"I sometimes wonder how the world will survive if children do not experience the sort of teaching presented in this book."- Peter Johnston, author of Choice Words and Opening Minds Math coach, Kassia Omohundro Wedekind, and literacy coach, Christy Hermann Thompson, have spent years comparing notes on how to build effective classroom communities across the content areas. How, they wondered, can we lay the groundwork for classroom conversations that are less teacher-directed and more conducive to student-to-student dialogue? Their answers start with Hands Down Conversations, an innovative discourse structure in which students' ideas and voices take the lead while teachers focus on listening and facilitating. In addition to classroom stories and examples, Christy and Kassia provide 28 micro-lessons designed to help K-5 students develop and exercise their speaking and listening muscles. Inside Hands Down, Speak Out you'll learn how to: Build talk communities that are accessible to everyone, especially those whose voices are traditionally left out of classroom discourse Analyze classroom conversations in order to plan next steps for developing the classroom talk community Plan and facilitate three types of conversation across literacy and math Christy and Kassia believe that the development of dialogue skills is worth the investment of time not only because it has the power to deepen our understanding of literacy and mathematics, but also to deepen our understanding of ourselves, our communities, and the world.

Students love math games and puzzles, but how much are they really learning from the experience? Too often, math games are thought of as just a fun activity or enrichment opportunity. Well Played shows you how to make games and puzzles an integral learning component that provides teachers with unique access to student thinking. The twenty-five games and puzzles in Well Played, which have all been field-tested in diverse classrooms, contain: explanations of the mathematical importance of each game or puzzle and how it supports student learning; variations for each game or puzzle to address a range of learning levels and styles; clear step-by-step directions; and classroom vignettes that model how best to introduce the featured game or puzzle. The book also includes a separate chapter with suggestions for how to effectively manage games and puzzles in diverse classrooms; reproducible that provide directions, game boards, game cards, and puzzles; assessment ideas; and suggestions for online games, puzzles, and apps. Well Played will help you tap the power of games and puzzles to engage students in sustained and productive mathematical thinking.