Facilitating meaningful mathematical discourse anticipate brainstorm the approaches that students might use as they work on the task, considering both correct and incorrect ideas. Facilitating discourse the role of the teacher malcolms colleagues continue to describe his classroom. With colorful dry markers they dressed the whiteboard with diagrammatic, graphical and mathematical. Facilitating meaningful mathematical discourse national. Participating in mathematical discourse practices can be understood in general as. Support productive struggle in learning mathematics 8. The purpose of this chapter is to analyze an instructors discourse interventions to encourage mathematical discourse in online asynchronous discussions in an analysis course for secondary mathematics teachers smts. Elicit and use evidence of student thinking the challenge. Consider it alone for a moment, making notes on an index card. Using the 5 practices in mathematics teaching nctm. Mathematical discourse should build on and honor student thinking, and provide students with. One strategy is to use mathematics discourse cards with students.
Rich classroom discourse offers students a way to express their ideas, reasoning, and thinking. Teachers can assist in this practice by facilitating meaningful mathematical discourse. Linking factors and multiples to algebraic reasoning in. Facilitating meaningful mathematical discourse sherrylking, ellington public schools, ct megan staples, neag school of education, uconn atomic annual conference december 4, 2017 cromwell, ct the big question how do you facilitate meaningful mathematical discourse in your classroom. The design of the instructional routine sets teachers up to practice facilitating meaningful mathematical discourse among students as they work to have students make sense of the structural thinking behind each others approaches. How do you promote meaningful mathematical discourse in your classroom. Journal math emphasizes formal communication and is the. A fourthgrade class needs 5 leaves each day for a caterpillar. The 2018 mathematics standards of learning institutes provided training that focused on implementing the 2016 mathematics standards of learning. Facilitate meaningful mathematical discourse thursday, june 19 adapted from peg smith productive discussions of cognitively challenging mathematics tasks m4 conference omaha, ne april 21, 2014. Facilitating meaningful math discourse mathematically connected. Meaningful discourse includes an element of debate and.
Facilitating meaningful mathematical discourse principles to actions sherryl king, ellington public schools, ct megan staples, neag school of education, uconn. It builds on previous research that identified a trend towards polite agreement and only. Implementing effective mathematics teaching practices part. Richards 1991 describes four types of mathematical discourse. Facilitate meaningful mathematical discourse effective teaching of mathematics facilitates discourse among students to build shared understanding of mathematical ideas by analyzing and comparing student approaches and arguments. Engaging students in mathematical communication 10 many resources available to teachers, including marian smalls 20 making math meaningful to canadian students, k8, provide many recommendations to teachers in regards to how communication may be facilitated in the mathematics classroom. Facilitating mathematical discourse in online learning. Mathematical discourse among students is central to meaningful learning of mathematics. Mathematics teaching in the middle school, v6 n2 p12225 oct 2000.
Mathematical discourse practices also vary depending on purposes. Reflects on one teachers strategies for facilitating discourse in his classroomcreating an environment in which student ideas are the basis of discussion yet ensuring productive mathematics. We use cookies to make interactions with our website easy and meaningful, to better understand the use of our. Keys to productive discussions in the math classroom. This is a great example of academic discourse and modeling with mathematics. Two tools that can support teachers in strengthening their classroom discourse are discussed in this, another. Teachers carefully prepare and purposefully facilitate discourse, such as wholeclass discussions that build on student thinking and guide the learning of the class in a productive disciplinary direction. Facilitating meaningful mathematics discourse this article explores facilitating meaningful mathematics discourse, one of the researchbased practices described in principles to actions. To further your understanding of the importance of facilitating mathematical discourse, ask yourself.
Metz indiana university of pa nctm 2016 39 lesson plan rubric observation script questions asked chart of whom questions are asked facilitating discourse rubric conference reflection. Facilitating critical discourse through meaningful. Support productive struggle in learning mathematics. Cognitive perspective arthur graesser natalie person. By gladis kersaint engaging students in meaningful mathematical discourse is an.
In this article, we highlight how the mathematics teaching practice of facilitating meaningful mathematical discourse nctm 2014, p. Pdf in this article i examine the notion of mathematical discourse practices. Implementing effective mathematics teaching practices part 3. It is important to remember that the most effective mathematical discussions are those centered around focused learning goals and high cognitive demand tasks. Facilitating meaningful mathematical discourse in an online setting can be a challenge for instructors. Contemplate then calculate fostering math practices. Smith and stein 2011 presented a framework for assisting teachers in facilitating meaningful mathematical discourse they called the five practices. Unfortunately, many students do not know how to start these important discussions or how to stay on topic. Engaging students in purposeful sharing of mathematical ideas, reasoning, and approaches, using varied representations. Facilitating meaningful mathematical discourse framework for moving toward a classroom community centered on discourse with teachers and students how teacher supports student engagement who serves as questioner and what questions are posed who provides what kinds of explanations how mathematical representations are used. I can name the 5 components of effective classroom discourse and describe how at least one of the components contributes to meaningful discourse. In this article, we describe how teachers can promote meaningful discussions using the. How many leaves would the students need for 12 caterpillars.
