Making Number Talks Matter: Developing Mathematical Practices and Deepening Understanding, Grades 4-10 - Tapa blanda

This book offers practical advice for teachers using number talks in the classroom, whether new to the strategy or looking to refine their practice. Authors Humphreys and Parker begin by explaining the purpose of number talks and offering easy-to-follow steps for establishing a classroom routine. Teachers who might be hesitant to try number talks with their students will benefit from the eight basic steps that the authors outline for getting started. Humphreys and Parker offer tips on how to phrase and present problems to students as well as question frames and sentence starters to lead students through the process. Specific teacher moves are also described to encourage student talk over teacher talk and engage students in the process. Individual chapters are dedicated to each of the operations (addition, subtraction, mul- tiplication, and division) as well as one with a focus on fractions, decimals, and percentages. Sample problems and classroom vignettes are included within these chapters. Strategies specific to each operation are presented along with tips on how to word problems to encourage the use of each strategy rather than a standard algorithm. The authors also provide samples for use at a variety of grade levels and ideas on how to take a number talk to the next level with small-group and individual applications. A chapter devoted to common issues and suggested solutions will be a useful tool for classroom teachers. I recommend this book to classroom teachers and instructional leaders at the upper elementary and secondary levels.--Sarah Wargaski, Woodstock Community School District, Illinois.

Making Number Talks Matter is about the myriad decisions facing teachers as they make this fifteen-minute daily routine a vibrant and vital part of their mathematics instruction. Cathy Humphreys and Ruth Parker offer practical ideas for using Number Talks to help students learn to reason numerically and build a solid foundation for the study of mathematics. Using insight gained from many years of doing Number Talks with students of all ages, Ruth and Cathy provide questions to pose during Number Talks, teacher moves that turn thinking over to students, the mathematics behind the strategies, and ways to overcome bumps in the road.