Use the information you learned in this session to plan and evaluate a lesson with an emphasis on communication for one of your classes. Remember that there are several modes of effective communication in the classroom. Students can work individually, in pairs, in small or large groups, or as a whole class. Communication is sometimes oral, sometimes written, and sometimes enhanced through representations. As you've seen in this session, the use of diagrams, number sentences, and manipulative materials makes ideas visible. Encounters with additional ways of thinking and counter-examples induce students to reflect on their own grasp of a concept, and provide teachers with assessment opportunities.

Finally, the choice of task or problem is critical if all students are to be enticed to communicate in productive ways. You may want to choose a task that relates to an area of mathematics that has already been introduced and explored, or a task related to one from this session.

After you have created your lesson plan, use the Classroom Checklist (an Adobe PDF document) to evaluate it.

  Finish the session