Sue Dolphin
Number Talks are an approach to developing
facility with computation that engages children in
thinking about numbers and allows them to add,
subtract, multiply and divide using the
mathematics that is meaningful to them, rather
than following procedures that are not.
Kathy Richardson
What is a Number Talk?
a short daily routine (5-15 minutes) where the
teacher poses intentionally selected problems for
students to solve using the mathematics they know
and understand.
ongoing conversations about mathematics that give
children the opportunity to develop mathematical
competence over time.
NUMBER TALK PROCEDURE
1. The teacher presents the problem and allows
the students think time.
2. The students figure out the answer and use “thumbs-up” signal.
3. The students share their answers and defend solutions by
explaining their thinking.
4. The class agrees on the answer to the problem.
5. The steps are repeated for additional problems.
The National Council for Teachers of Mathematics
states that:
"Computational fluency refers to having efficient and accurate
methods for computing.
Students exhibit computational fluency when they
demonstrate flexibility in the computational methods they
choose, understand and can explain these methods, and
produce accurate answers efficiently.”
Principles and Standards for School Mathematics,
NCTM, Reston,VA 2000, p.152
 A safe environment
 Problems of various levels of difficulty that can be solved
in a variety of ways
 Concrete and representational models
 Interaction
 Self-correction
WHAT DO YOU SEE?
pumpkin
WHAT DO YOU SEE?
bear
WHAT DO YOU SEE?
seven
Visual flashcards:
Toothpick Cards
Dot Cards
Color Tile Arrangement Cards
Number Shape Cards
Pattern Block Arrangement Cards
Unifix Cube Towers
Hundred Grids
and beyond
Counting
Number Relationships
Number Composition and Decomposition to 20
Place Value: Tens and Ones
Place Value: Hundreds, Tens and Ones
Provides a safe environment
Selects problems
Provides wait time
Values everyone’s thinking
Records, clarifies, restates
Asks questions
Who would like to share their thinking?
Who did it another way?
Who solved it the same way as Billy?
How did you figure that out?
What is the first thing your eyes saw, or the first
thing your brain did?
 Counts all?
 Counts on?
 Sees groups?
 Composes and decomposes
 Uses benchmarks?
 Sees relationships?
 Uses strategies?
 Just knows?
• Numbers are composed of smaller numbers.
6=4+2
• What we know about one number can help us figure out
other numbers.
“I know 3 and 3 is 6 so 3 and 4 must be 7.”
• Numbers can be taken apart and combined with other numbers to
make new numbers.
“I broke up the 6 into 4 and 2. I put the 2 with the 8 to make a 10
and then I have 4 more which is 14.”
.
Teaching elementary mathematics
does not mean bringing children to
the end of arithmetic…Rather, it
means providing them with a
groundwork on which to build
future mathematics.
 Liping Ma, Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics, p. 117
Keep it short, 5 to 10 minutes
Do number talks daily
Be intentional
Begin instruction where the children begin
counting by 1s
If it’s too difficult, make the numbers smaller