Episode 30: The Teacher As… Top Ten Math Routines with Ann Elise Record and Dr. Nicki Newton
The top ten list created in this episode and links to resources are in my blogpost.
Dr. Nicki Newton
Ann Elise Record
Contact information for Dr. Nicki Newton and Ann Elise Record
Dr. Nicki Newton:
Dr. Nicki’s Website
Math Running Records Website
Email: drnicki7@gmail.com
Twitter: @drnickimath
Instagram: @guidedmathinaction
Ann Elise Record:
Ann Elise’s Consulting Website
Twitter: @AnnEliseRecord
Instagram: @ann.e.record
Transcript:
(transcribed by kayla.r.fainer@gmail.com)
Melissa Milner 00:09
Hi, this is Melissa Milner. Welcome to The Teacher As... podcast. The goal of this weekly podcast is to help you explore your passions and learn from others in education and beyond to better your teaching. The Teacher As... podcasts will highlight innovative practices and uncommon parallels in education.
I'm here with Dr. Nicki Newton and Ann Elise Record. Thank you for being here.
Ann Elise Record 00:35
So thrilled to be here.
Dr. Nicki Newton 00:36
Thank you for having us.
Melissa Milner 00:38
So exciting. About a year ago, I heard something and I said, I think we should do some kind of Top 10 lists for education things. But I wanted to put a little bit of a twist on it. So what's gonna happen is Ann Elise and Dr. Nicki have their own lists of their favorite Top 10 Math Routines. They have to work together, or maybe sometimes not with each other, to come up with one collaborative Top 10 list.
So you're either going to be A or B. if you are A, you will pick number 10, number 8, number 7, number 6, number 4, and number 3 of the list. You have two more picks than letter B, the person who is B. You have two more picks. You have one veto. And we'll talk about the vetoes in a minute. If you're person B, you have pick 9, 5, 2 and 1. So you have two less picks, but you get the top two picks of the Top 10. And you have two vetoes.
Let's talk about the vetoes, and then I'll flip the coin. We'll do that whole situation. So the vetoes-- the main thing with the vetoes, if I have something I want in the top three, and Ann Elise goes ahead and throws it out at number 10, I don't want it at number 10. I think it should be in the top three, so I'm going to veto her 10. That means I can play it again later. Or she can play it again later.
Okay. Does that make sense? All right. So that's one reason you might veto. Another reason you might veto, if you're like, that doesn't even belong on a Top 10 list. This is not a Top 10. We have a lot of great math routines here, yes. But it doesn't belong Top 10, maybe Top 15. But get it out of there. So you might veto that, as well. So if you're someone who has your pick vetoed, you then have to pick another one for that spot.
So Ann Elise already did this with me as a lot of trial phases. It was actually hysterical. I might edit that and put it out at some point. Because it was about movies. I like action, horror. And she's like Disney and Sound of Music. So it was pretty awesome. If there's no questions, I think we'll have Dr. Nicki, you're going to be the coin. Do you want heads or tails, Dr. Nicki?
Dr. Nicki Newton 03:11
I'm gonna say heads.
Melissa Milner 03:16
It is tails. So that means that Ann Elise gets to pick first if she's A or B.
Ann Elise Record 03:24
Let's see. I'm going to pick A.
Melissa Milner 03:28
Ah, Ann Elise is going to have pick 10, pick 8, pick 7, pick 6 - she has a lot of picks - 4 and 3. And then Dr. Nicki is 9. Then she relaxes for a while, unless she vetoes. 5, 2 and 1. All right. So we're gonna start - so exciting - with pick 10, which is Ann Elise.
Ann Elise Record 04:04
I think that subtraction is the Achilles’ heel of all of our students. It takes everybody out. And even if they're in upper elementary and they're doing subtraction in a division problem, and it's the multi-digit subtraction, it's the basic facts that take them out. So we need to fix that. We can't keep passing kids on with that as a problem.
So I love a routine, How Many More To? So I can give them a number and say, how many more is it to get to 10? How many more is it to get to 12? But I can also jack it up about how many more is it to 20 if you have 8? So I can do 2 more to 10, 10 more to 20. Or then I can go to 50 or to a 100 and find pairs of numbers that make a 100.
