Growth Mindset Lessons lay the groundwork for a Mathematical Mindset connected to The 8 Standards for Mathematical Practice and allows time to practice expectations and routines.

PACING = First 5 days of school

Ready Teacher Toolbox has lessons to introduce their instructional routines and the SMPs.   Start with their Lesson 0.  If you have time, include WIM activities.

Youcubed.org has updated their Week of Inspirational Math (WIM) page and it has a new playlist feature.

Choose your own maths adventure with our interactive tools that allow you to build a custom playlist of inspirational maths activities and messages!  To build your WIM week, select one video, one resource for creating a positive maths community, and one task per day and add to your playlist.  Then click “See Summary” to play videos, download materials and save/share your WIM week!  Check out these pre-made playlists curated by the youcubed team for first grade, middle school and high school and share your playlist on social media with #myWIM!

Feel free to create your own playlist or use the suggested activities below.

Launching number talks

Share the “Why” with Students:  Give the students the rationale behind the Math Talk. Let them know that they have great thinking that we can't see and this gives them a chance to share what's going on in their brains. This also gives everyone a chance to learn from each other lots of different ways we can think about a problem.

Initial Implementation : As you begin to implement Math Talks in your classroom, you will want to keep them simple. Your goal might be to have 2 or 3 students share their thinking, which you capture and record without much comment or questioning. 

● Provide a safe environment. ● Start with easier problems so that students can learn the routine and to encourage wide participation. 

● Present calculation problems horizontally. ● Provide quiet think time and a silent signal. ● Accept, respect, and consider all answers. 

● Capture student thinking as faithfully as you can. ● Write the student’s name so that you can refer to _______’s strategy. 

● Develop your poker face. Respond neutrally to students’ comments. 

More information:             Number Talk "Look fors"               Math Talk Process       Tips for Number Talks

Suggested Talks to get started:  

Days 1-2: Dot Talks  (Choose one image per day)

Questions: How many do you see? How do you see them?  

Suggested Steps:

1. Quickly show one of the dot images so students do not have time to count. Have students show a thumbs-up to the chest if they think they know how many dots. Depending on the number of students who are showing you a thumbs-up, you may wish to show it a second time.

2. Solicit student responses, right or wrong.

3. Have students do a Turn-and-Talk to discuss how they saw the dots. 

4. Have a few students share how they saw the dots. Make several copies of the Dot Talk in order to record student thinking by circling the groupings they identify, and writing the corresponding equation. Record students’ names on the copies.

5. Summarize the Math Talk by connecting the equations to each other and to the dots.

Number Strings

Objective: Multiply multi-digit numbers using efficient strategies, building towards greater fluency with multiplication. 

Question/Prompt:    What is the product? How do you know?

Show the first expression, allow for discussion of a few strategies, then show the next expression. Do as many expressions from one string as time and interest allow.  You do not have to do all of the problems in the string in one day.  

Friendly/ Landmark Number strategy:

Day 3                                             Day 4                                              Day 5                                                         

40 x 6                                            300 x 7                                           800 x 3                                                         

39 x 6                                            299 x 7                                           799 x 3                                                         

50 x 4                                            700 x 4                                           200 x 9                                                         

49 x 4                                            699 x 4                                           199 x 9                                                         

28 x 3   498 x 5     598 x 7

Students may describe use of the standard algorithm to explain their thinking. This algorithm is taught formally in fifth grade once students have had sufficient experience with conceptual understanding of multiplication using the properties of operations and place value. Use questions to help students relate this strategy to decomposition by place value. For example: How many tens are there? How many ones? Why only record the “2” of the 12?

CAN DO / Additional Resources:

Youcubed:  Day 2:  Visualizing Numbers Made of Dots

In this lesson we share a really cool and different way of looking at numbers, which will help students see factors and multiples. Students are invited to look for patterns and to color code and ask their own questions about the interesting representations. This lesson created “oohs” and “aahs” throughout the room in our trial – students were fascinated by the numerical relationships they saw, often for the first time. In the extension activities investigating consecutive numbers students can receive opportunities to understand the meaning of algebraic expressions.  Content: Factors, multiples, prime numbers, number relationships, algebraic expressions and equations

Lesson Plan Day 2       Video Day 2       Day 2 slides

CAN DO / Additional Resources:

Youcubed:  Day 4:  Pascal's Triangle

This lesson invites students to explore the world’s most famous triangle – often named after Blaise Pascal – and to look for their own patterns inside the triangle. They learn about triangular numbers and about the amazing connections that thread through mathematics. Tasks are also given – for this or a later lesson – that produce Pascal numbers in the solutions, which students find amazing!  Content: Patterns in number, triangular numbers, addition, powers

Lesson Plan Day 4     Video Day 4

“Closure in a lesson does not mean to pack up and move on. Rather, it is a cognitive activity that helps students focus on what was learned and whether it made sense and had meaning.” How the Brain Learns Mathematics (2007) P. 104

There are many ways to wrap up and reflect the day's activities but this step is often overlooked or rushed.  Purposely plan and allow time for students to have closure each day (even if it means setting a timer or daily alarm so you don't run out of time).

Ideas for closure activities