Introduction To the 5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematical Discussions

5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematics Discussions Anticipating Monitoring Selecting Sequencing Connecting

Setting the Stage Before we begin talking about the 5 practices we want you to get familiar with the David Crane case from the introduction of this book. This case study comes from a 4th grade class. Please do not focus on the content of the lesson. Instead focus on the pedagogy and discourse.

David Crane’s Classroom Please read from the bottom of page 2 – page 4 Once all at your table have read the case study discuss the following What were some strengths of David Crane’s approach? What were some weaknesses?

Analyzing David Crane’s Classroom Read pages 5 & 6 silently with the following questions in mind: What might be an appropriate learning goal for a lesson that features the Leaves and Caterpillars task? How might the discussion have unfolded differently in Mr. Crane’s classroom with this goal in place? Once all at your table have read the analysis, discuss your answers to the above questions AND discuss the student work on page 4.

Exploring the 5 Practices The case of David Crane illustrates the need for guidance in shaping classroom discussions and maximizing their potential to extend students’ thinking and connect it to important mathematical ideas.

Exploring the 5 Practices Orchestrating Productive Mathematics Discussions is not easy. It takes time and practice. Please note we are not expecting that you would do this everyday for every lesson.

Exploring the 5 Practices At your table, assign each person 1 of the 5 practices (Anticipating, Monitoring, Selecting, Sequencing, and Connecting). Each person will read their section from the 5 practices book on pages 8-12. Once everyone in your group has finished their portion of the reading, each person will summarize what they read and how it relates to David Crane’s class. Each person should gain an overview of the 5 Practices Briefly debrief as a group. Randomly pick a table and call on the person for a specific practice to share their understanding. Get comments from other tables.

Summary This year we will be using these practices to focus on Orchestrating Productive Mathematics Discussions. The 5 practices will form the backbone of our sessions. For most of today we will be focusing on the first 2 practices – Anticipating and Monitoring

Before we move on… What does our discussion so far suggest to you about changes in teaching practice that will produce changes in the way our students experience/practice mathematics?