How Do You Teach Extending Thinking in the 3-5 Mathematics Classroom?

Laurian Phillips
Oct 05, 2009

Extending Thinking is the number 1 strategy that most impacts achievement.  So how do we incorporate lessons in mathematics that have students use these strategies?  This is part 2 of a series of articles that may give K-5 math teachers a few ideas to incorporate the top eight strategies in their classrooms.  Each article will examine one of the top eight strategies and give activities or examples for each math strand for a particular cluster of grade levels.

Strategy:  Compare/Contrast - How is this content and ________ similar and different?

Grades 3-5:  Usually by grade 3, students should have moved past using only Venn Diagrams to compare and contrast information.  They should be using organizers that allow them to contrast the information with regard to specific characteristics. These organizers can be found in the LEARNING-FOCUSED Strategies >Connecting Extending Thinking book on Compare/Contrast page 4.  Examples 2 and 3 lead to use of the higher level thinking strategy and can be used to guide a writing assignment. Because compare and contrast is so familiar to teachers and is very easy to use, it often becomes overused.  When using this strategy, reflect on the purpose of the task and depth of mathematical knowledge and understanding to be gained.

Sources:   LEARNING-FOCUSED Connecting Extending Thinking and the NCTM Focal Points