So just that idea of a daily, quick few minutes of: I give you a number, and I give you a target number. And I want them to think additively. Because I think not enough students think additively with subtraction. And they have addition, that strength. And they get involved in regrouping of subtraction. It just becomes a nightmare.
And I think we can fix it if we help them think about friendlier numbers. I want to toss out How Many More To? as a nice first daily routine. Number 10.
Melissa Milner 05:18
Nice. And Dr. Nicki, thoughts?
Dr. Nicki Newton 05:22
Yes. I love that. I'll stick with that. I would like to add that I think we should do fractions and decimals with it.
Ann Elise Record 05:29
Yes.
Dr. Nicki Newton 05:30
So how many more to 1/2? How many more to 5/10, or 7/10, or whatever? I like the structure of How Many More To?
Ann Elise Record 05:38
I would agree, 100%.
Melissa Milner 05:40
Yeah. All right. So you are in agreement. Dr. Nicki, number 9.
Dr. Nicki Newton 05:45
I would say Three Truths and a Fib. Because I think that really gets kids to reason. And it gets them to explain what they're thinking, and why something is true and why something is not true. And I think we don't do enough of that in schools, getting kids to reason. So I think it definitely belongs on the list.
Melissa Milner 06:05
That's such a good one. All right, Ann Elise.
Ann Elise Record 06:08
No challenge from me. I love it, too.
Melissa Milner 06:11
Copacetic so far, okay. All right. Now, Dr. Nicki, don't fall asleep. We got three now in a row that Ann Elise is picking. Stay sharp. You never know. She might throw something out there that you don't want. All right. All right, Ann Elise. Number 8.
Ann Elise Record 06:32
All right, so I'm going to toss out Berkeley Everett's Math Flip, showing the visual and then having a discussion with students. Because the Math Flips, side A always helps you solve side B. So I particularly think about fluency. Let's say multiplication, how does knowing what 4 times 8 is help us solve 8 times 8.? And so we'll have an array that's 4 by 8, and you're visually seeing that.
But the question always is, once you figure out side A-- so the kids can figure out the 4 times 8 array by counting one by one. They could be skip counting. They use partial products. But however they get to the fact that that amount is 32, how does knowing that help us solve an array that's 8 by 8. And he has the 4 by 8 gray and the other 4 by 8 black. So you can visually see those partial products. And the fact that anything times 8 can be thought of as being double the times 4 is just super powerful.
And so I just love-- he has those Math Flips. They're free on his website. And they're for addition, subtraction, multiplication. So it's just always connecting, how do we use what we know to figure out one that we don't know, but with the visuals, which is really helpful. And a variety of visuals.
Melissa Milner 07:46
That sounds amazing.
Ann Elise Record 07:47
Yeah, his site is full of little videos making math visual. But it's particularly these Math Flips that are downloadable for free that I think are really super powerful.
Melissa Milner 07:58
Fantastic. Dr. Nicki, any complaints?
Dr. Nicki Newton 08:01
No. I think visualizing strategies is really important. Because we teach kids strategies. And sometimes they don't know what it really looks like. So I think that that's really important. And I think his Flips help us on that journey of getting kids to visualize the math that they are doing.
Melissa Milner 08:18
Yes. Amen. Oh my gosh, this is amazing. So I'm just going to recap. We have at 10, How Many More To? At pick nine, we have Three Truths and a Fib. And at pick 8, we have Math Flips. All right, Ann Elise, number 7.
Ann Elise Record 08:36
Okay, 7, I'm gonna have to go with Steve Wyborney's Splat!
Melissa Milner 08:43
Love it, love it, love it.
Ann Elise Record 08:44
So Steve Wyborney is brilliant and amazingly generous where there are tons of resources he's made. And he actually does have a posting of four of his most popular routines. He created slide decks that can be used from kindergarten teachers to high school. So it's for any teacher, crazy cool.
But one of them that I love most is Splat! Because I think that decomposing numbers is such a critical piece to help our students build fluency within 10, within 20, and then projecting it to larger numbers, as well as with fractions and decimals.
