5 SHI JIE MAGAZINE – SPRING
Number Talks Improving fluency with Mental Maths
2017 F ocus O n – M athematics
How many different ways can you work out the answer to 5 x18 in your head? This may seem like an odd question, but there is a surprising variety of possible responses... “Multiply 5x9 and double it” “Work out 5x20 and subtract 5x2” “Double one number and halve the other, so work out 10x9 instead” “Split the 18 into 10 and 8, then do 5x10 plus 5x8” “Think about the 18 as ‘6x3’, so you can do 5x6x3” And so on… Encouraging students to think flexibly and creatively about calculations in this way is the idea at the heart of an approach called ‘Number Talks’ that DC Primary teachers are using to help students become more fluent and accurate when calculating mentally. Number Talks are a short routine during which students are presented with a small selection of carefully chosen calculations and asked to work them out mentally, communicate their thinking and justify their solutions. The approach aims to develop accuracy, efficiency and flexibility when carrying
out mental calculations - the ability to choose appropriate strategies for different types of calculations and the flexibility to use the relationships between numbers with ease; the ability to ‘see’ numbers in different ways, depending on the problem being solved. It is an approach that supports students to develop ‘number sense’ by building on and extending the way numbers already make sense to them. The Number Talks approach was developed by Sherry Parrish of the University of Alabama. She argues that focussing on and discussing students’ own invented strategies, rather than telling students one ‘standard’ method for solving a problem, has many benefits, including providing the opportunity for students to: • Clarify thinking • Investigate and apply mathematical relationships • Build a repertoire of efficient strategies • Make decisions about choosing efficient strategies for specific problems • Consider and test other strategies to see if they are mathematically sound. The benefits are certainly not lost on
students either. One Year 3 student recently commented, “It helps me to use the strategies from other students. One person even made their own strategy for a subtraction problem - I think that’s pretty clever!” Another said, “Number Talks really challenge my brain. It teaches me to use a variety of strategies. Different calculations are easier with different strategies. I’ve learned that partitioning is not always the best way.” Over the final weeks of this current academic year, a small group of teachers will be working to further develop the focus on mental calculations. We look forward to seeing the results of this initiative as our students develop into even more enthusiastic, flexible and creative thinkers in mathematics. Andy Eastwood Vice Principal (Middle Primary Leader)