Notes from week #2 homework readings:

Number Talks Build Numerical Reasoning:

 calls for instruction grounded in conceptual understanding and mathematical reasoning
rather than rote procedural knowledge
 in number talks, students: communicate thinking, justify, solve mentally
 number talks build accuracy, efficiency, flexibility
o accuracy-getting the “right” answer
o efficiency-choosing methods that are appropriate and quick for a particular
problem
o flexibility-number sense
 key components of number talks:
o classroom environment and community-make it safe and positive; keep “blank
face” and make students defend their ideas; don’t be the source of correct answers
o classroom discussions
o the teacher’s role
o the role of mental math-try writing problems horizontally rather than vertically
(this will encourage students to think more about place value)
o purposeful computation problems
 when you move on to paper and pencil still encourage students to solve the problem at
least two different ways

Principles to Actions pp. 7-12:

 math teaching and learning involves
o 1. Conceptual understanding
o 2. Procedural fluency
o 3. Strategic competence-“mathematical practices” or “process standards” which
include:
 1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
 2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively.
 3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
 4. Model with mathematics.
 5. Use appropriate tools strategically.
 6. Attend to precision.
 7. Look for and make use of structure.
 8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.
o 4. Adaptive reasoning
o 5. Productive disposition-“the tendency to see sense in mathematics, to perceive it
as both useful and worthwhile, to believe that steady effort in learning
mathematics pays off, and to see oneself as an effective learner and doer of
 mathematics” (National Research Council 2001, p. 131); establishing a positive
mathematical “identity”
 Learners should have experiences that enable them to:
o Be challenged and be active in meaning making
o Make connections and address preconceptions and misconceptions
o Be able to organize, acquire, transfer, and apply new knowledge (acquire
conceptual and procedural knowledge)
o Discourse should be social and interactive
o Descriptive and timely feedback-so they can reflect and revise
o Develop metacognitive awareness
 Goals-What concepts, ideas, methods will students understand more deeply as a result of
instruction? What mathematical practices are students learning to use more proficiently?

Principles to Actions pp. 35-41:

 Discourse-explain reasoning and listen to that of their classmates
 Question types are seen in the charts below:
  Funneling vs. Focusing Questioning Patterns (chart below):

Fostering Algebraic Thinking:

 Guiding questions for the three habits of mind