Principles to Actions

Effective Mathematics Teaching Practices

The Case of Ms. Bouchard

and the Hungry Caterpillar Task
Grade 1

This module was developed by DeAnn Huinker, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

These materials are part of the Principles to Actions Professional Learning Toolkit: Teaching and Learning created by the
NCTM project team that includes: Margaret Smith (chair), Victoria Bill (co-chair), Melissa Boston, Fredrick Dillon, Amy Hillen,
DeAnn Huinker, Stephen Miller, Lynn Raith, and Michael Steele.
 Agenda

 Examine the purpose and key messages of

NCTM’s Principles to Actions.
 Read a case of a first grade teacher using the Very
Hungry Caterpillar Task with her students.
 Discuss the set of eight mathematics teaching
practices and relate them to the case.
 Reflect on next steps in strengthening these
teaching practices in your own instruction.
Principles to Actions
 Principles to Actions:
Ensuring Mathematical Success for All
The primary purpose of
Principles to Actions is to fill the
gap between the adoption of
rigorous standards and the
enactment of practices, policies,
programs, and actions required
for successful implementation
of those standards.
 Teaching and Learning

Guiding Access and Equity

Principles Curriculum
for
Tools and Technology
School
Mathematics Assessment

Professionalism
 Why Focus on Teaching?

Student learning of mathematics

“depends fundamentally on what happens
inside the classroom as teachers and
learners interact over the curriculum.”
(Ball & Forzani, 2011, p. 17)

Ball, D. L, & Forzani, F. M. (2011). Building a common core for learning to teach, and connecting professional
learning to practice. American Educator, 35(2), 17-21.
 Overarching Message

“Effective teaching is the non-negotiable core

that ensures that all students learn
mathematics at high levels.”

Principles to Actions (NCTM, 2014, p. 4)

 Teaching and Learning
Principle

“An excellent mathematics program requires

effective teaching that engages students in
meaningful learning through individual and
collaborative experiences that promote their
ability to make sense of mathematical ideas
and reason mathematically.”

Principles to Actions (NCTM, 2014, p. 7)

Effective
Mathematics
Teaching Practices
 High-leverage, Effective
Mathematics Teaching Practices

“Those practices at the heart of the work

of teaching that are most likely to affect
student learning.”

(Ball & Forzani, 2010, p 45)

Ball, D. L, & Forzani, F. M. (2010). Teaching skillful teaching. Educational Leadership, 68(4), 40-45.
 Effective Mathematics Teaching Practices
1. Establish mathematics goals to focus learning.
2. Implement tasks that promote reasoning and
problem solving.
3. Use and connect mathematical representations.
4. Facilitate meaningful mathematical discourse.
5. Pose purposeful questions.
6. Build procedural fluency from conceptual understanding.
7. Support productive struggle in learning mathematics.
8. Elicit and use evidence of student thinking.
 Effective Mathematics Teaching Practices
1. Establish mathematics goals to focus learning.
2. Implement tasks that promote reasoning and
problem solving.
3. Use and connect mathematical representations.
4. Facilitate meaningful mathematical discourse.
5. Pose purposeful questions.
6. Build procedural fluency from conceptual understanding.
7. Support productive struggle in learning mathematics.
8. Elicit and use evidence of student thinking.
 Effective Mathematics Teaching Practices
Establish mathematics goals to focus learning. Effective teaching of mathematics establishes clear
goals for the mathematics that students are learning, situates goals within learning progressions,
and uses the goals to guide instructional decisions.

Implement tasks that promote reasoning and problem solving. Effective teaching of mathematics
Handout
engages students in solving and discussing tasks that promote mathematical reasoning and problem
solving and allow multiple entry points and varied solution strategies.

Read and underline

Use and connect mathematical representations. Effective teaching of mathematics engages students
in making connections among mathematical representations to deepen understanding of
mathematics concepts and procedures and as tools for problem solving. important phrases.
Facilitate meaningful mathematical discourse. Effective teaching of mathematics facilitates
Turn and share
discourse among students to build shared understanding of mathematical ideas by analyzing and
comparing student approaches and arguments.
witquestions
Pose purposeful questions. Effective teaching of mathematics uses purposeful h a netoig hbor.
assess
and advance students’ reasoning and sense making about important mathematical ideas and
relationships.
Build procedural fluency from conceptual understanding. Effective teaching of mathematics builds
fluency with procedures on a foundation of conceptual understanding so that students, over time,
become skillful in using procedures flexibly as they solve contextual and mathematical problems.