Which problems will most likely be the most useful. Teachers can facilitate learning by making the educational process easier for students. Tools for facilitating meaningful mathematics discourse jstor. Discourse classroom discourse, cognitive perspective. Facilitating and promoting meaningful mathematical discourse the challenge that many teachers face is not with defining mathematical discourse or describing what it should look like in the classroom. The term classroom discourse refers to the language that teachers and students use to communicate with each other in the classroom. Introduce three key roles a teacher plays in facilitating discourse. Tools for facilitating meaningful mathematics discourse. Discourse in math dont just talk about it meredith 4 math. Mar 27, 2020 teachers can facilitate learning by making the educational process easier for students. Build procedural fluency from conceptual understanding 7. Facilitating discourse among students by positioning them as authors of ideas, who explain and defend their approaches.
Rather, facilitating learning involves teaching students to think critically and understand how the learning process works. Math walkthrough form by math coach life teachers pay. Mtp 5, and eliciting and using evidence of student thinking mtp 8. Also, i like the idea of having students sitting at the document reader and the teacher asking questions so that student is explaining to the class. Effective mathematics teaching engages students in discourse to advance the mathematical learning of the whole class. Mercer 2008 states that discourse develops more creative and independent thinkers while simultaneously strengthening procedural knowledge. A challenge faced by math educators of all levels is how to engage students in their mathematical content through rich discussion or. Dig in do a classroom math task and analyze video of students engaging in discourse about the task. Cite evidence and use reasoning to support the claim that an unknown liquid is a mixture.
Those data and reasons could be in the form of charts, diagrams, tables, drawings, examples, or word explanations. Teachers carefully prepare and purposefully facilitate discourse, such as wholeclass dis cussions that build on student thinking and guide the learning of the class in a productive dis ciplinary direction. Which problems will most likely be the most useful in addressing the mathematics. Sep 29, 2015 facilitating student engagement in mathematical discourse begins with the decisions teachers make when they plan classroom instruction. Students need to learn how to go beyond the basic factswho. I like the idea of having a student go to the front with the light saber to clarify during the lesson. Creating cultures of participation to promote mathematical. Algebra, discussion teaching technique, mathematics activities, mathematics education, middle schools, teaching methods. Engaging students in purposeful sharing of mathematical ideas, reasoning, and. Teaching and learning mathematics through error analysis. Three%key%functions%of%the%teachers%role%in%facilitating. This article explores facilitating meaningful mathematics discourse, one of the research based practices described in principles to actions.
Nctm, 2014 facilitating meaningful mathematical discourse. This does not mean watering down the curriculum or lowering standards. When enacting the instructional routine, teachers must maintain a laser focus on the structural thinking. Mathematical discourse office of teaching and learning. An nctm interactive institute for prekgrade 12 teachers and school leaders. Facilitating meaningful mathematical discourse walkthrough form for math coaches or administration. It is defined as the interchange of ideasespecially conversation. The tasks they use, the ways in which they organize the classroom, and the behaviors they model communicate expectations for classroom norms, including the ways students are expected to engage in classroom. Classroom discourse can be a central element of acquiring mathematical knowledge and understanding. To help us find words to define this idea, you have received a card with a common mathematical misconception. Build procedural fluency from conceptual understanding. Feb 16, 2016 smith and stein 2011 presented a framework for assisting teachers in facilitating meaningful mathematical discourse they called the five practices. To listen well is as powerful a means of influence as to talk well and is as essential to all true conversation.
Justify solutions for mathematical tasks involving equations with more than one solution. Implement the task through facilitating meaningful mathematical discourse. As students work at table groups, the teacher asks questions to push students to explain their thinking and to encourage them to talk about problem solving with one another. Anticipating do the problem yourself what are students likely to produce. To engage students in productive mathematical conversations, teachers can orchestrate discourse and structure learning environments to deepen engagement and support learning. Gladis kersaint to help you address these core areas. Research math is the spoken mathematics of the professional mathematician and scientist. I can reflect about student discourse in my classroom and am committed to. Mathematical discourse 5 steps to creating meaningful. This paper is concerned with identifying ways of facilitating meaningful disagreement amongst students in interprofessional online discussion forums. Facilitating critical discourse through meaningful disagreement online.
Using effective strategies will support students as they learn to participate in mathematical discourse. Arguments do not have to be lengthy, they simply need to be clear, specific, and contain data or reasoning to back up the thinking. Webbs dok is a powerful tool that can help you evoke complex thinking processes during discourse. Mathematical discourse is an important part of the math classroom, and is one of the best ways to ensure cognitive engagement of students. Inquiry math is mathematics as used by mathematically literate adults. Students in mark eggers seventh grade math class take ownership of math content through dialogue, peer teaching, and presentation. I can describe the key characteristics of mathematical discourse and identify the purpose of mathematical discourse. Feb 14, 2018 rich classroom discourse offers students a way to express their ideas, reasoning, and thinking.
Define discourse recognize the benefits of discourse for learning recognize that discourse is developed with effort over time learn how to create student and teacher behavior norms during discourse learn to facilitate discourse, encourage students to extend thinking and connections to others ideas and mathematical concepts. Theoretical framework of technomathematical discourse tmd. In addition, webb and colleagues have argued that the help received is beneficial only if the student requesting it understands the explanation given and. Facilitating meaningful mathematical discourse july 1719, 2017 baltimore, md hyatt regency baltimore inner harbor. Facilitate meaningful mathematical discourse math ksu. Selecting and sequencing student approaches and solution strategies for wholeclass analysis and discussion.