, limit your number talks to five to fifteen
minutes.
5. Be patient with yourself and your students as you
incorporate number talks into your regular math
time.
Summarizing
• What benefits could you see from using Number
Talks with your students?
• What information do you feel that you will need
before beginning Number Talks?
• What questions do you still have?