And so his Splat! series begins in the primary grades of having some dots on a screen. And it gets the kids talking and reasoning, which is the two key pieces. But they're going to figure out, in any way that they can, how many dots are on the screen.
But then when you advance the slide - and these are all done for you, you just click through them in a slideshow - Splat! comes on the screen. And it covers some of the circles. So that the constant, you know how many are there. Some are being hidden. How much must be under that Splat?
And so when it advances to have even fancier ones, when you can have multiple Splats, where if the two Splats are the same color, then the same color must mean they're hiding the same number of dots. And so it's algebra, and the kids don't know it.
So I've seen third graders solve these Splats to figure out how many are under each Splat. And it's really like an algebraic expression, where they're removing the amount that they can see. They're dividing by the two equal groups, let's say, and it's just incredibly powerful.
Melissa Milner 08:57
He has fraction ones, too. My third graders were all over it.
Ann Elise Record 10:25
Yep, exactly. It's a wonderful activity to have the students make up their own. Because they can enter that task however they want. I did that in the third grade class, as well, where some kids were as simple as you're looking at 10 dots and there are two same colored splats. So you're covering 5 and 5.
But other students, one student did a 100 dots. He had six same colored Splats and then 10 dots. And the kids are solving each other's ones, walking around the classroom. It was adorable. But how powerful, right? They all can enter that task at their readiness level. But as a routine, the kids loved it.
Melissa Milner 11:00
All right. Yeah, I would put that higher. That's just me. Okay, so Dr. Nicki, thoughts about Splat!?
Dr. Nicki Newton 11:10
What number is it? It's 7?
Ann Elise Record 11:12
That's seven.
Melissa Milner 11:13
It is 7.
Dr. Nicki Newton 11:15
Yeah, I'll leave it at 7. I mean, I love Splat! I think I would put it higher, too. But I will leave it there. I would put Splat! at somewhere like 5.
Melissa Milner 11:26
All right, so that's close enough.
Dr. Nicki Newton 11:27
Yeah.
Melissa Milner 11:28
All right, Ann Elise, number 6.
Ann Elise Record 11:32
All right. So this one is called Same But Different. It's a website called Same But Different. And there are images that get kids talking about what is the same and what is different with these two images.
So for example, my favorite strategy with addition is the Bridge 10 strategy, where I can decompose a number to make it 10. Because that can get forwarded all the way through to the nearest 10, nearest 100, nearest 1,000, and then nearest wholes with decimals and fractions.
And so one of the images that Sue Looney has is just connecting cubes. And one of the pictures is-- I love how she changes the color of the connecting cubes as the benchmark of a 5. So rather than having 8 connecting cubes attached, it's 5 of one color and 3 of another. And then beneath it is 4 of that second color.
But in the other picture, you can see the 10 and 2. So you have 8 and 4, 10 and 2. And how are these the same? And how are they different? And I just think that's brilliant. I just love it.
Melissa Milner 12:37
All right. Dr. Nicki, what are you thinking?
Dr. Nicki Newton 12:40
I had Same But Different on my list, so I'll leave that alone.
Melissa Milner 12:45
Okay, I didn't think it would go this smoothly. Okay. All right. All right. Dr. Nicki, you are up at number 5.
Dr. Nicki Newton 12:53
Finally! I'm gonna put I Was Walking Down the Street, which is a routine that I really like. And the way it goes is you say to the kids, I was walking down the street. Or you say, I was walking down the hall. I was walking down the hall, and I heard Maribel say, 31. And I wondered, what was the question? And then the kids have to give you an equation that makes that answer.
So it could be addition, subtraction, multiplication or division. It could be, was it 3 times 7? Was it 7 plus 7 plus 7? Was it 22 minus 1? So it's really, really good. And you can do it for any-- it can be, I was walking down the street and I heard half. What was the question? I was walking down the street and I heard 7/10. What was the question?
So I like it because of its flexibility. And I like it because it's low floor, high ceiling. Meaning that anybody can come in and as high as they can think they can go. So I've played it with kids. I was in first grade in Manhattan. I said, the answer is 6. So the kids were like, 3 plus 3, 6 minus 0, 6 plus 0, 5 plus 1.