Support productive struggle in learning mathematics. Effective teaching of mathematics consistently

provides students, individually and collectively, with opportunities and supports to engage in
productive struggle as they grapple with mathematical ideas and relationships.

Elicit and use evidence of student thinking. Effective teaching of mathematics uses evidence of
student thinking to assess progress toward mathematical understanding and to adjust instruction
continually in ways that support and extend learning.
Hungry Caterpillar Task
 Hungry Caterpillar Task
On Monday, the hungry caterpillar ate Make a picture
through one apple, but he was still or diagram that
hungry. On Tuesday he ate through two might be used by
pears, Grade 1 students.
but he was still hungry. On Wednesday Ponder potential
he ate through three plums. On Thursday approaches and
he ate through four strawberries. On student struggles.
Friday he ate through five oranges.

How many pieces of fruit did the hungry

caterpillar eat during the week?
 Case of Ms. Bouchard and
the Hungry Caterpillar Task
 The Case of Ms. Bouchard and . Bo
uc h
ard
Ms
the Hungry Caterpillar Task

• Read the Case of Ms. Bouchard and

study the strategies used by her students.

• Make note of what Ms. Bouchard did during

instruction to support her students’ developing
understanding of addition.

• Talk with a neighbor about the the actions

and interactions you identified as supporting
student learning.
 Effective Mathematics Teaching Practices
1. Establish mathematics goals to focus learning.
2. Implement tasks that promote reasoning and
problem solving.
3. Use and connect mathematical representations.
4. Facilitate meaningful mathematical discourse.
5. Pose purposeful questions.
6. Build procedural fluency from conceptual understanding.
7. Support productive struggle in learning mathematics.
8. Elicit and use evidence of student thinking.
Relating the
Mathematics Teaching
Practices to the Case
 Math
Teaching Establish mathematics
Practice
1 goals to focus learning.

Formulating clear, explicit learning goals sets the

stage for everything else.
(Hiebert, Morris, Berk, & Janssen, 2007, p. 57)
 Establish mathematics goals to focus learning

Learning Goals should:

• Clearly state what it is students are to
learn and understand about mathematics
as the result of instruction.
• Be situated within learning progressions.
• Frame the decisions that teachers make
during a lesson.

Daro, Mosher, & Corcoran, 2011; Hattie, 2009; Hiebert, Morris, Berk, & Jensen, 2007; Wiliam, 2011
 Ms. Bouchard’s Math Goals
Students will:
In what ways
• Identify and model the did the math goals
mathematical elements in a inform the teacher ’s
contextual problem. interactions
• Understand that counting with students
can be used to find the total throughout the
amount when combining two lesson?
or more sets of objects.
• Understand addition as putting
together sets of objects.
 Alignment to the
Common Core State Standards
Represent and solve problems involving addition & subtraction.
• Standard 1.OA.2. Solve word problems that call for addition
of three whole numbers whose sum is less than or equal to
20, e.g., by using objects, drawings, and equations with a
symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.

Add and subtract within 20.

• Standard 1.OA.C.5. Relate counting to addition & subtraction.

Work with addition and subtraction equations.

• Standard 1.OA.D.7. Understand the meaning of the equal
sign, and determine if equations involving addition and
subtraction are true or false.
 Math
Teaching Implement tasks that promote
Practice
2 reasoning and problem solving.

Student learning is greatest in classrooms where the

tasks consistently encourage high-level student
thinking and reasoning and least in classrooms
where the tasks are routinely procedural in nature.
(Boaler & Staples, 2008; Stein & Lane, 1996)
 Implement tasks that promote
reasoning and problem solving

Mathematical tasks should allow students to:

• Explore mathematical ideas or use procedures in
ways that are connected to understanding concepts.
• Build on students’ current understanding
and experiences.
• Have multiple entry points.
• Allow for varied solution strategies.

