Math is all about the numbers, right? Wrong! Math is also about perseverance, reasoning, critiquing, modeling, strategy, and numbers.
Being a mathematician requires more than just the ability to add, subtract, multiply or divide; it requires the ability to think about, reason with and manipulate numbers, in other words have good number sense. As well as teaching our students how to add, subtract, multiply and divide, we also have to teach them how to think about numbers. We have some guidelines for this: The Standards for Mathematical Practices (SMP), which are:
Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them
Reason abstractly and quantitatively
Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others
Model with mathematics
Use appropriate tools strategically
Attend to precision
Look for and make use of structure
Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning
This year we are focusing on these in the 4th grade classes. The students have been using these practices, but this year we are naming them, allowing the students to understand what they are and how they using them makes them better mathematicians.
They have been holding up signs of the SMP when they thought they were using it, which led to even more discussions about the practices. The students have been invested in this and are even using the language when they are working in different subjects! “You are creating a viable argument while you are trying to get him to understand this!” was heard during a science lesson.
As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions about this or anything else in math!
Here are a few links to articles that explains the SMPs a little more.
https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/meghan-everette/guide-8-mathematical-practice-standards/
https://www.illustrativemathematics.org/practice-standards