Practice Tests

Chapter 4: A Focus on Communication

1. You ask students to explain how they added 425 + 196. A student provides a procedural explanation, e.g. “I added 5 and 6 and wrote down 1 and carried 1….”. How would you redirect the student to focus on more conceptual communication?
2. Some teachers, students, and parents believe that asking many students to share their approaches to a problem is not a productive use of class time. One reason is that students are not interested in hearing each other’s ideas once they have their own ideas. Do you agree? How would you balance the expressed concern with the importance of providing opportunities for all students to communicate mathematically?
3. Why is it important for teachers to provide their students or negotiate with their students criteria for quality of communication?
4. You encounter a student who can explain an idea orally, but not in writing. Should that inability somehow be reflected in the student’s evaluation?
5. How can the use of manipulatives foster oral communication?