And then one little boy goes, is it 1,000 minus 994? And I was like, yeah! And the kids are like, wow! Then kids, when they hear the thinking of others, they begin to challenge themselves. So they're thinking, if he's got 1,000 minus 994 in his pocket, I've got more than 3 plus 3. So then they try to do something more sophisticated.
So I love it, because it allows everybody to play low floor, high ceiling. Kids can hear and see each other's thinking, and then they challenge themselves. They see the possibility of themselves in others when their friends are talking. That's why I would say I Was Walking Down the Street.
Melissa Milner 14:49
Oh my gosh, I love that. Ann Elise, what do you think?
Ann Elise Record 14:52
Yeah, I certainly would add to that, as well, that I think it provides the scaffolding that many of our students need, as well. So I've seen that routine where you'd record on the board the different ideas kids have had. And typically students who are more reluctant to give an answer, they can build on one of the answers someone else gave. And they pick up on patterns. And then everyone's engaged in the conversation. So it's like no one's left out.
And for all the reasons Dr. Nicki said, but also because I've seen it help our most reluctant students feel more confident. Because they're not having to make up on their own. But they can tweak one that someone else did. And it's perfectly valuable and valid.
Melissa Milner 15:31
Really awesome. Let me just recap the list so far. We have at number 10, How Many More To? At number 9, we have Three Truths and a Fib. At number 8, we have Flips. Number seven, we have Splat! Number 6, we have Same But Different. Number five, we have I Was Walking Down the Street. And at number four, Ann Elisa has?
Ann Elise Record 15:56
Okay, so I have only picks 4 and 3 right now. So I've got to bring out the big guns. These are the only other two I have on the list. So I have to bring out Number Strings for number 4.
So Number Strings would be when you have in mind one particular strategy. And then you have a series of three or four expressions where that one strategy can really be applied to all to show that progression. And over the course of the few expressions, you make it a little bit more challenging toward the end.
So for example, with subtraction let's say, I think it's so important. We think about addition with subtraction. So I would choose numbers intentionally that are near a nearest 10. So I might begin with 12 minus 8 and have the kids figure it out, and then see if anyone had thought about 8 plus 2 plus 2.
So then my next one might be 32 minus 28. So I'm using that same idea of, well, it's just 2 more to 30 and 2 more to 32. Then my third one, I might even make it like, I don't know, 54 minus 49, let's say, or something like that where I'm pushing the distance a little bit, but using that same thinking.
And I might even go to 102 minus 98 or 102 minus an 88 to make it be a little bit more of a push. So they can go, oh, well-- because typically that would kind of freak kids out, 102 minus 88, let's say. There'd be regrouping involved. They would try to do it mentally. It would make them frustrated.
But when they think about that 88 is 2 more to 90, and then 10 more to 100, and then 2 more to 102. So it's really just a 14, right? And I think if we do that as a daily routine for kids, it's going to open up the door. So then we can do that with fractions. I could say, what's 3 and 1/4 minus 1 and 3/4? And they think, well, 1/4 to get to the next whole.
So it opens up the door to that. So I think that the Number Strings, the intentionality of finding one strategy and then choosing numbers that go along with that strategy is incredibly powerful.
Melissa Milner 18:03
Yeah, Dr. Nicki, what do you think, Number Strings?
Dr. Nicki Newton 18:06
Veto!
Ann Elise Record 18:08
Oh no! Snap!
Melissa Milner 18:11
We have a veto. We have a veto.
Dr. Nicki Newton 18:15
I love Number Strings. I love them. I think we should do them. But I want to veto it. Because we've only got a few spaces left. And Number Strings, people are going to do that regardless.
Melissa Milner 18:30
Oh no, Number Strings has been vetoed.
Ann Elise Record 18:36
Oh snap! You do realize, Nicki, that that's now off the list of the Top 10. You understand the consequences of that veto, right.
Dr. Nicki Newton 18:48
Yeah. We'll see. I got two vetoes.
Melissa Milner 18:53
Oh, see? Now it's coming out. Okay, okay.
Dr. Nicki Newton 19:01
I got two vetoes. We’ve got ten goes. I’ve got two vetoes, so try me.
