Number Talks Instructional Tools for Approximations of Practice

Abstract

Number talks are a well-established mathematical practice that have been used to promote K-12 students' mathematical reasoning for decades. This chapter presents the theoretical and pedagogical rationale for number talks as a tool for preservice teachers' development of specific, essential knowledge for teaching and learning through approximations of practice. Initially framing number talks within existing approximations' literature, this chapter provides a detailed, decomposed description of tasks one teacher preparatory program has implemented leading to authentic number talk approximations. The chapter concludes with reflections from current and former preservice teachers about their participation and approximation experiences and mathematical and pedagogical learnings from engaging in this purposefully designed mathematics education program.