Number Talks

"Number Talks can be best described as classroom conversations around purposefully crafted computation problems that are solved mentally. The problems in a number talk are designed to elicit specific strategies that focus on number relationships and number theory. Students are given problems in either a whole or small group setting and are expected to mentally solve them accurately, efficiently, and flexibly. By sharing and defending their solutions and strategies, students have the opportunity to collectively reason about numbers while building connections to key conceptual ideas in mathematics. A typical classroom number talk can be conducted in five to fifteen minutes." (Number Talks by Sherry Parrish, 2014)