Seeing Your Thinking: Teachers' Perceptions of the Impact of Self-Talk Cards in Elementary Mathematics

• In Event: Seeing Language in the Math Classroom: Attending to Student Talk, Questions, Argumentation, and Reasoning

Abstract

This study explored the experiences of elementary teachers as they employed self-talk cards to support the implementation of think alouds in their mathematics programs. Through practical action research, researchers worked with four elementary mathematics teachers, a librarian, and 75 students for five months as they explored this strategy. Teachers found that using self-talk cards allowed them to render abstract thinking more accessible for students and address misconceptions more readily in their classrooms. The explicit introduction of self-talk cards made think alouds more effective and fostered insightful discussions because students could identify their thinking more clearly. This study builds on research related to think alouds and self-talk in elementary school and suggests a tool to support their use for mathematics learning.

Authors

• Cathy Marks Krpan, OISE/University of Toronto

• Gurpreet Sahmbi, University of Toronto