NUMBER TALKS

We often begin math class with a 'Number Talk.' I present them with a prompt/question/image and ask them: "What do you see, how do you see it?"

          Below are two examples of recent number talks that we did in class.

They produced a lot of great cross-strand math thinking from the image below. 

Here were some of their math observations: 

          "I see lots of cubes"
          'The white shapes look like hexagons'

          "I see an ABC colour pattern of pink, green blue"
          'The shapes get bigger from left to right"

          "It looks like the inside of a sphere because there is a curve"

          "I see rectangular prisms"

Other times, I will give them the mini whiteboards and ask them to solve a number challange. During Monday's number talk I asked them to produce a three digit number with a given set of digits. Their goal was to use the digits provided only once and to produce number sentences that would equal the three digit number. They could combine digits in any way they wanted and use any operation of their choice (addition, subtraction, multiplication or division).