Ann Young: We’re going to do a quick little number talk, faces forward. If you could put your fist at your belly, please. Everybody’s fist at their belly.

Dr. Pamela Cantor: In every classroom, there are a few kids whose hands will go up every second. So this teacher has figured out a way, by having a subtle signal, to be able to encourage participation from larger numbers of kids in the class.

Ann Young: Everybody have fist at their belly.

I don’t want kids raising their hands. Some kids think faster than others, but that doesn’t mean that the kids that aren’t as fast don’t understand. They could be processing slower. They could be looking at it in a different way. There are multiple reasons. With raising of the hands, as soon as kids see that person who’s very fast at answering a question, the rest of the kids question say, “That’s great. I don’t need to anymore. I don’t need to worry about that.”

We’re going to do a percentage talk. If you even have an entry point into the problem, something to contribute to the problem, you’re going to put your thumb up. Okay.

So I started by putting a problem on the board.

So about a minute to think and then as soon as you have some kind of something to contribute your thumb is going up.

Anisa: She’ll say fist at the belly. Then when you know the answer or you have a clue how to get the answer you put your thumb up.

Ann: I’m looking for those thumbs.

Cristo: It changes the mood. Her classroom’s a good environment. I feel like I’m open to give my opinion in anything.

Ann: I see some thumbs up. Okay, can somebody help me with the entry point over on that side?

Student: I know that half of 160 is 80, that’s 50 percent.

Ann: Abdi

Student: Oh, 10 percent is 16.

Ann: How do you know that?

You need instructional strategies and routines that allow everybody an entry point, particularly at the beginning of the class. If you have something where the kids are feeling like, “Oh, this is great, I participated today, I contributed something today,” then they go on to their next task, you have them a little bit more than you would otherwise.

Student: Fifty percent is eighty, twenty-five percent is forty.

Ann: So what did we do with the 50 percent and the 25 percent?

Student: You add.

Ann: You’re adding it, right.

Dr. Pamela Cantor: By having this more subtle signal, this teacher is encouraging participation from people who might be reticent, and enabling many more children to participate in a discussion.

Student: To get 25 percent you have to divide 50 by 2.

King Middle School