Math Talks with inclusion of Oral Language

We have some tricky transition times in our play-based Kindergarten class (the program in Ontario is a play- and inquiry-based, student-centered program). Our trickiest one is after first recess: myself (the classroom teacher) and the Educational Assisant are coming indoors from recess duty with our students and the Early Childhood Educator is returning from snack duty in a room down the hall. Our EA also goes on break immediately after this recess.

We needed something where the kids were all in one place - preferably on the carpet, and doing something intriguing and meaningful. We tried to have one of us reading a book, but that quickly fell apart. Enter math talks.

We decided to do something different for every day of the week to keep it feeling new - but also to not go through all my resources too quickly, teach and review many concepts, and keep student interest going. It's been several months now and it's still going great!

We keep everything to within 15 minutes. That gives kids enough time to put on their shoes, think quietly to themselves, share with a partner, then take turns sharing with the whole class (not everyone gets to share, but I leave the image projected on the board and they can continue into the learning block independently). This also gives educators enough time to change into indoor wear, return to class, clean the tables (and sweep if need be), and set out provocations.

Monday - Which One Doesn't Belong?

Which One Doesn't Belong - 3-D Figures by Miss Laidlaw's Classroom

Students are greeted with an image like the one above projected on the board. The images can include numerals, letters, quantities of items, healthy eating items, shapes, graphs, and so much more! Students are prompted with a simple question: which one doesn't belong? They will need support explaining WHY it is different and WHY they chose it - especially in the beginning. Some may need support only choosing ONE item that doesn't belong.

As you can see, the answer is open-ended. You should tell them there is no right or wrong answer - but they do need to explain why they chose that one. Some example answers for the image above include:

"The pilon doesn't belong because it's the only one that's a cone. The rest are spheres."

"The globe doesn't belong because it's the only one that's not orange."

"The orange doesn't belong because it's the only one you can eat."

Explaining WHY is important. As we progress and I model these probing questions for students who need help, I start to tell students to make sure their partners have a complete answer during the Think, Pair, Share process.

Tuesday - Dot Talk

There are many resources for dot talks: create your own, a few teacher books, resources from TPT, student-created arrangements, et cetera. No matter what you choose, they all basically work the same. With Kindergarten, we are working with quantities to 10 as per the program expectations. However, in older grades, you can easily get into multiplication as you get into greater numbers and when arranged in arrays.

My prompt is "How many dots are there? Can you tell me how you know?" When students come up, I write down their thinking for them. Colleagues have shared they have their students complete on whiteboards, in notebooks, on photocopies, or whatever works for you!

Some things I point out to students:

• It doesn't matter which order you count the dots. You always get the same amount!
• Different ways to group and add. For example, 4+1=5 - but so is 2+2+1 and 2+3.
• One-to-one correspondence (pointing and counting as slowly as your finger moves) so you get an accurate count.
• Subitizing - recognizing arrangements (like arrangements on dice).

Wednesday - Rekenrek

While we have a physical rekenrek in our classroom, we use the Number Rack app for this. As Ontario's Kindergarten Program works with numbers to 10, we are only using one line. However, you can easily add multiple lines to your rekekrek to work with larger numbers.

We started without covering up one side of the rekenrek. I wanted them to see that there's always 10 on a line (also showed them this over and over again). There are always 5 red and 5 white. My prompt was simply, "What Math do you see?" Students sorted red and white beads, simply counted, added different quantities seen, and explored subtraction.

Then, one day, I added the box. "We have to solve the mystery!" They automatically became detectives. Again, we Think, Pair, Share and build on each other's knowledge and ideas to prove ourselves.

As students get up and share whole-class, we have a rule that you're not allowed to say the same thing that somebody said before you - you need to listen! You're allowed to share one step or idea at a time to make sure nobody hogs the glory. At times, I may need to paraphrase or show a written strategy to help them with their proofs. This is all new to our little Kinders! As a student finishes sharing, they pass the pointer stick to a classmate who they feel was a respectful listener (it runs itself!).

When we think we have the answer, we make a drumroll with our hands on our knees and move the box. Were we right?

Thursday - Math Picture

You can easily use images found on Google Image! Be sure to choose one beforehand to avoid embarassing moments.

On Thursdays, I project an image and ask "Tell me what Math you see here." I remind them that Math includes shape, numbers and counting, number sentences, measuring (including mass), patterns, comparing, directions, et cetera. As you can see, it's very open-ended and students of all levels can participate. You can even incorporate ongoing inquiries into this routine - for example, we are currently in a long-lasting inquiry about animals!

This is one of Tara West's TPT products in action. Personally, I do not use the 5-day prompts.

Friday - Shared Writing

We decided to switch it up on Fridays! See my previous blog post about shared writing for more details.