Number Talks are short, daily, practices that help students work on computational fluency and see relationships with numbers that maybe they didn't realize.

What should I know about Number Talks?

-They are short and sweet.

-They can go with the ongoing math curriculum but they absolutely do not have to, and are sometimes more effective if they are based on the needs of your class.

-They are not intended to be a hook to your lesson, but a separate component of your day that can be done any time.

-They support reasoning with mathematics and should be done daily.

-The teacher's role is to facilitate and prompt and not teach. The important part is getting students to explore and express strategies comfortably and not teaching strategies during this time.

-Problems can be done in strings of connected problems to build a strategy.

What are the steps?

1. Present a problem

2. Students figure out an answer independently

3. Some students share their answers pair with their thinking. They must include how they got to their answer.

4. The class agrees with the correct answer after different ways are shared.

5. Repeat the steps for additional problems.

Some prompting you may hear from the teacher:

• Who did this another way?

• How did you get that answer?

• What was the first thing your brain did?

• Does anyone have questions for ______?

• Who would like to share their thinking?