5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematics Discussions

Learn the 5 practices for facilitating effective inquiry-oriented classrooms

Anticipating what students will do--what strategies they will use--in solving a problem

Monitoring their work as they approach the problem in class

Selecting students whose strategies are worth discussing in class

Sequencing those students' presentations to maximize their potential to increase students' learning

Connecting the strategies and ideas in a way that helps students understand the mathematics learned

This book presents and discusses an framework for orchestrating mathematically productive discussions that are rooted in student thinking.

The 5 Practices framework identifies a set of instructional practices that will help teachers achieve high-demand learning objectives by using student work as the launching point for discussions in which important mathematical ideas are brought to the surface, contradictions are exposed, and understandings are developed or consolidated. By giving teachers a road map of things that they can do in advance and during whole-class discussions, these practices have the potential for helping teachers to more effectively orchestrate discussions that are responsive to both students and the discipline.

Includes a Professional Development Guide.

5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematics Discussions provides teachers with concrete guidance for engaging students in discussions that make the mathematics in classroom lessons transparent to all. These instructional practices are extremely timely in light of the focus on Standards for Mathematical Practice in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics,band they will support teachers and students in engaging in these standards. This book will serve as a valuable foundation in our upcoming professional development. --Catherine Martin, Mathematics and Science Director 2011-04-15)

Ensuring that students have the opportunity to reason mathematically is one of the most difficult challenges that teachers face. A key component is creating a classroom in which discourse is encouraged and leads to better understanding. Productive discourse is not an accident, nor can it be accomplished by a teacher working on the fly, hoping for a serendipitous student exchange that contains meaningful mathematical ideas. While acknowledging that this type of teaching is demanding, Smith and Stein present five practices that any teacher can use to implement
coherent mathematical conversations. By using the five practices, teachers will learn to teach effectively in this way. --Frederick Dillon, Mathematics Teacher

As a veteran teacher, I found that the book diagnosed several problems that I had unknowingly created for my students' classroom discussions. I now have a prescription for curing these problems. --Lori Lovato