Boaler & Staples, 2008; Hiebert et al., 1997; Stein, Smith, Henningsen, & Silver, 2009
In what ways did the implementation
of the task allow for multiple entry points?

Consider Case Lines 19–23.

 Math
Teaching Use and connect
Practice
3 mathematical representations.

Strengthening the ability to move between and

among these representations improves the growth
of children’s concepts.

(Lesh, Post, & Behr, 1997)

 Use and connect
mathematical representations

Different Representations should:

• Be introduced, discussed,
and connected.
• Focus students’ attention on
the structure of mathematical
ideas by examining essential features.
• Support students’ ability to justify and
explain their reasoning.

Lesh, Post, & Behr, 1987; Marshall, Superfine, & Canty, 2010; Tripathi, 2008; Webb, Boswinkel, & Dekker, 2008
What mathematical
Visual
representations were students
working with in the lesson?

Physical Symbolic

How did Ms. Bouchard

support students in
making connections
Contextual Verbal
among different
representations?
 Five Student Work Samples

Aidan Maya

Evan
Cole
Irene
 Represent It! Draw It

Build It Write it
with numbers

Write a story Talk It

Developed by Beth Schefelker (South Milwaukee School District) and DeAnn Huinker (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
 Math
Teaching Facilitate meaningful
Practice
4 mathematical discourse.

Discussions that focus on cognitively challenging

mathematical tasks, namely those that promote thinking,
reasoning, and problem solving, are a primary mechanism
for promoting conceptual understanding of mathematics.
(Hatano & Inagaki 1991; Michaels, O’Connor, & Resnick 2008)
 Facilitate meaningful
mathematical discourse

Mathematical Discourse should:

• Build on and honor students’ thinking.
• Let students share ideas, clarify understandings,
and develop convincing arguments.
• Engage students in analyzing and comparing
varied student approaches and strategies.
• Advance the math learning of the whole class.

Carpenter, Franke, & Levi, 2003; Fuson & Sherin, 2014; Smith & Stein, 2011
How did Ms. Bouchard sequence the
student work for the whole class discussion?

How did this sequence help to advance

student learning toward the intended math
learning goals?

Revisit lines 25-28, 45-51, 63-66, 81-82.

Sequence of Student Work for Discussion

Irene Maya

Aidan
Cole

Evan
 Structuring Mathematical Discourse...
During the whole class discussion
of the task, Ms. Bouchard was strategic in:
• Selecting specific student representations
and strategies for discussion and analysis.
• Sequencing the various student approaches
for analysis and comparison.
• Connecting student approaches to key math
ideas and relationships.
1.  Anticipating

2. Monitoring 5 Practices for

Orchestrating
3. Selecting Productive
Mathematics
4. Sequencing
Discussions
5. Connecting

(Smith & Stein, 2011)

 Math
Teaching
Practice Pose purposeful questions.
5

Teachers’ questions are crucial in helping

students make connections and learn important
mathematics concepts.
(Weiss & Pasley, 2004)
 Pose purposeful questions

Effective Questions should:

• Reveal students’ current understandings.
• Encourage students to explain, elaborate, or
clarify their thinking.
• Make the targeted mathematical ideas more
visible and accessible for student examination
and discussion.

Boaler & Brodie, 2004; Chapin & O’Connor, 2007; Herbel-Eisenmann & Breyfogle, 2005
Purposeful teacher questioning can be
used to assess student understanding,
as well as to advance student learning.

What was the purpose of Ms. Bouchard’s

questioning in:
lines 30-32?
lines 52-56?
lines 72-77?
 Math
Teaching Build procedural fluency from
Practice
6 conceptual understanding.

A rush to fluency undermines students’

confidence and interest in mathematics and is
considered a cause of mathematics anxiety.
(Ashcraft 2002; Ramirez Gunderson, Levine, & Beilock, 2013)
 Build procedural fluency
from conceptual understanding

Procedural Fluency should:

• Build on a foundation of conceptual understanding.
• Over time (months, years), result in known facts
and generalized methods for solving problems.
• Enable students to flexibly choose among methods
to solve contextual and mathematical problems.

