I had the opportunity this week to visit an exceptionally beautiful third grade classroom and see Singapore math practices in action. I wish you could have all been there with me to get the full experience of what these little learners were doing, but I'll try to capture here some of what left me in awe.
The teacher purposefully walked the class, noting aloud different strategies that she was seeing. A few things struck me during this time:
* The students were completely self-directed, focused, and comfortable using their own strategies to solve the problem the way that they saw fit. Everyone was concentrating on their own thinking during this time.
* In the 10 minutes that the students had, they were able to deeply explore the problem. If they were "done" before time was up, they began drawing an additional picture or showing their understanding a different way.
* The teacher periodically announced the time left (5 minutes, 3 minutes, 1 minute), which seemed to help the students stay on track on accomplishing their task.
After the 10 minutes were up, the teacher said it was time for "Math Talk." She asked for a volunteer to come to the front of the class and share their whiteboards (and manipulatives if applicable) using the projector. She reminded the rest of the class of their protocol- after the student shared, he/she would choose a few people to either talk about it, ask a question, or give a compliment. The teacher pointed to the posted question prompts and asked that the students really focus on asking questions of the sharer.
* The students were completely self-directed, focused, and comfortable using their own strategies to solve the problem the way that they saw fit. Everyone was concentrating on their own thinking during this time.
* In the 10 minutes that the students had, they were able to deeply explore the problem. If they were "done" before time was up, they began drawing an additional picture or showing their understanding a different way.
* The teacher periodically announced the time left (5 minutes, 3 minutes, 1 minute), which seemed to help the students stay on track on accomplishing their task.
After the 10 minutes were up, the teacher said it was time for "Math Talk." She asked for a volunteer to come to the front of the class and share their whiteboards (and manipulatives if applicable) using the projector. She reminded the rest of the class of their protocol- after the student shared, he/she would choose a few people to either talk about it, ask a question, or give a compliment. The teacher pointed to the posted question prompts and asked that the students really focus on asking questions of the sharer.
This is where the students took over the class. The student sharing stood in front of the class, explaining their thinking and pointing to the relevant parts of their work on their SMARTboard. The teacher and the rest of the class listened and processed during this time.
When the student sharing was done, he/she asked, "Are there any questions or comments?" and hands around the room went up. The student chose a few of their peers to comment. Here's some of what I heard:
"Please explain why you drew the picture 4 groups of 2 instead of 2 groups of 4."
"How did you know that was the correct answer?"
"I can use the double double strategy to solve your problem..."
After about 5 questions/comments and the student-led discussion, the teacher helped to summarize the students' understandings and brought to light some of the especially insightful comments that were made. She also used this time to check for students' listening and understanding of the prior discussion by asking questions like, "What strategy was it that ____ shared in his comment? What did you think about that?"
I left the class knowing a few things for sure:
* These students were confident mathematicians. They knew the important work they were doing and they trusted their strategies. They were eager to share their thinking with others.
* These students were strong communicators. They spoke clearly and thoughtfully and listened attentively to one another. They asked and answered questions of one another without any prompting from the teacher.
* These students were collaborative. When a little boy came up to the front with an accurate equation and picture but incorrect matching story, others worked with him to help think of stories that would match his equation.
* The teacher had set up an environment for her students where routines and procedures were practiced, where respect for all was upheld, and expectations to persevere were established.
For additional information on implementing Math Talk, check out this Scholastic article.
When the student sharing was done, he/she asked, "Are there any questions or comments?" and hands around the room went up. The student chose a few of their peers to comment. Here's some of what I heard:
"Please explain why you drew the picture 4 groups of 2 instead of 2 groups of 4."
"How did you know that was the correct answer?"
"I can use the double double strategy to solve your problem..."
After about 5 questions/comments and the student-led discussion, the teacher helped to summarize the students' understandings and brought to light some of the especially insightful comments that were made. She also used this time to check for students' listening and understanding of the prior discussion by asking questions like, "What strategy was it that ____ shared in his comment? What did you think about that?"
I left the class knowing a few things for sure:
* These students were confident mathematicians. They knew the important work they were doing and they trusted their strategies. They were eager to share their thinking with others.
* These students were strong communicators. They spoke clearly and thoughtfully and listened attentively to one another. They asked and answered questions of one another without any prompting from the teacher.
* These students were collaborative. When a little boy came up to the front with an accurate equation and picture but incorrect matching story, others worked with him to help think of stories that would match his equation.
* The teacher had set up an environment for her students where routines and procedures were practiced, where respect for all was upheld, and expectations to persevere were established.
For additional information on implementing Math Talk, check out this Scholastic article.