Contents

Dedication........................................................................................................................vii
Acknowledgements........................................................................................................... ix

Preface.............................................................................................................................. xi

Introduction...................................................................................................................... 1
Successful or Superficial? Discussion in David Crane’s Classroom......................................4
Analyzing the Case of David Crane...................................................................................6
Conclusion........................................................................................................................7

CHAPTER 1
Introducing the Five Practices............................................................................................ 9
The Five Practices..............................................................................................................9
Anticipating.............................................................................................................. 10
Monitoring............................................................................................................... 11
Selecting.................................................................................................................... 13
Sequencing................................................................................................................ 13
Connecting............................................................................................................... 14
Conclusion...................................................................................................................... 15

CHAPTER 2
Laying the Groundwork: Setting Goals and Selecting Tasks............................................17
Setting Goals for Instruction.......................................................................................... 17
Resources for identifying learning................................................................................... 19
Selecting an Appropriate Task......................................................................................... 20
Finding high-level tasks.................................................................................................. 22
Matching tasks with goals for learning............................................................................ 24
Conclusion..................................................................................................................... 27

CHAPTER 3
Investigating the Five Practices in Action......................................................................... 29
The Five Practices in the Case of Darcy Dunn................................................................. 29
Analyzing the Case of Darcy Dunn................................................................................. 35
Evidence of the five practices..................................................................................... 35
Anticipating........................................................................................................ 35
Monitoring......................................................................................................... 36

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Copyright 2018, The Five Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematics Discussions, Second Edition (stock no. 15627), published by The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Inc.
www.nctm.org. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed electronically or in any other format without written permission from NCTM.
 Selecting............................................................................................................... 36
Sequencing........................................................................................................... 36
Connecting........................................................................................................... 37
Relating the five practices to learning opportunities.................................................... 37
Other noteworthy aspects of Ms. Dunn’s instruction................................................... 38
Use of the effective teaching practices................................................................... 38
Attention to equity and identity........................................................................... 39
Engaging all students............................................................................................ 39
Conclusion........................................................................................................................ 39

CHAPTER 4
Getting Started: Anticipating Students’ Responses and Monitoring Their Work................ 41
Anticipating...................................................................................................................... 41
Anticipating strategies................................................................................................. 41
Responding to students............................................................................................... 44
Identifying responses that address mathematical goals................................................. 48
Analysis of Anticipating in the Case of Nick Bannister...................................................... 52
Anticipating what students will do.............................................................................. 53
Planning how to respond to student approaches.......................................................... 53
Identifying responses that address mathematical goals................................................. 54
Monitoring........................................................................................................................ 54
Analysis of Monitoring in the Case of Nick Bannister....................................................... 59
Conclusion........................................................................................................................ 60

CHAPTER 5
Determining the Direction of the Discussion: Selecting, Sequencing, and
Connecting Students’ Responses........................................................................................ 63
Selecting and Sequencing.................................................................................................. 63
Analysis of Selecting and Sequencing in the Case of Nick Bannister.................................. 69
Connecting....................................................................................................................... 70
Analysis of Connecting in the Case of Nick Bannister....................................................... 78
Mathematical ideas: The meaning of the point of intersection..................................... 79
Mathematical ideas: Functions switch positions at the point of intersection................ 79
Mathematical ideas: Making connections among representations................................ 80
Conclusion........................................................................................................................81

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CHAPTER 6
Ensuring Active Thinking and Participation: Asking Good Questions and
Holding Students Accountable.......................................................................................... 83
Asking Good Questions.................................................................................................... 84
Regina Quigley’s classroom.......................................................................................... 85
Analyzing questioning in Regina Quigley’s classroom..................................................89
Moves to Ensure Accountability........................................................................................ 91
Revoicing.................................................................................................................... 92
Asking students to restate someone else’s reasoning..................................................... 92
Asking students to apply their own reasoning to someone else’s reasoning................... 93
Prompting students for further participation............................................................... 94
Using wait time........................................................................................................... 94
Conclusion........................................................................................................................ 95

CHAPTER 7
Putting the Five Practices in a Broader Context of Lesson Planning.................................. 97
Lesson Planning................................................................................................................ 98
Developing thoughtful and thorough lesson plans..................................................... 101
The relationship between the Lesson Planning Protocol and the five practices........... 103
Beyond the five practices........................................................................................... 103
Setting up or launching the task................................................................................ 105
The role of a lesson plan............................................................................................ 108
Conclusion...................................................................................................................... 110

CHAPTER 8
Working in the School Environment to Improve Classroom Discussions......................... 113
Analysis of the Case of Maria Lancaster........................................................................... 117
Other Efforts to Help Teachers Learn the Five Practices.................................................. 119
Steps teachers can take..................................................................................................... 120
Conclusion...................................................................................................................... 121

CHAPTER 9
The Five Practices: Lessons Learned and Potential Benefits.............................................. 123
Lessons Learned................................................................................................................ 123

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Lesson 1: H
 igh-level, cognitively demanding tasks are a necessary condition for
productive discussions............................................................................................. 123

Lesson 2: I f all students solve a challenging task the same way, lesson reflection can
provide clues as to why this may have occurred....................................................... 125

Lesson 3: Students need time to think independently before working in groups..................... 126

Lesson 4: Th
 e goals for the lesson should drive the teacher’s selection of responses
to share during a whole-4group discussion ......................................................................127

Lesson 5: I f you leave students with advancing questions to pursue-you need to

follow up with them to see what progress they made............................................... 128

Lesson 6: A
 monitoring chart is an essential tool in orchestrating a
productive discussion.............................................................................................. 129

Potential Benefits.............................................................................................................. 130

Conclusion....................................................................................................................... 132
Appendix A
Web-based Resources for Tasks and Lesson Plans......................................................... 133
Appendix B
Lesson Plan for Building a Playground Task................................................................ 142
Appendix C
Monitoring Chart–Bag of Marbles Task....................................................................... 143
References......................................................................................................................... 145
Professional Development Guide...................................................................................... 149

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