Helping Students Become

Mathematically

Powerful
P

rinciples and Standards for School Mathematics asks us to imagine a classroom scenario in
which all students become engaged in high-quality mathematics instruction (NCTM 2000,
p. 13). Students approach problems from different perspectives and represent their thinking and

solutions in many different ways. The students involved in this activity are flexible and resourceful problem
solvers who communicate ideas and results effectively, both orally and in writing. These students are mathematically powerful because they possess a range of viable approaches, the arguments to support their thinking, and the ability to tell others about their work.
Principles and Standards emphasizes the idea that
all of us who are involved in childrens mathematics
education must work to produce similar results in our
own classrooms. Principles and Standards also
describes the uses of communication, reasoning,
proof, corrections, and representations in teaching
number and operations, geometry, algebra, probability and statistics, and measurement in all grades
(NCTM 2000, pp. 5871). State mathematics frameworks have followed suit, and state tests reflect this
emphasis. The move toward performance assessment
and open-ended questions on state and standardized
tests reinforces the nations commitment to helping
students become mathematically powerful. Many
school systems now require students to exhibit proficiency on these tests to graduate. Others require
teachers to show evidence in portfolio collections and
year-end demonstrations that students are mathematically powerful thinkers. Above all, the requirements
for success in life and employment in the twenty-first
century mandate that students be competent learners
and users of mathematics (Schmidt and McKnight
1999).
Many teachers find that their experience and
mathematical knowledge do not support the challenges presented in Principles and Standards. They

realize that traditional models of teaching and learning mathematics do not help them create mathematically powerful environments for their students
(Hiebert 1997). To meet these challenges, teachers
need models and other resources to help them
develop new instructional strategies. This article supplies a model by providing suggestions that will
spark childrens enthusiasm and interest in
problem solving, help them communicate their
ideas effectively, and encourage their growth
Robin Ittigson
toward becoming mathematically powerful
learners.

Changing Instructional
Techniques
During the last several years, the transition from
traditional mathematics to Standards-based

Robin Ittigson, rittigson1@pghboe.net, is a residential mathematics

resource teacher at Minadeo Elementary School in Pittsburgh, PA 15217.
She is interested in understanding and deepening problem-solving thinking among her fourth-grade students and encouraging them to communicate and reflect on their solution processes.

OCTOBER 2002
Copyright 2002 The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Inc. www.nctm.org. All rights reserved.
This material may not be copied or distributed electronically or in any other format without written permission from NCTM.

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FIGURE 1

One students solution to prompt accountable talk

logically about the mathematics involved in reaching solutions. Other sources of good problems are
listed in the bibliography, as well as in the Problem Solvers department in Teaching Children
Mathematics and the Menu of Problems department in Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School.

Communicating through
accountable talk
Students must be given the opportunity to flourish
mathematically in an environment that values
exploration and challenge. They are taught to
engage in accountable talk, in which students
views, rather than the teachers, become the focus
of discussion. In this kind of mathematical communication, students are encouraged to listen to
what is being said, to question their classmates so
as to understand the solutions presented, and to justify answers using concrete examples and evidence
from their work. A conversation might, for example, spring from an organized list made by a student to illustrate his or her thinking (see fig. 1).
For a problem such as the one below, students
discuss the many ways that the Pittsburgh Steelers
may have scored 23 points in a game:

instruction has been taking place in my classroom.

Selecting worthwhile problems, providing opportunities for accountable talk (Resnick 1997) and
for development of written communication skills,
and engaging in cooperative evaluation of student
thinking and writing have helped my students
develop important components of mathematical
power. The following discussion may provide a
model for developing these key components of
change in other classrooms.

Selecting good problems

An essential component of the change process in
mathematics classrooms is selecting problems that
engage and challenge students. Instead of focusing
on questions that ask students to choose an operation to solve a problem, we should emphasize
problems that prompt rich discussion. An example
of one such problem follows:
Dalilah, Kevin, Jadah, and Eric are trying out
for the Minadeo Track Team. Only 3 runners
can be on the team. List all of the ways in which
the 4 students can run first, second, and third on
the relay team. Explain how you know that you
have all of the possible combinations.
This problem requires students to reason, to make
connections between concepts that they have
learned in the past and new concepts, and to think
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On Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers scored 23