Ann Elise Record 19:06
Oh, I've got to pick another one for that number, right? Okay. So then, all right, I'm going with Choral Counting. Now this is not like you have a circle and every student says one number in a sequence and they only say one number. No.
It's the entire class counting together by a certain interval that you've chosen and a certain number you choose to start with. And then you all look for patterns, what do you notice? And you write down all the patterns that you see in those numbers. And those students can really see the structure of our number system.
I think too often we do an oral counting, which is great. But it's not connected to seeing the patterns involved in our classrooms. So there was a first grade class where I was doing Choral Counting where I had them count by fives. And they found it really easy. They were like 5, 10, 15, 20. It was like that sing song.
So I said, okay, let's do it again. Let's start at 2. They were like, what? So we started with 2, and we talked about 5 more would be 7. One of the kiddos actually said 5 more than that. He took 3 from the 5 to make it 10. And then it was 2 more to get to the 12. And then we get to 17.
And one little girl raised her hand and said, I'm seeing a pattern. Because it went 2, 7, 12, 17. I said, oh my goodness, you're right, it is. Let's go back to the beginning. And let's all count this together. And because that scaffolded support was there as I was writing down the numbers, it wasn't quantitatively adding 5 each time. It was a pattern of 2, 7, 12, 17, 22, 27, 32, 37, 42, 47. And so then I did it up to 150 something.
But I was able to, then, look at the columns and say, well, what number would go over here? They're using the patterns involved. They noticed the middle column was 50, more than the first column and 100 more in the third column than it was the first. It just brings out so many amazing patterns and things to talk about.
And I think doing that all over again when students begin learning about fractions and decimals, getting a lexical entry of those words into their brain, but also the underlying structure-- so as you're choosing how many are in each row with fractions, you can see, oh my gosh, every four fourths, it's a whole, right?
So I think that wasn't going to be on my list. But I got to pull that out since I was vetoed. I love it. It just wasn't--
Melissa Milner
I think it's all meant to be.
Ann Elise Record 21:31
Well, she gets two vetoes! So I'm gonna see if this stays on the list.
Melissa Milner 21:36
Dr. Nicki, is there anything-- you could veto this or keep it. But is there anything you want to say about Choral Counting?
Dr. Nicki Newton 21:42
I mean, I could veto it, but I'm not going to. How many more chances does she have?
Ann Elise Record 21:48
I have one more pick.
Dr. Nicki Newton 21:50
All right. I'm gonna let Choral Counting stay. I mean, I don't think it's worthy of... I mean, I love it. And I think you can do some phenomenal things with it. That's why I'm leaving it on the list. Because I don't think people use it enough. I don't think people use it enough. And there's such value in it. I'm gonna leave it alone.
Melissa Milner 22:09
Okay, that's a gift. Okay. Oh my gosh, I'm sweating over this now, guys.
Ann Elise Record 22:17
I know. My palms are sweaty! I got this one last pick. And I'm so curious to hear her top two.
Melissa Milner 22:23
I know.
Ann Elise Record 22:24
Although, I believe that I have a veto left in my back pocket. Okay, so I have to go with Number Talks. Number Talks for me are nirvana, because they have provided me the most magical moments being with kids in a classroom. The fact that you put one expression on the board-- and well, not even that. It's on Math Tools, as well. And you would ask, how many are here?
But the fact that you'd have a mathematical expression, asking students to solve it mentally math, and then sharing all the variety of ways that they thought about it to build that flexibility. I think it's just a wonderful classroom environment to see that we all see things differently. There isn't just one way to solve something. And the kids think of ways that I wouldn't have thought of.
So there was one time-- my favorite story with that was I did 45 times 16 with a fourth grade class. And they'd begun doing partial products, but it's hard mentally to keep track of 4 partial products with numbers that big. Someone did think of double and halving. So they doubled the 45 to 90 and halved the 16 to 8. So it just became 90 times 8 for 720.
But then I had a student that said, I know it's 720. I said, well, okay, so how do you know? He says, well, I know that there are eight 45 degree angles in a circle. And so that 16 of them is two circles worth, so that's 720.
