Math Talks FLEX: Mental Math and the Basic Facts

Everyone can learn math!  Math Talks FLEX allows students the opportunity to learn mental math strategies over the course of 4 weeks.

During this FLEX class, there are NO LIVE MEETINGS.  Each week, two pre-recorded video lessons (one addition and one subtraction) will be posted in the classroom followed by a discussion question. Students will interact and share their thinking with each other by responding to thinking prompts. Each video lesson will focus on math problems strategically chosen to focus on building the target mental math strategy.  Video lessons will "draw out" thinking strategies allowing students to "see" the math, make connections and deepen their understanding of number. Students will develop multiple strategies to think flexibly when solving mental math problems. 

Through follow-up discussion prompts, students will interact with both the teacher and other students to solve addition and subtraction problems.  Students will share their math thinking in the classroom or on flipgrid.com with an emphasis on drawing out their strategies and making sense of mathematics. Students will be provided multiple opportunities to post their math thinking through video and/or drawing requiring students to think about their thinking, make connections between strategies and learn from each other. Discussion prompts such as Would you Rather and Convince Me Challenges will strengthen student understanding as they interact, explain their math thinking and consolidate their learning. 

Studies show that memorization and drills don't work for all students.  When students understand numbers...they have the skills to solve problems in a way that makes sense to them.  In this course, students will build a math mindset that will give them the confidence to be the best that they can be!

Video lessons will be available via private URL links posted on YouTube.com. 

The focus strategies for each week are listed below:
Week One: 
Addition Strategy - Making Landmark and Friendly Numbers
Subtraction Strategy - Adding Up Strategy

Week Two:
Addition Strategy - Breaking Apart into Place Value
Subtraction Strategy - Removal in Chunks

Week Three:
Addition - Adding Up In Chunks
Subtraction - Adjusting for an Easier Problem

Week Four:
Addition - Compensation Strategy
Subtraction - Keeping a Constant Difference