Number Talks

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One of the newest ideas that I have implemented with my work on math Literacy has been daily Number Talks. The book by Sherry Parrish outlines them perfectly and how to conduct them. These largely revolve around mental math strategies. You can also read this short article about them  to get you started and give you a brief intro. in them.
Number talks are short- they typically last 10-15 minutes. There is one strategy or goal for each week so that the talks for that week are cohesive.

Decomposing Numbers to add

This past week our number talks have been about Decomposing Numbers. The coolest part about my work with math vocabulary and language has been watching my students learn the new words. This week, when I introduced the word decompose on the board, they were quick to notice it looked a lot like compost. And wham! From there on out, it was EASY to teach it to them. Decomposing numbers is breaking them down into their parts to make it easier to add. Compost breaks down food. An instant connection was formed. I told them their brains are like little worms eating away the number into it's pieces.

So, what are Number Talks? 
1. Number talks are short. I put up four or five questions on the board. I then give them 2-3 minutes to solve them in their head. I tell them that some of them may only solve one while others may solve all of them. When they feel like they have solved one or more, they are to give me the thumbs up sign against their chest.
2. Next, we do a turn and talk to someone near us. it can be a group of 2 or 3 students talking. The main rule is that the talk must be about what answer they got to the number sentences and HOW they figured it out.
3. Lastly, we turn back to the teacher and I ask for volunteers to tell me which number sentence they answered. They then tell me how they arrived at their answer.


This week, responses (the question was 17+13) have gone from: "I started with the big number and counted up." to "I know that 13 is 10+3 and 17 is 10+7 so I added the two tens to get 20 and then I added the 7+3 to get 10. Then I added that 10 to my 20 to find out it was 30." to "I started with 17 and added the 3 from the 13 to get twenty. I then had 10 left over from the 13 so I added that 10 to my 20 to get 30."

It is a great way for students to share their thinking and for them to see that there is  more than one way to arrive at an answer. I found this great resource for some weekly themes for your talks.
They are really easy to add into your daily routine and well worth the time!  I say go for it!