And that's when I was completely sold that the fact that kids would think of ways that I would never think of in connections to other mathematical topics, because I was taught very rote procedure, formulas, memorization growing up. And so my flexibility really has not been-- I've been working on it for years now. But that was a moment in time where I just was floored. Because he was working on the angle measurement in other parts of his math class. This was a different time of the day.
And the fact that he can make that kind of a connection and that a 45 times 16 can just become connected to those angle measurements, but also the double halving. Because just 90 times 8, it doesn't have to be this laborious algorithm with single facts and forgetting to put a 0 in the second partial product. It just becomes magical. I just absolutely love it.
So I think that I love the Number Talks for that reason, because it opens up the possibility of a variety of ways of solving it and having us all be able to develop respect for each person's perspective and where they're coming from.
Melissa Milner 24:45
Wow, I'm sold. I love Number Talks. But Dr. Nicki, what do you think?
Dr. Nicki Newton 24:52
I'm gonna leave it on the list.
Melissa Milner 24:53
Okay.
Dr. Nicki Newton 24:56
If I vetoed it, I'd only veto it for this reason. I think people use it already a lot. So it's kind of like Number Strings. It's great, but I think people already use it a lot.
Ann Elise Record 25:10
But this list was not the Top 10 Number Routines That You Don't Know About That You Should Do. This is the Top 10--
Melissa Milner 25:18
Oh, watch out people.
Ann Elise Record 25:19
Daily Math Routines as a ranking.
Melissa Milner 25:23
Ann Elise is on fire, people.
Dr. Nicki Newton 25:28
You know, I'll stay with Number Talks.
Melissa Milner 25:31
She's gonna allow it.
Dr. Nicki Newton 25:37
I'll allow it. Because you need to leave me alone with my 1 and 2.
Ann Elise Record 25:42
Oh, I don't know about that. I don't know about that. We'll see.
Melissa Milner 25:46
So let me just recap the list. And then we will get those picks. So at number 10, How Many More To? Number 9, Three Truths and a Fib. Number 8, Math Flips. This is an amazing list. Number 7, Splat! Number 6, Same But Different. Number 5, I Was Walking Down the Street. Number 4, Choral Counting. Number 3, Number Talks. And at number 2, Dr. Nicki?
Dr. Nicki Newton 26:16
I would say What Doesn't Belong? Because again, it's a reasoning routine. And we need to get kids to reason. They've got to come up with a reason why it doesn't belong. They've got to justify their reason. And explaining it is a big part of the practices. So I think What Doesn't Belong? really allows students to engage in deep mathematical thinking. It's also open, because it can be more than one reason. So I would say What Doesn't Belong? is number two.
Melissa Milner 26:56
All right, Ann Elise.
Ann Elise Record 26:58
No, I totally agree. I love that routine. Yep, totally agree. And I would even suggest, there's this particular one that I love that has a 9, 16, 25 and 43. It's just my favorite. I love doing that. Because so many things come out. I did have one student once tell me that 25 was the only one that you could show with one coin. And again, I don't tend to think flexibly like time and money and things. So the fact that he brought that into the conversation, I just thought that was amazing.
Melissa Milner 27:30
It's so fun when kids just blow your mind like that. I've had kids show it to parents. And parents have emailed me, okay, just tell me. Just tell me. I'm like, no, you've got to figure it out. The parents are like, no! All right. So Ann Elise, you still have that veto.
Ann Elise Record 27:49
I do. So let's see what she comes up with for number 1.
Melissa Milner 27:52
All right, Dr. Nicki. And I also picked my number 1 from the Daily Math Thinking Routines book. So I'm curious. I don't think it's gonna show up at number 1. But okay, Dr. Nicki, number 1.
Dr. Nicki Newton 28:05
Well, okay, children have a lot of trouble with relative magnitude of number, right? They don't get the number line. They don't get the number line at all. They don't get that fractions are numbers on a number line. They just don't get it. So the more routines you can do that incorporate the number line, I think are really important. So I like Over, Under and the Same.
Because in Over, Under and the Same, it's a total physical response. So it gets kids moving. And I don't think we have anything else on the list that does that, that gets kids actually moving and physically voting with their bodies. Kids love it. They're totally energized by it. And so I give you a target number. Let's say the target number is 10.
