Priscila Fojan Discussion Analysis To make it quite simple, the use of discussion in my 2nd grade classroom failed miserably.

I used a coin puzzle to have my 19 students discuss possible ways to figure out the answer with their group. The students were in groups of 4 students each which I assigned with varying ability levels. I was able to use all the various types of talk moves and question forms in my discussion, but it felt like I was pulling teeth. The example I provided involved finding out which coins are in the coin combination when given these 3 clues, Clue 1. I have 2 coins, Clue 2. Together they are worth 30 cents, and Clue 3. 1 is not a nickel. I was able to start the whole classroom discussion with checking method questions such as Does anyone know of a way to start this problem? and prompting for further answers such as Does anyone have a suggestion of 2 coins that Samantha can add together to get 30 cents?. I noticed after going over my transcribed discussion that I used prompting for further answers type of question the most in my discussion. I believe the reason that was the case in my classroom was because these 2nd graders have not been taught or previously introduced to having math discussions with peers. My students are used to IRE discussions which I tried my best to avoid. After the whole class discussion I read the first puzzle they were to solve with their group using their money kits. This task included 2 clues which were Clue 1. I have 46 cents and Clue 2. I have 7 coins. While I walked around I listened for possible interesting discussions that I could record. I was interrupted by an overly excited student who thought she figured out the answer. To my dismay she showed me 7 pennies which equals 7 cents, but does use 7 coins. I directed my question to her group in which I asked Erin is using 7 coins but do these 7 coins add up to be 46 cents?. The group was able to see that both clues were not being used in the coin

Priscila Fojan combination Erin created. I noticed many groups only using 1 clue and disregarding the other and when they realized they were incorrect many students started to get frustrated so I started to scaffold their thinking. There was much more silence in the classroom then mathematical discussion, but that did not make me feel too uneasy since the students were thinking of how to solve the puzzle. After a long period of time and several attempts of helping the students without giving them too much information one of the groups was able to solve the puzzle correctly. I decided to allow more groups to solve the puzzle before coming back together as a class and discussing the problem. Students still were not talking a lot with one another unless I suggested them to explain something to one another. When a few more groups were able to complete the puzzle I asked the group that solved the puzzle first to explain how they came across their answer. To my dismay all the students used a guess and check method to solve the puzzle. I probed to see if the students used all quarters first or all nickels, but none such pattern was used. I can now see why it took them so long to solve the puzzle. The students ended up using the guess and check method which is very time consuming. The main 2 downfalls of the discussion were lack of participation among my students and lack of experience using any other form of discussion except IRE. Actually more than half of my half participated at least once, but much of the talking was controlled by 3 students in which 2 were in the same group. I later noticed that the student who participated the most, Rachel, was the first student to solve the puzzle. I previously said the group solved the puzzle, but most students did not work together at all including Rachel. The students who participated the most are known for participating in all subject areas and always have something to say or a question to ask. I usually have a few more students who would be under this category, but for this activity

Priscila Fojan they did not participate as much as usual. I feel that those students are use to understanding the concepts and ideas taught in the class that they feel comfortable talking, but in this case it was not a familiar task they have done before. The majority of the students that did not participate at all during the discussion for task 1 were students that usually never participate in math. In the future I would practice the use of discussion excluding IRE with my students before jumping into a full out discussion like the one discussed. The students need to learn how to express their mathematical thinking process verbally since that is the majority of the discussion that they need to be having with their peers. At this school the lower elementary students are so used to be asked for a specific answer and told a specific way to solve problems that it is hard to break them from that pattern of thinking and learning. These students need to be given the opportunity to think for themselves and talk amongst one another to help in their understanding of the mathematical concepts that they are having difficulty with. This will aid the students in the higher grades since the teacher wont always be there to take them step by step in all the more complex math problems.