Dot talks are a great way to show how visual math can be and how many different ways there can be to look even at a simple image. They take about 10-12 minutes to do.
In a dot talk, a teacher shows an image of dots for a couple of seconds and then asks students how many they saw. (The important thing is that students are not counting the dots one by one.) Then each student describes their way of seeing the dots. The teacher visually records each student’s way of seeing and creates (or asks students to create) an expression representing the student’s way of seeing.
Steps:
- Briefly show a collection of dots (without time to count one by one).
- Ask students how many they saw.
- Visually record each student’s way of seeing and create an expression representing the student’s way of seeing.
- A goal is to get as many strategies as possible.
Sample collection of dots:
Notes from a session led by Patricia Helmuth (teacher from the New York State Hudson Valley):
