Boost Engagement in Your Math Classroom with These Discussion Strategies

 

Are you looking for innovative ways to get your students talking, thinking, and collaborating more effectively in your math classes? Look no further! Engaging students in rich discussions is key to deepening their understanding and making learning truly stick.

I've gathered some discussion strategies that can transform your classroom into a hub of mathematical exploration. These approaches are designed to encourage participation, critical thinking, and peer learning.

Let's dive into some strategies you can implement right away:


1. Which One Doesn't Belong?


This versatile strategy serves as a fantastic icebreaker and a critical thinking exercise. Present four images, numbers, or expressions, and ask students to identify which one doesn't belong and, more importantly, why. There are no wrong answers, only justifications! This encourages all students to participate and articulate their reasoning.  Check out this website to get you started: WODB by Talking Math with Kids 


2. Would You Rather?


Turn potentially dry topics into exciting debates! Present two scenarios or options related to a math concept. Students choose a side and must use mathematical reasoning to defend their preference. It's amazing how much deeper students think when there's a debate involved!  Check out this site for help getting started: Would you Rather Math 


3. Think-Pair-Share


A classic for a reason, Think-Pair-Share is incredibly effective for individual processing and collaborative discussion.

  • Think: Give students a problem or question and a few moments of silent individual thinking time.

  • Pair: Students then pair up to discuss their thoughts and approaches.

  • Share: Finally, bring the class back together and have a few pairs share their strategies with everyone. This allows for diverse solutions to be presented and discussed.


4. Stand and Talk


Similar to Think-Pair-Share, but with a physical element! Students stand up to discuss a prompt. This can be particularly effective for activities where everyone is likely to have something to say, like a "Notice and Wonder" activity based on a mathematical image. The movement can also help energize the classroom. Check out this site to help get started: Stand and Talk by Sara Van Der Werf 


5. Numbered Heads Together


This strategy promotes group accountability and collaboration. In small groups, students number off. Present a problem, and the group works together to ensure everyone understands the answer. When you call out a number, the student with that number from each group shares their group's consensus.


6. Jigsaw


Divide a larger topic into smaller, manageable chunks. Assign students to "expert" groups to delve deep into one chunk. After mastering their topic, students re-group into new teams, where each member is an "expert" on a different chunk. They then teach their peers, becoming active facilitators of learning.


7. Quiz-Quiz-Trade


A dynamic way to review! Create quiz cards with a math problem on one side and the answer on the back. Students pair up, quiz each other, and then trade cards before finding a new partner. This keeps students engaged and moving while reinforcing concepts.

You can try an AI tool like EduAide to help create these. Here is an example that I generated for LCM and GCF of monomials. 


8. Round Robin


For a problem with multiple possible answers or components (like finding factors of a number), use Round Robin. In small groups, each student takes turns contributing one idea, building on what others have said. This encourages active listening and collaborative problem-solving.

Here’s a short video demo that might help: Kagan Structure - Round Robin 


9. Team Pair Solo


Team-Pair-Solo is a strategy where students progress from working collaboratively in teams, to pairs, and finally individually to solve problems. This approach helps build confidence and allows students to tackle problems they might initially find challenging on their own. The strategy is structured as follows: first, students work together as a team; then, they pair up to discuss and refine their understanding; finally, they solve similar problems independently.  The Team-Pair-Solo strategy is particularly useful when introducing new or challenging math concepts or word problems, as it provides support and scaffolding for students to build their confidence and problem-solving skills.

10. Gallery Walk


Transform your classroom into a gallery of mathematical thinking! Students solve problems on large chart paper or whiteboards, then post them around the room. Groups walk around, examine, and discuss the different solutions presented by their classmates. This promotes peer learning and reflection on various problem-solving approaches.


11. Rally Robin


A quick and engaging partner activity! Give partners a topic, and they take turns sharing one thing related to that topic. For example, if the topic is "types of quadrilaterals," Partner A says one, then Partner B says one, and so on, until time is called.


12. Rally Coach


This strategy encourages peer coaching and active listening. Partners take turns solving problems. While one solves, the other acts as a coach, offering support, asking guiding questions, and giving praise. They then switch roles to tackle the next problem. 

Here are two example problem sets organized for a Rally Coach: 

Rally Coach Conics and Rally Coach Geometric Transformations


13. Scavenger Hunts


Get students moving while they learn! Create a math scavenger hunt where students solve problems to find the next clue. The natural movement and collaborative problem-solving involved in scavenger hunts foster organic and meaningful discussions. 

Here is an example I created for my financial algebra class. Unit 5 Review Scavenger Hunt  Intro to Investing & Exponential Functions  

Implementing these strategies can significantly improve student engagement and understanding in your math classroom. Give them a try and watch your students become more active and confident mathematicians! Which of these strategies are you excited to try first?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Favorite: Doceri

Image
  My favorite classroom tool is Doceri.  It does cost $30, but I use this iPad app every day, so it was well worth the cost.  You need a computer (laptop/desktop), wireless network, and projector to use Doceri.  It basically turns your computer into a whiteboard.  You can control your computer and any files remotely from the iPad.  I use this feature for PowerPoints during class.  You can eccentrically take a screen shot of whatever is on your screen (or use a number of included backgrounds such as graph paper) and then write on that image.  I use this feature most often.  I will make a PowerPoint presentation of my notes each day and then use Doceri to annotate each slide.  You have a ton of pen style/color choices so you can color code and highlight important parts of your class notes.  Doceri can save each annotated image and you can email it to yourself in PDF form.  This can become a document to post on your cla...
Read more

Practice Structures: Error Analysis Revisited

Image
Last summer I wrote about using error analysis as one of my favorite ways to practice math skills.  Since then I've found a few more resources and created a few more that I'd like to share.  In general, error analysis activities involve purposefully making common mistakes, then having students try to find them.  Here is a link to the original post if you'd like to see it.  In that post I shared an example for the segment addition postulate and midpoint as well as a second example for multiplying polynomials . Here are some other examples that I found.  I did not create these. Grade 2: Adding and Subtracting up to 3 digits. Grade 8: Solve Linear Equations. Algebra 1: Graphing Linear Inequalities in two Variables
Read more

One Good Thing

Image
This past week was the last week of classes for this semester.  Some of my classes are full year classes while others are semester courses.  Either way, this seemed like a good time to make some changes for the new semester and to allow students to give some feedback about those changes. I gave my students a quick exit ticket on our last day of class.  I asked them to think back on the year so far and to tell me one thing that they liked about our class that they would like to keep the same for the new semester.  Then I asked for one thing that they would like to change for the new semester. Now, I must preface their responses by saying that I teach in a very non-traditional classroom.  I use hybrid learning.  You can read more about it on the hybrid page of my blog.  Basically it involves students rotating through various stations throughout the lesson.  Students have more freedom than they have ever had before and some of them fail mi...
Read more