Math talk is one of my favorite time of the days. I love how engaged each student is. They get super excited when they realize that it is time to do a little “math ‘talkin!” They probably don’t realize that I am really helping support their number sense and number fluency! Math talk also helps support students to be come active listeners versus passive listeners, which is a difficult skill for students. Today, I wanted to share a few ready-to-use products that will help you start a math talk immediately in your classroom.
One of my favorite products to use is the Ten Frame Math Magnets. I love how large this set is versus other magnetic ten frame sets. Normally when I am using the Ten Frame Math Magnets, I am hoping for students to look for friendly numbers in an addition sentence. I want students to be able to quickly find friendly partners/numbers in order to quickly add up the addition sentence. Students will raise their hands and I will record their answers on the board, whether they are right or wrong. I will then call on a student to explain their thinking. At times, I will write the exact same addition sentence again in a different order. I am looking to see if students can find the friendly partners/numbers again, or if they are just adding the first two numbers together.
If students are having a hard time visualizing the addition sentence, I like to start the year off with students creating the problem on their own Ten Frame Trays. Eventually, it is important to move away from students doing any manipulation and have the number talks completely mental and visual to help support number sense and fluency. Other favorite products I use on a daily basis are Number Bond Dry Erase Card Set and Ten Frame Flash Cards. These products are perfect to include in part of your math talk. The Ten Frame Flash Cards help students quickly find familiar patterns in order to add up different amounts to help build number sense. Each time a student answers, you will learn important information about the child's understanding of the number.
The Pizza Number Wheel Bonds are fantastic for students to use for independent work to help practice number sense and fluency. I love that this product goes up to the number 20 and if you spin the wheel, the top number changes. This is a fantastic way for students to get extra practice using different addends to create a sum. This activity is a hit even at recess time!
I like to keep a set of Busy Bee Sorting Sticks near my math area. If I pull a number of a student's name that doesn't have his/her hand up, I just stick it back in the can. I never call on a student who isn't ready to participate in the math talk. This student may just not be ready to communicate how he/she is able to solve a problem in the whole class setting. And I definitely don't want to cause anxiety about math talk. I prefer to add washi tape to the sticks in order to write my students' names on the sticks. This allows me to reuse the same set of sticks yearly. If you prefer numbers, just add using a Sharpie®.
I hope I've shared some ready to go resources that you can use during your next math talk!