points. In how many ways could they have
scored these points? Consider touchdowns,
points after touchdowns, safeties, and field
goals.
The following paragraphs summarize the student interaction that took place when this problem
was presented in the classroom.
Judy explained that she found seven ways to
make 23 points by starting with the greatest number of touchdowns possible, which is three, then
decreasing the number of possible touchdowns to
fill in the chart that she had created. Kelly questioned Judys method because she was able to find
only five ways to score 23 points, explaining that
she also started with three touchdowns but did not
have time to figure out how the points could be
accumulated if the Steelers scored only one touchdown. Kevin offered help to Kelly, saying that her
procedure might be better if she thought in multiples of 6. Kevin also found seven ways to score 23
points, although his combinations for two touchdowns and one touchdown were different from the
ones that Judy listed. The students finally asked the
teacher to hang Judys list in a place where they
could add the combinations that came up in discussion; they then knew that more than seven ways
could be found to make 23 points.
In the discussion, students held one another
accountable for what they said; that is, they quesTEACHING CHILDREN MATHEMATICS

tioned one another, asked for more description, and

challenged others to justify their thinking and provide concrete examples. Developing these habits of
effective problem solving took time, but doing so
helped create an environment in which students
relied on themselves to find solutions. As they
investigated, questioned, and thought about problems, they became excited about their discoveries.
The discussion gave voice to students mathematical ideas, and their solutions to difficult problems
built their confidence and competence as problem
solvers.

municate their own solution processes clearly and

logically. This framework gives students a logical
and sequential structure for their writing. It also
provides a model that allows students to organize
and communicate their thinking. After students
write about their approaches using this procedural
format, they move on to conceptual conversations
with classmates, and during teacher interviews,
they are able to justify and explain why their strategies work.

Developing written
communication skills

Students gain a sense of the completeness and

accuracy of their work when they are encouraged
to read their explanations in pairs, then as a class.
Using a class-constructed student rubric (see fig.
2), students give one another feedback in one of
several ways. As mentioned in the earlier vignette,
students listen to one another to get suggestions for
their work. They are prompted to revise and modify their strategies, and their peers offer encouragement and specific advice. The parts of their solutions that are thoughtful, even if incomplete, are
recognized. Most children use the guidance provided by others and their own reviews to achieve
successful solutions. This process involves students in rethinking their work, providing necessary
mathematical details in their solutions, and

First, I _______________________.
Second, I _____________________.
Next, I _______________________.
Finally, the students restated the original question, followed by In conclusion, I ___________.
Sequential word prompts, when reinforced at
each problem-solving session, became internalized
and easy to use. The examples in figures 1 and 4
show how students adapted the technique to comOCTOBER 2002

FIGURE 2

Students should be encouraged to develop selfconfident, flexible, and reflective habits of mind.
The abilities to make connections among mathematical experiences, communicate solutions effectively, use good reasoning and logic in approaches
to problems, and represent solutions effectively are
all part of this process. As discussion progresses,
all students should be encouraged to contribute
ideas that are then open for revision and improvement by the group. Finally, students should begin
to record their thinking in an organized way.
Student discussion and writing are related
experiences. Students write much more easily
after they have had the chance to discuss their
ideas with others. Before the discussion about the
score of the Steelers, groups of students talked
about how football teams add to their scores in
games. They compared scores from games the
previous week and the ways in which the points
were earned. Before the students worked on the
problem individually, they became familiar with
the problems components, including the context,
and began to apply what they had learned about
scoring in football games.
The students started with a basic framework for
writing explanations. All began with the statement
The answer is ________. To prompt metacognition (Resnick 1987), the students were next asked
to fill in the blank in the following sentence: I
know this is true because _______________.
Then they listed their thoughts in order:

Evaluating student work:

A joint effort

Class-constructed evaluation rubric

Wowthats amazing!

All important parts are in problem.

There is unusual, creative thinking.
There is a complete representation
of what the problem asks.
The words are clear, convincing, and
thoughtful.
There may be many ways of describing how the problem is solved.

Take another lookcheck

your work!

The thinking is unclear.

The choice for solving the problem is
incorrect.
The words show difficulty in expressing ideas.
Some of the math is missing.
The answer is not included.

Keep tryingdont give up!

There are scattered bits and pieces

of thinking.
The way to solve the problem
doesnt make sense.
The explanation is missing.
The writing is confusing.
There is no visual image or strategy.

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FIGURE 3

A Mathematical Tug-of-War (adapted from Burns [1996, p. 23])

The problem is to use the information given to figure out who will win the third round in
a tug-of-war.
Round 1: On one side are four acrobats, each of equal strength. On the other side
are five neighborhood grandmas, each of equal strength. The result is dead even.
Round 2: On one side is Ivan, a dog. Ivan is pitted against two of the grandmas and
one acrobat. Again, its a draw.
Round 3: Ivan and three of the grandmas are one side and the four acrobats are on
the other.
Who will win the third round? Write an explanation of your reasoning.