So if I give you a number that's greater than 10, you raise your hand over your head. If I give you a number that's less than 10, you put your hands down towards the ground. If I give you a number that's the same as 10, you put your hands out, like you're flying an airplane. So if I said, start at number 10, and I said 11, their hands would go up. If I said 7, their hands would go down. If I said 10, their hands would go out.
But I can also do equations. Depending on the class, I can say, target number 10. 3 times 3. 24 divided by 4. 20 divided by 2. Or, again, I like this routine, because it's flexible in the numbers that you can use. I can do fractions. And I could say, target number is 1/2. And now I could say 5/9, 1/4, 4/8. It gets kids to reason and think about numbers on the number line. I think that's hard to beat. So I would say it's Over, Under and the Same for those reasons.
Ann Elise Record 29:50
Okay, so I was totally prepared to veto this, just to force you to come up with another one. But I think you convinced me. I like the fact that it's kinesthetic. And the other ones we have are not kinesthetic. I totally agree in the number line, how important that is. And it does include the-- what I love is the flexibility, that you can scale it up and scale it down. So I think in all good conscience, I cannot veto it.
Melissa Milner 30:21
This is amazing. Wow. Okay, so number 10 was How Many More To? Number 9, Three Truths and a Fib. Number 8, Math Flips. Number 7, Splat! Number 6, Same But Different. Number 5, I Was Walking Down the Street. Number 4, Choral Counting. Number 3, Number Talks. Number 2, What Doesn't Belong? And number 1, Over, Under and the Same. And the one that I love is Convince Me, Prove It. I love that. And they do it on the Flipgrid, so that they can show their work, and talk, and convince. So that's my favorite.
Dr. Nicki Newton 31:01
Well, I had two runners up. And they're both Steve Wyborney, Esti-mysteries and Cube Conversations.
Ann Elise Record 31:08
I had Esti-mysteries on my list, as well.
Melissa Milner 31:10
Those are amazing.
Ann Elise Record 31:11
But I also had Always, Sometimes and Never as an honorable mention.
Melissa Milner 31:16
Yeah, that really makes them think. Wait, is that always the case?
Ann Elise Record 31:22
Exactly. They're all wonderful.
Melissa Milner 31:26
I am so excited that you came on and did this. I want you to plug all your books and all your courses and everything now. Go.
Dr. Nicki Newton 31:36
Well, I do have new books out on guided math by grade levels. So I'm pretty excited about those. And Ann Elise edited a couple of them. Didn't you edit a couple of them, Ann Elise?
Ann Elise Record 31:49
I did. Yep, I did.
Dr. Nicki Newton 31:51
I'm really excited about those books. Because they just take this idea of guided math and really show you what it looks like, concrete pictorial abstract by grade level. In terms of routines, I have the books by grade level for daily math. It's called Day By Day Thinking Routines in First Grade, Second Grade, etc. And I'm revising Guided Math in Action. So that's kind of what I'm doing.
And then I also have a Math Academy. Ann Elise has a Math Academy, too. She has some courses in her Math Academy. And I have a Math Academy. I have over 20 courses, and I'm getting ready to add a couple new ones, one on one math coaching and one on dyscalculia. So in the Math Academy, it's fun. You can buy a year long membership or you can take courses individually. Ann Elise has a course on Cuisenaire rods.
Ann Elise Record 32:36
I sure do. She's like the queen of Cuisenaire rods. She could do all the stuff with Cuisenaire rods. And nobody else knows how to. I'm gonna get her a crown, and I'm gonna put Cuisenaire rods on them. Every time I do something with Cuisenaire rods, they're like, oh my god. Wow! It's still not quite as good as a beaded number line. But it's very…
Melissa Milner 33:08
I love the beaded number line.
Ann Elise Record 33:11
Yeah. She asked me once, if I were to go to a deserted island and I could only bring one math tool, what would it be? And it's hands down for me Cuisenaire rods. She did pick her 100 beaded number line.
But come on. So I think we have to just go to the stranded island together, and then we'll be all set. Because the commonality is that they both allow us to use the tool in a variety of grade level concepts. It's not just one particular thing. They're flexible enough for us to use it in a variety of contexts.
