“After attending the Number Talk Institute, I knew I needed to bring Number Talks back to the teachers and students at my school. Collaborating with teachers to implement Number Talks in their classrooms, I was amazed to watch students take strides in not only their ability to think about numbers and operations but in communicating their thinking as well. When given the opportunity to share on their own terms, students were eager to explain their strategies and learn from each other.
Hailey Gilmore, LAP Teacher/Instructional Specialist, Lacey, WA, Fall 2016
What are Number Talks?
Number Talks are a 10-15 minute mental math routine created by Ruth Parker and Kathy Richardson in the early 1990s to engage students in meaningful mathematical discourse and sense-making and to transform the culture of the classroom to one of inquiry and curiosity.
Ruth and Cathy Humphreys wrote two books about Number Talks and helped create the professional learning we offer at MEC.