Eureka! We’ve Struck Math Talk!

Eureka! We’ve Struck Math Talk!
Helping students be successful with Eureka Math is not an easy task (especially in the upper grades)!  It was definitely not a simple venture for us as teachers to learn how to teach Common Core with Eureka Math (we all remember that hurdle right?!) So how can we as educators, help ourselves to help our students not only BE successful in Math today, but to FEEL successful in Math today??  There’s no easy answer to this question, however, as mentioned in my last two blogs, student engagement is everything!  When we think of collaborative conversations, many of us immediately think of ELA.  Naturally, collaborative conversations in ELA provide vast opportunities for collaborative talk and lends itself to helping students achieve a level of thinking at a Depth of knowledge 3 and 4 (as you've seen in my last two blogs). However, these same results can be achieved when you incorporate these academic discussions during Math as well.  Not to mention the added powerful benefit to the students’ learning through their collaboration with one another!			Here are some video clips of my students participating in a variation of the "All-Write-Round-Robin" Kagan strategy.  Where each group of 4 was assigned a math problem.  The students within each group first worked the problem out individually.  Then took turns sharing out in their group explaining how they solved the problem, the steps they took, etc.  The group then discusses and decides together on the “best” way to solve the problem and writes out a solution as a group.
"Students who are inattentive, withdrawn, and disengaged in the classroom have poorer academic performance when compared to engaged students." -Kathy Dyer, NWEA So how do you get your students to have productive and effective conversations during Math, that contribute to their success?? Here, you will see how effortless it can be to implement collaborative conversations via Kagan engagement strategies in Eureka Math- WITHOUT taking away any additional instructional time!
	There’s not many things more satisfying as a teacher than when you model good teaching strategies for your students, and then watch them apply these same strategies when working with their peers.  I have watched my students stumble upon so many “ah-ha” moments, where they catch and learn from their mistakes when engaging in the Rally-Coach Kagan structure.  This is the deeper level of learning we see when  students are responsible for sharing their learning, learning from their peers, and collaborating with one another. This deeper level of learning and thinking has become very evident as I watch my students engage in the Rally-Coach Kagan strategy on a daily basis. Below you will see clips of my students utilizing this strategy during Math to “teach” one another.  This strategy involves only minimal amounts of time to “train” the kids to do this properly, and ZERO prep for the teacher, yet yields amazing progress and growth among the students.  That’s what I call a “win-win!!”
“Tell me and I forget.  Teach me and I remember.  Involve me and I learn.” -Benjamin Franklin Here my students are engaging in the Rally-Robin Kagan strategy.  This is where the students have a designated amount of time that I give them (usually 60 seconds, or sometimes no time limit at all) where they have to take turns going back and forth with their partner, each sharing a different answer to the question I posed.  I tell the kids to think of it as being like a “ping-pong ball" going back and forth!  Here, I displayed the Eureka Math “warm-up” activity for that days lesson which required them to skip- count by 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, and 6s to a designated number, both counting forwards and backwards. They absolutely LOVE doing this! Get started implementing collaborative conversations and engagement activities in Math today! Here are some simple steps to take: Start implementing the Kagan Rally-Robin (ping-pong ball) strategy for the “warm-ups” portion of Eureka Math (as seen in the third video).  This is easy to do, requires no prep on your part, and the kids love it!  Display the warm-up question(s), let them know which partner will be starting (A or B), set the timer and let them go! Easy and engaging! As soon as I tell the kids we will be doing Rally-Robin they ALL turn to each other and whisper "YESSSSS!" They love it! Have students work in Rally-Coach (Kagan) pairs for designated portions of the Problem Set (as seen in the second video).  This ensures that no kiddos are left completely confused and blankly staring at their workbook when you're assisting other students.  If this strategy is implemented properly, ALL students can be successful in completing their problem sets (of course you will need to make sure that you have strategically paired students by mixed ability to support their success).   While students are doing this, you can pull your small group that you’d like to assist that day or work with students one-on-one. Have students engage in the Kagan strategy “All-Write-Round-Robin”  (see my video caption from the first video for a brief description of this process). This takes a small amount of training to teach the kids how to work and talk "collaboratively" with each other, but the more you have them do it the more successful they become! Utilizing this structure guarantees that all students are held accountable by participating,  listening, helping, and sharing their thought processes.  Again, this ensures that they will have conversations about what/how they are solving Math problems, and are less likely to make errors, or will see their errors and are able to correct them through the power of discussion. I use this structure periodically for the Eureka Math lessons that are entirely word problems. I will give each group of 4 a different problem from the problem set (as shown in the video). Once they have solved as a group, they share out with the class. My kids actually love solving word problems now because of this process! Benefits (of engagement structures)for  the kids: Learning from each other, having academic discussions about Math, learning how to “explain” their thought processes, and having fun learning! Benefits (of engagement structures) for the teacher: Students are engaged and will remain on task allowing you to work individually with a student or small group of students without worrying so much about whether or not the rest of your class is on task, working and learning.  Students have practice with “reasoning” skills as they have to “explain” and demonstrate how they solved math problems to their peers.  I have actually very recently noticed my students doing this ON THEIR OWN (explaining/rationalizing their answers to their teammates) even when I have not asked them to do so!💗 This goes back to what I mentioned in my first blog about creating/developing that "safe" classroom climate where students are not afraid to make and admit their mistakes, and feel comfortable sharing with one another.💕 Collaboratively Learning, Megan Brown megan.brown@omsd.net