But mine, I believe, has the added benefit of moving students from the counting phase of reasoning into additive reasoning, and from additive into multiplicative, multiplicative into proportional reasoning, because the numbers exist as a group. And so you're seeing them exist as a group, which kicks in strategies and helps the students move beyond counting one by one.
Melissa Milner 34:00
So I think what we're saying here is that we're gonna need to do another one for Top 10 Math Manipulatives.
Ann Elise Record 34:08
Favorite manipulatives!
Dr. Nicki Newton 34:10
Yeah.
Melissa Milner 34:11
So Ann Elise, what do you want to plug away?
Ann Elise Record 34:14
Well, yeah, so the Cuisenaire rods, I created an online on demand workshop, one for K-2 and one for 3-5. And I do cover fluency, problem solving and the content standards and how the Cuisenaire rods could help us in all those three areas in each grade level, the K-2 level, as well as the grade 3-5. Because fractions are also wonderful with it, as well.
I also have one on place value, kindergarten to second grade. And my fourth one for now that I have is Fraction Essentials. So fractions, the grade 3-5 concepts. So it's not just the Cuisenaire rods that I use, but other things, as well. And so those four courses are up right now at my webpage, anneliserecord.com.
Dr. Nicki and I and Dr. Alison Mello have written a book called Fluency Doesn't Just Happen With Addition and Subtraction. It's all building the-- there are a lot of wonderful fluency books out there, but we were hoping ours would add to the conversation about the concrete pictorial and abstract exploration of the strategies. So there's tons of ideas in the book of developing a fluency plan.
So a lot of my consulting work takes after Nicki's brilliant crafting of a math running record and talking to kids about their math thinking. I've been doing it in the last several days actually in a school that Dr. Nicki is consulting in. It just reaffirms to me how brilliant it is to talk to kids about their thinking. You know exactly where to begin working with them. It's brilliant.
And so to be able to have that as a starting place for students where I can begin working with them. And then our book answers, what do I actually do once that journey begins? So there's that book, as well.
So I do have some free Padlets for things on my webpage, anneliserecord.com, one on fluency, one on problem solving, and one on the core standards. And also equity issues is included in that. So people can just get those free Padlets.
And I do facilitate our Facebook group, Math Running Records. So if anyone wants to delve into fluency, it's a whole world unto itself. I believe it's the key to unlock mathematics for our teachers and our students. Because it's the beginning of understanding early numeracy and that flexibility of thought that can then be applied to these wonderful daily routines to large numbers, decimals, fractions. It unlocks the door to so many more students that have usually been included in the math journey, in positive math journeys.
Melissa Milner 36:31
Beautifully said. What's the best way to reach you, Dr. Nicki?
Dr. Nicki Newton 36:35
I'm drnicki7@gmail.com. One thing I did want to add is, I just want people to know and remember that I give a free 45 minute PD for anybody that's doing a book study. If they're doing a book study on one of my books, I'll pop in. I'll Zoom in to your school and talk about whatever you're talking about in terms of the book.
Melissa Milner 36:57
Wow! I do want to also mention that Ann Elise was already on The Teacher As... in Episode 12. So if you want to hear more about her work, that's a great place to start. And thank you so much.
Dr. Nicki Newton 37:14
Thank you for having us.
Ann Elise Record 37:16
This was super fun. Thank you.
Melissa Milner 37:18
If you enjoyed this episode, and have not done so already, please hit the subscribe button for The Teacher As... podcast so you can get future episodes. I would love for you to leave a review and a rating, as well, if you have time. For my blog, transcripts of this episode and links to any resources mentioned, visit my website at www.theteacheras.com. You can reach me on Twitter and Instagram @melissabmilner. And I hope you check out The Teacher As... Facebook page for episode updates.
I am sending a special thanks to Linda and Lester Fleishman, my mom and dad, for being so supportive. They are the voices you hear in the Zooming In soundbite. And my dad composed and performed the background music you are listening to right now. My intro music was "Upbeat Party" by Scott Holmes.
So what are you zooming in on? I would love to hear from you. My hope is that we all share what we are doing in the classroom in order to teach, remind, affirm and inspire each other. Thanks for listening. And that's a wrap!