Daily Math Talks with Young Children

  “Mathematics is a very broad and multidimensional subject that requires reasoning, creativity, connection making, and interpretation of methods; it is a set of ideas that helps illuminate the world; and it is constantly changing.”
― Jo Boaler

Math talks are a great way to engage children in open-ended explorations that invite them to think critically and creatively about a concept. An effective math prompt to facilitate a rich math discussion will be layered; it should be open-ended with multiple entry points for engagement. Even children as young as kindergarten are capable of participating in complex math conversations. In our classroom I aim to invite children into a math talk at least once a day; I sometimes use the numerical date on our morning message as the spark for exploration. Other times an interesting photo or collection of loose parts will be engaging and incite children into further exploration. I try to vary the invitations I provide in order to diversify the math we discuss and to reach as many learning interests as possible.

Recently I posted two Instagram Reels regarding our daily math talks that has generated many questions regarding how we engage young children in robust discussions about math each morning. There was much interest in these math prompts and many educators reached out with questions regarding how I create these prompts.

 

 

In our program we have a morning circle time. This circle is our first whole group gathering time for the day and helps set a positive atmosphere in our classroom. It is also a time to celebrate being together, and share news from our homes. We often use it as an opportunity to read a story and discuss any new and exciting activities or additions to our classroom space about which the children should know in order to be successful for the day. 

 

When I first started teaching kindergarten many years ago it was expected that the morning circle would begin with 'calendar time' where children would put a sticky number on a large grid to depict the day and there would be an extensive discussion about the calendar (e.g., day of the week, month, year). However over the years I realized that this was a very teacher-directed task and not as meaningful a use of our time. After reading Sherry Parrish's work on number talks I was inspired to use our morning message as an anchor for math talks. Wanting to still introduce the date to students, the numerical representation of the date became the foundation for our number talks most days. Sometimes I would use other prompts depending on the events and interests emerging in our classroom. If you would like to read more about number talks in kindergarten, you can access an article I wrote for the Journal of Teaching and Learning here: Joyful Number Talks in Kindergarten. 

 

I enjoy participating in a professional learning community with educators on social media and often tweet or Instagram my number talk prompts. Many educators have reached out to me how I create these open ended math talks, and to ask if I would consider sharing some ideas to try. Here are some examples of number talks we have used in the classroom. Feel free to share your own ideas in the comment section or tweet/instagram me @McLennan1977. 

 

To help support educators who are interested in starting daily math talks with children, I have published a book called Calendar Math: Daily Prompts for Math Explorations with Children. 

To help give an idea of what this book is about, and to help educators create their own math prompts, here are the first few pages of the book!

              

Flipped Hundred Chart

Helping children conceptualize numbers and find meaningful ways to think about their relationships is a goal in our kindergarten classroom. We encourage problem solving and working with number strategies in daily number talks, and are always on the lookout for interesting ways to compliment the rich math learning opportunities we are observing in the children's play.

Recently I became a member of the National Council of Teachers of Math (NCTM https://www.nctm.org/). A highlight of membership is that I have access to the journal Teaching Children Mathematics, which is filled with research-based articles outlining interesting and developmentally appropriate practice for the early years. In the December 2017 (24, 3) issue there is a fascinating article by Jennifer M. Bay-Williams and Graham Fletcher called A Bottom-Up Hundred Chart? In this piece the authors challenge educators to consider the potential for enriching children's learning if the popular math tool is flipped upside down.

 

Click here for a downloadable copy!

Bay-Williams and Fletcher share that a flipped hundred chart makes sense because when children use the chart to solve equations, the language they use to describe direction on the chart matches their understanding of the operation - if adding the number appears to get taller, bigger and greater as physically modeled when children track the addition sentence by moving up on the chart and if subtracting the number appears to shrink, moving downwards and getting smaller by descending the chart (e.g., if a child is solving 13 + 12 s/he would first point to the thirteen, move upward one space and then to the right two). The authors also suggest a number of different activities for exploring the chart including cutting one into a 'number puzzle', encouraging children to find mystery numbers, and assigning children a number and challenging them to find all the number's 'neighbours'. These activities are great ways for children to physically and mentally manipulate the chart, helping them to become more comfortable working with the numbers.

After reflecting upon our math program I have created five additional activities that I believe will continue to challenge children and encourage them to strengthen their understanding and confidence working with the numbers 1 - 100.

Guess my number!

Display a flipped hundred chart and mentally think of a number that the children will have to guess. Give children one clue at a time to help guide them to your number (e.g., my number is less than 50, my number doesn't have a 6 in it, my number is odd). The children can consider the clues and cross out the numbers that don't follow the clues. With additional clues more numbers will be crossed off the chart until children guess the correct one. Reverse roles and invite the children to think of a number and give the clues to you!

Pentomino Trace

Our children love to manipulate pentominoes - using them to fill frames and trays and solving intricate puzzles. Children can also be encouraged to use them as tracers, matching them to the chart and outlining the numbers contained within. Once a collection of numbers has been traced, encourage children to find something that all numbers have in common (e.g., they each have a 4 in them; they are all greater than 36). Tip - ensure your flipped hundred chart is printed to the same size as your pentomino set to ensure an accurate match.

Dry Erase Number Write

Our children love to write with dry erase markers. Create a variety of 'missing number' flipped charts, laminate, and invite the children to practise filling in the missing numbers.

 

Click here for my downloadable copy!

Flipped Hundred Chart Coding

We spend a lot of time coding in our classroom and see potential for incorporating coding directions and spatial reasoning into exploring the flipped hundred chart. Display the chart and determine a starting number. Provide children with a series of verbal or written coding directions as they move from the starting number and reach the end number. Once the final number is determined encourage children to create an statement or equation that describes the relationship between the two numbers.

Start at 3.

Move up 4.

Move right 5.

The number is 48!

 What do you know about 3 and 48? (48 - 3 = 45, 3 + 45 = 48, 3 + 5 + 40 = 48)

Roll, Subtract and Race!

Use an enlarged copy of the flipped hundred chart as a board game. Two (or more players) can use recycled board game pieces and place them on the starting point 100 spot. Each player takes a turn rolling one die and moving their player backwards on the chart (or 2 to make the game more difficult). Students can be encouraged to think in equations (If I start at 100 and roll 5, 100 - 5 places me on the 95 spot). First player to move off the board into the 0 spot wins!

What other ways can children learn with the flipped hundred chart? 

Feel free to share other ideas in the comment section below or tweet #flipped100schart!

Rolling to 20!

We placed a basket of dice (showing the numbers 1 to 20) and some ten frames out today. 

The children are so clever; they immediately began creating math games to play with these tools. 

"Let's roll and see who gets what number!"

"And then we can put them on the right spot on the ten frame."

Mrs. McLennan: "Where will you put the dice that don't fit on the ten frame?"

"Following the number that it goes behind!"

First to fill their ten frame wins the game!

"I know...we can use two ten frames to play the game. The first one is for 1 to 10 and the second one is for 11 to 20!"