Making Number Talks Happen

I mentioned in my post Does Automaticity = Timed Tests? that number talks are a great tool for building number sense.  Number talks can be used regularly to engage our students in mental math that puts the focus on developing efficient strategies.

In the past month, I've had the opportunity to facilitate number talks in a few different schools with teachers and with students using the visual cluster of dots shown to the right here.  I am excited to report that teachers have been having success using this strategy with their classes.  In this post, I'll share some general guidelines (nuts and bolts) for facilitating a number talk, and share one teacher's experience using them with her third grade class. 

Does "automaticity" = timed tests?

Bring up timed tests for math facts at a dinner party or on a soccer sideline and you're likely to start a debate.  There are those who feel that timed tests put the focus on rote learning which is obsolete in this day and age in which we can rely on calculators and computers for these calculations.  Others laud the timed tests as they are seen as taking us back to the basics in a good way.

Last year, my own third grade daughter was time tested each week.  On Fridays, she was given a table of ten facts to complete within 20 seconds.  She "passed" by completing the test correctly on time for two weeks in a row.  Then, she would move on to a new set of facts.  As I lamented in my "Coverage vs. Mastery" blog post, I feel that this practice emphasized speed over depth for her.  She memorized to pass, but I was not impressed by the depth of her understanding (granted, I'm a hard case).  The timed tests had a much more demoralizing effect on a friend's son who would make himself physically ill on Thursday nights anticipating these tests the next morning.