with.. .” (They may possibly repeat what someone has already said, but it is a
start to get them to participate.)
Before share time, I may ask a reluctant student to share his findings with me,
giving him time to mentally prepare for this. I may also just refer to a student’s
strategy and make the connection as I think aloud: “This idea is very similar to
what I noticed Yasmine doing today. Yasmine, is there something you can add
about your thinking?” This allows the student to have the opportunity to state
what they did, share something I purposely left out, or just pass.
Keeping Track of Student Thinking and Understanding
Strategy Charts
We keep track of student ideas on chart paper for the students to refer to during
the current lesson or for future days. Having these strategy charts available allows
my struggling learners to take the time to process the discussions. It also gives me
a starting point when meeting individually with a student. I can suggest that a
student try the “adding by place” strategy, for example, or have her “explain what
Tommy did in your own words.” For example, if we were solving 54 32, a stu-
dent might write:
50 30 80
4 2 6
80 6 86Questions that I may ask include: Can someone tell me where the 50 and 30 came
from? Why did you add the 4 and 2? What does that 4 represent? Can you tell me
why we had to add the 80 and 6 in your last step? Where did the 80 and 6 come
from? Are you finished? How do you know?
Conference Notes
Keeping notes on conversations I have with my students (see Figure 14–1) aids
me in recognizing who may or may not need accommodations or who has an idea
or strategy that should be shared with the entire class. I find that these conference
notes provide me with a structure for keeping track of my students’ growth. My
notes include my thoughts and/or observations about a student when I meet with
her individually. I may note that I need to check in with someone again, who
understands an idea, who is confused, and so on. It also helps me keep track of
children who are struggling in similar ways. That way I can meet with a group
who are weak in the same area.
Lightbulbs Happen