strategies. The practice these students get in talking in the small group helps
build their mathematical understanding and prepares them to participate in
the whole-group discussion.
In “What’s Another Way to Make 9?” math specialist Christina Myren
recounts her work in a first-grade classroom. Working in collaboration with
the classroom teacher, she structures some experiences and conversations
with a small group of students who are struggling with composing and
decomposing numbers. She debriefs with the teacher about what the stu-
dents know, what extra support they need, and how they can best partici-
pate in the whole group.
In “Lightbulbs Happen,” third-grade teacher Nikki Faria-Mitchell explains
that when she introduces and works on an activity she knows will be diffi-
cult for some students, she works with pairs or small groups beforehand.
This structure enables her to facilitate students’ talking through their
strategies together so that they can then participate more fully in the whole
group.
In “Talking About Square Numbers,” fourth-grade teacher Dee Watson
describes how she builds her mathematics community to create a safe space
for her students to express their mathematical ideas, as well as their confu-
sions or struggles. She then describes specific strategies she uses to help some
struggling students express their ideas about multiplication to support their
understanding and build their confidence.
In “Kindergarteners Talk About Counting,” Lillian Pinet facilitates a dis-
cussion with her kindergarten class about an activity called the Counting Jar
(Russell et al. 2008o). During this discussion, Lillian highlights students’
counting strategies and involves the whole group in helping a student rec-
ognize and correct a counting mistake.
In “What Do We Do with the Remainder?” Dee Watson leads a discussion
about a division word problem with a class of fourth-grade students in
October. The students work through one strategy for solving the problem
and, through their discussion of the strategy, figure out what to do about the
remainder in the problem.
These episodes describe both the teachers’ strong commitment to a focus on
talk for all of their young learners and how intentional the teachers are in
Building Understanding Through Talk