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.

Math Routine

We have a class set of individual whiteboards and a variety of dry-erase markers. The whiteboards are stored in a milk crate in our classroom.

On one side of the board, I've used packing tape to add a number line from 0-10. You could easily add number lines to 20 or higher - depending on what your students are working on and your focus. I added 0-10 because my SK/1s focused on adding and subtracting to 10 using a number line for Term One - now we are beginning to move on to 20 (the Ontario Grade 1 curriculum).

We do 4 skills at a time. Every 4-6 weeks, we change up our routine to learn and review other skills. Our skills have included:

1. Rekenrek

This is great for subitizing, addition, subtraction, and even multiplication (when using more than one rack). We use the iPad app "Number Racks." There are several YouTube videos showing the versatility of rekenreks. I tell students to write the numeral to show how many beads there are - and extra bonus points if you can write a number sentence to show it!

2. Find the Missing Number

Count forward, backward, and skip-count. I learned a nice trick when at a JUMP MATH conference in Ottawa in November 2016: write your number list vertically to help students see the patterns when skip-counting! This involves Patterning and Algebra and Number Sense and Numeration skills. We use the iPad app called Doodle Buddy.

3. Translate, Extend, and/or Identify the Core of a Pattern

We also use Doodle Buddy for this. You can draw shapes, use different colours, or use the stamps (which make sounds!) to create patterns. Students copy the patterns to the whiteboard (a great time to discuss translating patterns using symbols - or naming them with letters or numbers), extend them, and circle the repeating core.

4. Adding and Subtracting 

We also use Doodle Buddy for this. Students are encouraged to use the number line. I drill into their minds: "Where do we start? Look at the symbol - is our answer getting bigger or smaller? How many bumps? Where did we land?".

5. Representing Numbers using Base 10 Blocks

We use the iPad app Number Blocks. We use this app two different ways:

- Teacher writes a numeral and the students draw it. This is great for introducing place value. "How many long tens? How many little ones?" We represent the numeral then count - which also practices skip counting (by 10s) and counting on (by 1s).

- Teacher uses the blocks to show a quantity. Students write the numeral. We use the questions "How many long tens? How many little ones?" to help students understand place value and what it really means.

See how I track my observations in this blog post!

I've always had a hard time with assessments and keeping track of them - especially after changing my beliefs on tests and moving down to the primary grades - where it's more about observations and conversations. In previous years, I used class list and assigning grades or marks or checkmarks next to their name under a brief description of what we did. It was hard to see at-a-glance how the child was doing - and everything had to be translated for report cards.

Then I got an idea. It really happened last year, when job action saw no comments on report cards. I was teaching an academically-needy Grades 1/2 class. I made this product:

Starting this year in SK/1, I knew my room would be incorporating even more inquiry-based learning, conferencing, observing, and seemingly "completely random" covering of the curriculum expectations. It was also a goal of mine to become more organic in teaching/learning - to teach what's important to students, what they're interested in, and keep the curriculum expectations running yearlong instead of just compartmentalized.

I thought - why can't I use these for documentation, too? Here's an example from an SK's section of my assessment binder:

I use a colour-coding system to highlight curriculum expectations which are strengths and needs. For students whose achievements are "in the grey area," I make note of the several attempts to teach and conference with them to achieve the standard and how much support was needed for them to attain it.

It's easy to pop back and forth from the SK pages and the Grade 1 pages.

As you can see, one activity (collecting, sorting, and graphing leaves) completed a few expectations in both SK and Grade 1 curricula. Want to know more about it?

I took my students on a nature walk and told them to collect interesting leaves. We came back and talked about how we can sort them - and decided by colour would be easiest. We sorted them, counted them, then graphed how many of each colour there were. Here's our co-created graph:

The next day, we went on another walk. This time, students brought their own paper bags and collected about 10 leaves each. We came back to the room and they sorted them, graphed it, then had me document their interpretations of their graphs.

Another thing I'm really excited about is my word wall. My friend cut me two boards of wood and screwed in hooks and glued on letters for me. I glued it onto the ugly concrete wall in my classroom using "No More Nails." On it, I have Dolch Pre-Primer, Primer, and Grade 1 words. I also have a few more of my word wall products - most recently, my family words. There's also their names on the word wall - complete with their pictures! The kids love it!




I've noticed it really entices students to write, write, write! I've never had a class that enjoys writing - INDEPENDENTLY(!), so much (especially at such a young age).

I pulled pairs of students to conference with me. I introduced their Word on Writing book and explained when they'd work on it. I took them on a tour of the classroom to show them writing supports - the word wall, their personal dictionaries, and the picture dictionaries. We sat back down and I explained that good writers need an idea and asked them to think what they'd like to write about - which could be ANYTHING. Then, I said it's not just enough to write the idea; they need to write something about the idea - explain it - in other words, write a whole sentence about it. They thought about it, told me, and I supported their writing - NOT by writing in yellow or on a Post-It, but directing them to the word wall, helping them sound segment, prompting to use the picture dictionary, or writing the word in their personal dictionary. Success!