Clip 6/43: Standard 6: Attend to Precision Using Fractions Part 2A
Overview
Mathematically proficient students… try to use clear definitions in discussion with others and in their own reasoning.
On the second day of the learning segment, Michelle Makinson's students return to their sentence starters and discussion sheets. They examine their work, looking for a set of cards that they matched with a particularly strong justification that they can “save-the-planet-level defend.” Pairs then share their justifications with the whole class, and Michelle challenges her students to communicate precisely and to evaluate their own justifications. She uses a “turn and talk” strategy to generate suggestions to improve the clarity of a justification. She models academic language: “Does anyone have a different strategy for enhancing the justification?” Students consider their own justification cards to make improvements: “Is all the evidence you need there? If not, add it.” This clip also relates to standard 7 (look for and make use of structure).