Mental Math Archives - MARILYN BURNS MATH

Addition Assessment General Interest Interviews One-on-One Listening to Learn Mental Math Number and Operations Numerical Reasoning

What Were Meeyah & Rocco Thinking?

During a Listening to Learn interview, when asked to figure out mentally the missing number in the problem 90 – ___ = 75, Meeyah and Rocco explained their reasoning in different ways. Listen to how they thought and how I used these two videos for a class lesson.

adminMarch 12, 2023

General Interest Interviews One-on-One Listening to Learn Mental Math Multiplication Number and Operations Numerical Reasoning Silent Math

What Was Nathan Thinking?

In a Listening to Learn interview, Nathan knew from memory that 6 x 5 equals 30. He explained to Rusty Bresser, "So, 6 divided by 2 equals 3, and you just add a zero behind it." Here's a suggestion for using that video clip in a lesson and what happened in two different classes.

Marilyn BurnsFebruary 22, 2022

General Interest Mental Math Number and Operations Numerical Reasoning

Answers Are Only the Starting Point

I woke up early this morning, scanned Twitter, and was pulled in (as I always am) by Pam Harris’s Share Your Thinking problem. (Thanks, @pwharris!) Here’s how I responded and what I learned.

Marilyn BurnsNovember 18, 2021

Assessment General Interest Interviews One-on-One Listening to Learn Mental Math Numerical Reasoning

Nine Ways to Have Deeper Conversations with Students about Math

David Brooks wrote an opinion column in The New York Times on November 19, 2020, “Nine Nonobvious Ways to Have Deeper Conversations.” K–5 math wasn’t his focus or even hinted at in his message, but his suggestions jumped out at me as useful and important for connecting with students.

Marilyn BurnsJune 8, 2021

Estimation General Interest Interviews One-on-One Listening to Learn Mental Math Multiplication Number and Operations Numerical Reasoning

Two Students . . . Two Different Ways of Reasoning

On Wednesday, May 5, 2021, I posted the sixth in my Wednesday Twitter series of video clips from Listening to Learn math interviews. The response to this Tweet amazed me―it received over 100,000 impressions! I was appreciative of the many supportive and insightful replies. Read more.

Marilyn BurnsMay 11, 2021

Division General Interest Interviews One-on-One Mental Math Number and Operations Numerical Reasoning

What is 100 ÷ 3? Why We Ask and What We Learn

Asking students to solve problems mentally, without paper and pencil, is always revealing and often surprising. I thought that asking students to solve 100 ÷ 3 would be sort of a slam dunk. My, was I wrong!

Marilyn BurnsApril 8, 2021

General Interest Mental Math Number and Operations Numerical Reasoning

What Are Good Math Questions to Ask Students?

Good Questions for Math Teaching is a Math Solutions book that has long been one of my favorites. It’s a resource that I dip into when I feel the need for something fresh. And it speaks directly to our current shelter-in-place coronavirus crisis as many of us look for ways to mathematically engage students online, children at home, or both. Here are samples to get you started. I’ll continue to post more ideas on Twitter (@mburnsmath).

Marilyn BurnsMarch 17, 2020

Assessment Division General Interest Interviews One-on-One Mental Math Numerical Reasoning Videos

What Was Jonah Thinking?

I’m often surprised by what I learn when I interview students. Watch this 46-second video clip of Jonah solving 100 ÷ 3. Then read how I used the clip in a lesson with a class of fifth graders, and also read the letters the students wrote to Jonah.

Marilyn BurnsFebruary 18, 2020

Algorithms Decimals General Interest Interviews One-on-One Mental Math Number and Operations Numerical Reasoning Tutoring

Algorithms Are Not Enough!

Last year, I agreed to meet with a friend’s sixth-grade son. Oscar’s math teacher had raised an alarm for my friend and her husband about Oscar’s math progress. They were shocked. Oscar did his homework and was proficient with paper-and-pencil math. What was the problem?

Marilyn BurnsFebruary 19, 2019

Mental Math