presenting solutions in a logical and convincing

manner. Sharing explanations also allows students
to compare their responses and helps them create
workable solutions that their peers can accept and
use in other situations.
All student writing is recorded in individual
mathematics diaries. The diaries provide invaluable evidence of growth in communication, reasoning, and representations. Using the diary as a
monthly assessment tool, the student and teacher
confer about the students quality of work and his
or her level of understanding. Students are given
regular monthly feedback through personal conferences and in writing. A list of questions presented
at the beginning of the year helps guide their
problem-solving efforts; these questions also form
the basis for the monthly conferences. During each
conference, students work to determine their areas
of strength and need and focus on certain questions
for improvement during the following month.
These questions include the following:
Do you understand what is happening in the
problem?
Do you use representations effectively?
Are your strategies for solving the problem
appropriate, effective, and efficient?
Is your mathematical vocabulary growing?
Do you make connections with past learning
experiences and real-life situations?
Is your answer correct and logically explained?
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Providing the Context

for Developing
Mathematical Power:
The Granny Problem
The task of posing provocative problems, ones that
encourage thinking, discussion, and the use of multiple strategies, is of primary importance. A Mathematical Tug-of-War (Burns 1996, p. 23) is one
problem that stimulates students thinking and discussion, both because of the humor and context of
the problem and the puzzling questions that it presents (see fig. 3). This problem is commonly called
the Granny Problem. The reader is invited to solve
this problem before continuing.
After such a problem is posed, students must be
drawn into rich discussion. In discussing Burnss
problem, they can make connections between the
tug-of-war idea and experiences that they have had
in choosing teammates for a game. They may also
draw from past mathematical experiences in creating and solving equations and must decide what
questions are being asked. Figure 4 shows two students responses to the Granny Problem that
evolved from the discussion and interchange of
mathematical ideas. All these responses use the
writing framework mentioned earlier.
To evaluate the responses, I met with each student to examine his or her diary entry and discuss
the focus questions mentioned above. For each of
the two students whose work is shown in figure
TEACHING CHILDREN MATHEMATICS

The Effects of Developing

Mathematical Power
Time spent on empowering students mathematically involves preparing rich and diverse problem
situations that lend themselves to developing
communication, reasoning, and representational
skills. Through discussing the actions that occur
in a problem, students become more comfortable
as they approach problems and begin the solution
process. A structure for developing clear and logical written explanations and an evaluation tool
that students construct with the teacher allow for
critical reflection and self-monitoring of students growth in mathematical thinking. Given
time to talk informally about their understanding,
develop representations, and write sequential
explanations, students begin to see themselves as
part of a community of learners, open to considering others views and confident in their abilities
to reach successful conclusions. Learning to
value oral and written sharing, flexibility, and
reflectiveness plants and nourishes in students
minds a mathematically powerful seed that will
continue to grow and flourish, creating powerful
habits of mind that will bode well for students in
the future.

Bibliography
Burns, Marilyn. Math for Smarty Pants. New York: Little,
Brown & Co., 1982.
. 50 Problem Solving Lessons, Grades 16. Sausalito,
Calif.: Math Solutions Publications, 1996.
Griffin, Linda. Problem of the Week Series. Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Instructional Fair/McGraw-Hill, 1999.
Hiebert, James. Making Sense: Teaching and Learning Mathematics with Understanding. Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann,
1997.
OCTOBER 2002

FIGURE 4

4, for example, I commended them for representing the problem with a drawing or using a symbolic representation; for using a step-by-step
approach for finding the correct answer; and for
writing a paragraph that explained their approach
in a concise, sequential manner. I encouraged the
student whose work is shown in figure 4a to
include mathematical vocabulary, such as equivalent, greater than, and less than, in her paragraph. I asked the student whose work appears in
figure 4b to go into more depth with her explanation, as the written statements do not appear to
be correct. The accountability talk with other
students did not find the mistake, which illustrates the reality of the classroom! These examples point out the necessity for both the teacher
and students to listen carefully to each explanation and constantly check back to the conditions
in the problem.

Student responses to A Mathematical Tug-of-War

(a)

(b)

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Principles and Standards for School Mathematics. Reston, Va.:
NCTM, 2000.
Resnick, Lauren B. Making America Smarter. Education
Week, 16 June 1999, 3840.
Schmidt, William, and Curtis McKnight. Facing the Consequences. In Using TIMSS for a Closer Look at U.S. Mathematics and Science Education, edited by W. Schmidt, C.
McKnight, L. Cogan, P. Jakwerth, and R. Houang. Washington, D.C.: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1999.
Westley, Joan. Puddle Questions for Math. Alsip, Ill.: Creative
Publications, 1996.

The author gives special thanks to the Minadeo

Mathematics Committee for generating many of the
ideas discussed in this article and to Lynn Royer at
the University of Colorado, who assisted the author
with preparing this manuscript.
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