Intentional

 Talk    
Note:  The  following  principles  and  discussion  types  are  taken  from  Intentional  Talk:  How  to  Structure  
and  Lead  Productive  Mathematical  Discussions,  by  Elham  Kazemi  and  Allison  Hintz  (2014).  
 
Principle  1:  Discussions  Should  Achieve  a  Mathematical  Goal  
Discussions  should  achieve  a  mathematical  goal,  and  different  types  of  goals  
require  planning  and  leading  discussions  differently.  
Principle  2:  Students  Need  to  Know  What  and  How  to  Share  
Students  need  to  know  what  and  how  to  share  so  their  ideas  are  heard  and  are  
useful  to  others.  
Principle  3:  Teachers  Need  to  Orient  Students  to  One  Another  and  the  Mathematical  
Ideas  
Teachers  need  to  orient  students  to  one  another  and  the  mathematical  ideas  so  
that  every  member  of  the  class  is  involved  in  achieving  the  mathematical  goal.  
Principle  4:  Teachers  Must  Communicate  That  All  Students  Are  Sense  Makers  and  That  
Their  Ideas  Are  Valued  
Teachers  must  communicate  that  all  children  are  sense  makers  and  that  their  ideas  
are  valued.  
 
Discussion  Types:  
 
Open  Strategy  Sharing  
Open  strategy  sharing  provides  a  strong  foundation  for  mathematics  discussions.  It  helps  
teachers  build  wide  participation  by  showing  that  problems  can  be  solved  in  different  
ways.  It’s  important  to  choose  a  task  that  students  can  make  sense  of  in  multiple  ways,  
and  by  facilitating  the  conversation  you  can  meet  the  mathematical  goal  of  recognizing  
multiple  valid  strategies.  
 
Targeted  Discussion  
Through  targeted  sharing  the  discussion  zooms  in  on  a  particular  idea.  This  more  focused  
sharing  involves  specific  goals,  like  defining  and  using  key  terms  or  concepts  correctly,  
revising  an  incorrect  strategy,  or  making  sense  of  a  particular  representation.  
 
Compare  and  Connect:  To  compare  similarities  and  differences  among  strategies  
When  to  use-­‐  
• The  problem  can  be  solved  in  more  than  one  way,  and  you  know,  based  on  your  
students,  that  they  will  have  a  variety  of  ways  to  approach  it.  
• You  want  to  support  your  students  in  making  sense  of  the  different  strategies  that  
they  have  generated  in  order  to  make  sure  students  don’t  see  the  mathematics  in  
the  solutions  as  disconnected.  
• You’re  prompting  students  along  to  a  slightly  more  sophisticated  strategy.  
• You  want  to  compare  the  use  of  two  different  mathematical  tools  or  
representations  to  solve  the  problem.  
   
 Intentional  Talk    
Note:  The  following  principles  and  discussion  types  are  taken  from  Intentional  Talk:  How  to  Structure  
and  Lead  Productive  Mathematical  Discussions,  by  Elham  Kazemi  and  Allison  Hintz  (2014).  
 
Why?  Let’s  Justify:  To  generate  justifications  for  why  a  particular  mathematical  strategy  
works  
When  to  use-­‐  
• A  rule  or  “trick”  is  commonly  used,  but  students  may  not  have  a  conceptual  
understanding  of  why  the  rule  works  and  therefore  may  struggle  to  generalize  the  
rule  with  accuracy  when  solving  new  problems.  
• You  can  connect  a  strategy  students  are  beginning  to  use  to  a  visual  model  or  a  
problem  context  in  order  to  make  sense  of  how  a  strategy  works  regardless  of  the  
numbers.  For  example,  when  you  want  to  add  two-­‐digit  numbers,  you  can  always  
combine  the  tens  and  combine  the  ones  separately  and  then  add  them  together.  
The  model  or  context  serves  as  a  resource  for  children  to  verify  and  test  their  
justification  for  why  the  strategy  works.  
 
What’s  Best  and  Why?  To  determine  a  best  (most  efficient)  solution  strategy  in  a  
particular  circumstance  
When  to  use-­‐  
• Many  students  are  on  the  verge  of  transitioning  from  one  strategy  to  another.  For  
example,  students  begin  to  notice  a  difference  between  counting  up  by  ones  and  
counting  up  by  tens  when  adding  27  +  30.  
• You  would  like  students  to  think  about  when  a  particular  strategy  is  useful.  For  
example,  what  quantities  really  lend  themselves  to  a  compensation  strategy  when  
you  round  one  number  and  make  up  for  the  difference?  (29  x  12  is  the  same  as  20  
x  12  –  12.  Since  29  is  close  to  30,  it’s  a  good  time  to  round  up.)  
• You  notice  students  are  getting  lost  trying  to  keep  track  of  something  and  need  to  
organize  information  in  order  to  tackle  a  problem.  For  example,  what  kinds  of  
problems  lend  themselves  to  making  a  chart  to  keep  track  of  information?    
 
Define  and  Clarify:  To  define  and  discuss  appropriate  ways  to  use  mathematical  models,  
tools,  vocabulary,  or  notation  
When  to  use-­‐  
• As  mathematical  objects,  such  as  tools,  representations,  symbols,  and  vocabulary,  
are  first  introduced  or  are  used  in  new  ways.  
 
Troubleshoot  and  Revise:  To  reason  through  which  strategy  produces  a  correct  solution  or  
figure  out  where  a  strategy  went  awry  
When  to  use-­‐  
• You  observe  several  students  in  your  class  grappling  with  an  idea,  and  you  think  
other  students  could  help  clarify  the  confusion.  
• A  student  comes  to  you  with  an  idea  he  or  she  is  willing  to  put  in  front  of  the  class,  
and  you  believe  the  class  has  the  resources  to  support  the  student  in  thinking  
through  the  idea.  
• You  want  to  support  norms  for  revising  one’s  thinking.