While “What’s the answer?” will always be an important question for teachers to ask in math classrooms, there are many other questions that build math understanding.

How did you get that answer?

Does that answer make sense?

Was there another way to get the answer?

Is there another possible answer?

What was easy about that? What was hard?

What did you learn?

Asking varied questions prompts students to think about mathematics and helps them build a deeper understanding of math skills and concepts.

We never have enough time to teach all of the math skills and concepts we’d like to teach. Many days we find ourselves running out of time as math class nears an end. The next time this happens to you, consider the importance of those final few minutes of your lesson.

One of the most critical components of any lesson is closure. Through lesson closure, we clarify the ideas of the day’s lesson, restate important concepts, check for student understanding, or connect ideas to past learning or to what is coming next. Consider simple ways to bring closure to your lessons. Try these ideas or prompts:

Turn and share an important idea you learned today.

What is the most important thing to remember about…?

Today we talked about…., tomorrow we will,,,

Tell one thing you know today that you did not know yesterday.

Summary Quilt: Provide students with blank post-its and have them work with a team to write an important idea on each one and post them on blank paper to create a summary quilt.

How do you bring closure to math lessons? Share an idea.

I was taught mathematics in a whole-class setting. All students heard the same lesson, got the same assignments, and moved at the same pace. Even then, I recognized that some students struggled to keep up and others were bored at what they felt was a slow pace. We have the opportunity to change that for our students through flexible grouping practices. At times, whole-class instruction meets our needs, but at other times, cooperative groups, guided math groups (small teacher-led groups), or centers might better address our students’ needs.

As your students work in pairs or teams to solve a math problem, can you meet with a small group to support their learning? The small group might be working on the same problem as the rest of the class, but your support, through questions that guide their thinking, will ensure their success.

Do you notice students who already know the skill you are introducing? Could they work at centers to enhance their learning or work with partners on a more-challenging task?

Do you observe your students as they practice computational skills, to assess which students might benefit from an impromptu small-group session to review the skill?

How do you use flexible grouping to better meet your students’ learning needs?