Eureka Math Chats

One of the BEST components of Eureka Math is that the students really understand the concepts  they are learning. They internalize them.

Eureka math is designed to allow students ample opportunities to explain their thinking and share  how they solved the problem.  Students are asked to use their own words to explain, as if they are teaching someone else, which is amazing!

I know a lot of people think a quiet classroom is a productive one, but I say let’s flip the script on traditional quiet classroom environments with this one. 

​Let students share their thinking with each other!
 

One of the most important ways to solidify a thought process is verbally teach someone else.  Children naturally want to discuss what they are doing and how they are doing it.  Sometimes when it comes to talking out math concepts though, it can be tricky.  We as teachers, want to provide students with the path they need to excel in this process.

How do we do this? We provide students the tools and strategies they need to explain the WHY in their math.  We don’t want our students to just solve math as robots, simply plugging numbers into an algorithm and producing answers. ​

​We want students to involve their own explanations into the computation process.

Providing explanations  will ensure that students truly understand the mathematical process.
 
How can students become leaders in discussing their math thinking process?

We can use “Math Chats.”
 
Think of it as just talking with friends about something you love.  It becomes exciting and engaging! That is how Math Chats are designed.  When students are confident with talking about math, they provide strong discussions.  Students can talk in groups and partnerships to develop higher level thinking and build on one another’s ideas.  
 
To get started, be the model.  While I teach, I say everything I am thinking out loud.  I let them hear all of my own metacognition until my math language becomes their math language.
 
For example, while I teach a lesson about adding three numbers, I will say, “Let’s look at 6+3+7, I want to find a way to make a ten to make my number easier to add.  I see 3+7 which equals 10.  Then I will add 6+10=16.” 
 
I show students out loud what is going on during my mental math process.
 
The next step is to have students turn and talk with a partner.  Some great tools to have for this are whiteboards and markers.  When students turn to their partners give them an example to solve together.  This will drive the thinking out loud process.  Encourage the students to tell their partner why or why something is correct.
 
While you are just getting your students started with math chats, provide them with some sentence starters on chart paper.  
 
These may look like:
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• I know _______________ because_______________. 
• Another way to solve this equation is_______________.
• I like the way you______________________________.
• I would have solved this differently, I would have _______.

 
These templates not only provide students with the words to help drive their explanations, but also foster some great classroom rapport.  Students are promoted to be kind with their discussions.  I provide students opportunities to kindly disagree as long as they can provide why and present a detailed strategy for solving the problem.
 
Another great partner activity is to have students write their own story problems and present to a partner to solve it.  This provides students opportunities to be on both the creating end and the solving end of the story problem.  
 
Where does this math chat lead? Well, all throughout Eureka math students are prompted to explain their thinking at the end of a performance task.
 
When students read the phrase: Explain your Thinking, it can often give students the deer in headlights feeling.  Students may actually know how to solve the problem, but not how to explain to someone else or put into writing exactly what they did.

Speaking and listening skills are very important parts of our curriculum as well.  When students are provided the opportunities and guidance to use these skills to push their level of thinking, it is an all-out positive result.
 
In primary grades, there is no strong writing that can take place without speaking first.  Young children need to plan and structure what they want to write before they can move on to the process of writing.
 
Math Chats are the rehearsals for providing the answers in writing.  Once students develop the pattern of how to answer the questions with details about what they did to solve the problem, they will be able to provide strong written responses.
 

Giving students this foundation of rehearsed routines provides a platform for not only their own understanding of the math process, but have the ability to teach someone else.
 
When students take on the owner ship of their own learning, they create a strong connection and meaning to their learning. 
 
We are building life-long mathematicians who will go on to do great unimaginable things!

Quick Tips for Fostering Math Chats

• Think out loud to model for students your thinking process while solving.
• Provide templates for students to use as they are getting started discussing their math thought process.
• Be available and listen to jump into students’ conversations to guide them when needed.
• Praise! Praise! Praise! When you hear a great conversation going on, draw the class in to listen to the group as a model.
• Help draw out shy students by working as a bridge between them and the group by asking questions and encouraging them to tell you more.
• ESL students may need extra prompting with visuals. Provide them cards with pictures of math vocabulary.

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About My Guest Blogger

I am Stephanie and I have been teaching grades 1-3 for a number of years. I love using Eureka Math to guide my instruction.  I have found this program helpful in making me a more effective math teacher for my students. In my spare time, I enjoy the outdoors and spending time with my family. 
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