sion by asking them to put down their cubes and look at all the ways we found to
make 9 with 2 numbers. I wanted to prepare them for the discussion that would
move us from concrete objects to written symbols, so I asked them to tell their
neighbor the number combinations they saw that made 9. After they finished, I
said, “Remember the ways you told each other so you can share them when we
review 9 with the whole class.”
Whole-Class Talk
After recess, I began the whole-class lesson. As we began the review, I paid close
attention to the responses of all the children, and especially made an effort to
include the students from the intervention group. From my work with them, I
knew what questions to ask to elicit their thinking.
“What do you know about 9?” I asked. Colin shared first and offered,
“81.” Lukas then added, “54 and 45 ’cause they’re the same.” When
Stacy shared next, she said, “16.” Owen quickly told her she needed to
check that answer so she walked over to the cubes. While she worked with the
cubes, I called on Kelvin who predictably said, “9 0 9.” Stacy then came
back to the group with her correction and proudly announced that 1 8
makes 9. Next I asked Mia, “Do you have a way to make 9?” When she
responded, “Tally marks,” I added 9 tally marks to the board. Owen shared
10 1, and then Keith Allen said 112. When Owen seemed to be adding
to the problem with 123, I asked him how he knew that fact. He said, “I
just add 1 to each side.” Other children shared, including Connor, who said
4 5, which I added even though it was already there, to encourage his partic-
ipation.Skylar and Trinity then shared subtraction equations beginning with
100 91, then 10192, and continued the pattern. When I asked Skylar
how she knew what would come next, she replied, “It’s just like Owen’s. I
added 1 to each side.”
I was encouraged that a range of students was able to enter in the whole-class
discussion. The various entry points of the children, whether Mia’s tally marks or
Kelvin’s predictable equation, were acknowledged as I wrote each contribution
on the board. I was also pleased with Stacy’s willingness to listen to Owen and
with her choice of using the cubes to proudly correct her answer. Although Stacy
needed the cubes to help her think about the number, Keith Allen seemed on the
verge of seeing a subtraction pattern. When I chose to ask Owen how he knew
the next fact in the pattern, 102 93, Keith Allen listened thoughtfully. Later
Skylar was able to use Owen’s ideas when she and Trinity were using larger num-
bers. Children were beginning to build on each other’s thinking and access the
number in a variety of ways.
What’s Another Way to Make 9?