Teaching for Thinking: Fostering Mathematical Teaching Practices Through Reasoning Routines

by Grace Kelemanik, Amy Lucenta

Overview

Teaching our children to think and reason mathematically is a challenge, not because students can’t learn to think mathematically, but because we must change our own often deeply-rooted teaching habits. This is where instructional routines come in. Their predictable design and repeatable nature support both teachers and students to develop new habits.

In Teaching for Thinking, Grace Kelemanik and Amy Lucenta pick up where their first book, Routines for Reasoning, left off. They draw on their years of experience in the classroom and as instructional coaches to examine how educators can make use of routines to make three fundamental shifts in teaching practice:

• Focus on thinking: Shift attention away from students’ answers and toward their thinking and reasoning
• Step out of the middle: Shift the balance from teacher-student interactions toward student-student interactions
• Support productive struggle: Help students do the hard thinking work that leads to real learning

With three complete new routines,  support for designing your own routine, and ideas for using routines in your professional learning as well as in your classroom teaching, Teaching for Thinking will help you build new teaching habits that will support all your students to become and see themselves as capable mathematicians.

 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780325120072
Publisher:	Heinemann
Publication date:	01/14/2022
Pages:	184
Sales rank:	1,022,294
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.43(d)
Age Range:	9 - 15 Years

About the Author

Grace Kelemanik has more than 30 years of mathematics education experience. A frequent presenter at national conferences, her work focuses on urban education, special populations, and teacher training. She is a former urban high school mathematics teacher and Project Director at Education Development Center. Grace has also worked extensively with new and preservice teachers through the Boston Teacher Residency program.

Most recently, Grace is the coauthor of Routines for Reasoning: Fostering the Mathematical Practices in All Students. She is also coauthor of The Fostering Geometric Thinking Toolkit. She is a mathematics education consultant and professional development provider.

Follow Grace on Twitter @GraceKelemanik

Watch Grace and her coauthor Amy Lucenta talk about the effectiveness of instructional routines.

Amy Lucenta has extensive K–12 mathematics experience with all students, including a focus on special populations. She is a frequent professional development provider who helps teachers implement the Standards for Mathematical Practice. Amy is the coauthor of Routines for Reasoning: Fostering the Mathematical Practices in All Students.

Follow Amy on Twitter @AmyLucenta

Watch Amy and her coauthor Grace Kelemanik talk about the effectiveness of instructional routines.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xi

1 Teaching for Thinking 1

Teaching for Mathematical Thinking 1

Teaching Practices to Foster Mathematical Thinking 6

Reflect on Your Reading 13

2 The Power of Reasoning Routines 15

What Are Reasoning Routines? 15

How Do Reasoning Routines Create a Math Thinking Learning Environment? 19

Five Essential Strategies 22

Chapter Summary 39

Reflect on Your Reading 40

3 Decide and Defend: A Reasoning Routine to Support Constructing Arguments and Critiquing Reasoning 41

What Does It Mean to "Construct and Critique"? 42

An Overview of the Decide and Defend Reasoning Routine 47

Decide and Defend in Action 55

Planning and Implementing Decide and Defend 64

Reflect on Your Reading 70

4 Contemplate Then Calculate: A Reasoning Routine to Support Structural Thinking 71

What Does It Mean to "Think Structurally"? 72

An Overview of the Contemplate Then Calculate Reasoning Routine 79

Contemplate Then Calculate in Action 86

Planning and Implementing Contemplate Then Calculate 92

Reflect on Your Reading 100

5 Design Your Own Reasoning Routine 101

Finding Your Inspiration 101

A Six-Step Process for Creating a Reasoning Routine 103

Starting with a Task Type or a Common Lesson Format 134

Reflect on Your Reading 135

6 Making the Essential Strategies a Routine Part of Your Practice 137

Learning to Use the Essential Strategies Effectively 137

Working on Essential Strategies Inside a Reasoning Routine 160

Working on Essential Strategies with Colleagues and Coaches 161

Some Final Thoughts 166

References 167