Baroody, 2006; Fuson & Beckmann, 2012/2013; Fuson, Kalchman, & Bransford, 2005; Russell, 2006
 Fluency develops over time...
and it builds from
conceptual understanding.
Initial Informal
exploration reasoning
and discussion strategies

Eventual use
of general
methods

Principles to Actions (NCTM, 2014, p. 42)

In what ways did the Hungry Caterpillar
lesson develop a foundation of conceptual
understanding for building toward
procedural fluency for addition within 20?
 How does Cole’s work
show that he is moving
toward procedural fluency?

How did the teacher use

his work to advance the
learning of the class toward
procedural fluency?
Cole
 Math
Teaching Support productive struggle
Practice
7 in learning mathematics.

The struggle we have in mind comes from solving

problems that are within reach and grappling with
key mathematical ideas that are comprehendible
but not yet well formed.
(Hiebert, Carpenter, Fennema, Fuson,
Human, Murray, Olivier, & Wearne, 1996)
 Support productive struggle
in learning mathematics

Productive Struggle should:

• Be considered essential to learning mathematics
with understanding.
• Develop students’ capacity to persevere in the
face of challenge.
• Help students realize that they are capable of
doing well in mathematics with effort in using
appropriate strategies.

Black, Trzesniewski, & Dweck, 2007; Dweck, 2008; Hiebert & Grouws, 2007; Kapur, 2010; Warshauer, 2011
How did Ms. Bouchard support productive
struggle among her students, individually and
collectively, as they grappled with important
mathematical ideas and relationships?
At which points in the lesson might Ms. Bouchard
have consciously restrained himself from “taking
over” the thinking of her students?
 Math
Teaching Elicit and use evidence
Practice
8 of student thinking.

Teachers using assessment for learning continually look

for ways in which they can generate evidence of student
learning, and they use this evidence to adapt their
instruction to better meet their students’ learning needs.
(Leahy, Lyon, Thompson, & Wiliam, 2005, p. 23)
 Elicit and use evidence
of student thinking

Evidence should:
• Provide a window into students’ thinking.
• Help the teacher determine the extent to which
students are reaching the math learning goals.
• Be used to make instructional decisions during the
lesson and to prepare for subsequent lessons.

Chamberlin, 2005; Jacobs, Lamb, & Philipp, 2010; Sleep & Boerst, 2010; van Es, 2010’ Wiliam, 2007
What are some specific examples (cite line
numbers) of ways Ms. Bouchard elicited
evidence of student thinking?

How might this evidence have informed

the decisions Ms. Bouchard made
throughout the lesson?
Reflections
and Next Steps
 NCTM’s Core Set of Effective
Mathematics Teaching Practices

“Although the important work of teaching is not

limited to the eight Mathematics Teaching Practices,
this core set of research-informed practices is
offered as a framework for strengthening the
teaching and learning of mathematics.”

Principles to Actions (NCTM, 2014, p. 57)

 Effective Mathematics Teaching Practices
1. Establish mathematics goals to focus learning.
2. Implement tasks that promote reasoning and
problem solving.
3. Use and connect mathematical representations.
4. Facilitate meaningful mathematical discourse.
5. Pose purposeful questions.
6. Build procedural fluency from conceptual understanding.
7. Support productive struggle in learning mathematics.
8. Elicit and use evidence of student thinking.
Effective Mathematics Teaching Practices
“Building a Teaching Framework”

Establish math goals

to focus learning

Implement tasks that Build procedural fluency

promote reasoning and from conceptual
problem solving understanding

Facilitate meaningful mathematical discourse

Use and connect

Pose purposeful
mathematical
questions
representations

Elicit and use Support productive

evidence of student struggle in learning
thinking mathematics
As you reflect on this framework for the
teaching and learning of mathematics,
identify 1-2 mathematics teaching practices
that you want to begin strengthening in your
own instruction.

Working with a partner, develop a list of

actions to begin the next steps of your
journey toward ensuring mathematical
success for all of your students.
Thank You!
Version 08.08.2016