The only way to learn Mathematics is to do Mathematics

GTS: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7
Today I have the opportunity to attend a Mathematics Professional Development session with Maths Facilitator Sue Pine on Class warm ups using number talks, choral counting, Basic facts and Place Value-Strategies which are effective in the classroom. 

18x5=
Strategies used: 9x10=90
10x5=50
8x5=40
50+40=905
45x2=90

9x5=45
9x5=44
45+45=90

Making connections of how you would represent that visually: How?




Why number talks: 
5-15 minutes warm up-creating classroom conversations about purposefully crafted problems that are solved mentally-In their heads-Done with Whole class. 
-Making sense of Mathematics. 
-Strengthen accuracy, efficiency, flexibility with mental maths and computation strategy. 

Here is an example of how Number talks to used in a whole class context using tens frames and dot cards. It was really good watching the video and seeing the conversations happening in the class as well as how well the children were so engaged in the number talks. 

Number talks enables children to have a voice and allows them to share their ideas. It also gives children to opportunity to share their thinking and agree or disagree on someone else's strategies.
In choral counting students identify patterns. Here is an example video on this strategy and how it is used. 

This was a new strategy that I had come across today and I was very interested in it and look forward to implementing this into my classroom Mathematics programme. 
What are the patterns that you noticed?-Questions to ask the children when doing a lesson on Choral counting. 

Example:
200
219
238
257
276
295
314
333


Quick images: What did you see? What number? Draw the images in the board-Look at the different ways that you can see that one patten. Children/people see numbers/visualise numbers in many different ways.

I really enjoyed this Professional Development and look forward to implementing these strategies into my classroom. I believe this strategy will help those students that are finding it hard to speak out learn skills to enable them to have a voice more in the classroom and b able to share their thinking and ideas not only in a mathematical context but also in other curriculum learning areas.