Math Talks
Overview
When students have meaningful discussions about math and use math vocabulary, they develop the thinking, questioning, and explanation skills needed to master mathematical concepts. Math talks, which can take 10 to 15 minutes, challenge students to use specific math language to share their strategies and justify their reasoning, which promotes Mathematical Flexibility and Math Communication.
Example: Use This Strategy in the Classroom
Watch how this eighth grade teacher uses a number talk to promote Mathematical Flexibility. As students explain their strategies for arriving at a particular answer to a subtraction problem, they build their Math Communication skills and mathematical reasoning.
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Additional Resources
Additional examples, research, and professional development. These resources are possible representations of this strategy, not endorsements.
Factors Supported by this Strategy
More Cooperative Learning Strategies
As students solve problems in a group, they learn new strategies and practice communicating their mathematical thinking.
Flexible grouping is a classroom practice that temporarily places students together in given groups to work together, with the purpose of achieving a given learning goal or activity.
As students walk through stations working in small groups, the social and physical nature of the learning supports deeper understanding.
As students work with and process information by discussing, organizing, and sharing it together, they deepen their understanding.
Having students teach their knowledge, skills, and understanding to their classmates strengthens learning.
Students deepen their understanding and gain confidence in their learning when they explain to and receive feedback from others.
Students deepen their math understanding as they use and hear others use specific math language in informal ways.
