1. +
Part 4: 2 Key Instructional
Strategies
Small Group and Conferencing

2. +
Conferencing and Small Group
Instruction
Small Group Instruction
Conferencing:

One-on-one

3-10 students

Brief

Lasts anywhere from 5-15 minutes

Opportunity to assess quickly

Includes modeling or guided
practice

Provide a brief skill-lesson

Prepares students to take on a
longer, more sophisticated task

Help student to set a goal
When is conferencing the best
approach in math?
When is small group instruction
the best approach in math?

3. +
A Word About Conferencing…
Focus Points for conferencing include:
 Reinforcing
the lesson learning target by questioning
students about their work
 Promoting
self-assessment
 Guiding
students to set goals for themselves as
mathematicians
 Providing
strategies
targeted instruction on problem solving
 Promoting
metacognition (“What did you have to think
about to solve that problem?”)
 Discovering
students’ interests and learning styles and
supporting their exploration of those topics

4. +
Modeling the Conferencing Process
1st: Ask student to tell you about his/her problem.
2nd: Ask student to show you his/her strategy and talk you through
his/her process
3rd: Pay careful attention to the problem solving strategies the
student is (or isn’t) using
4th: Ask open ended questions to get at mathematical thinking
5th: Introduce another problem solving strategy or help to develop
one the student is using
6th: Guide the student to create a goal for continued work.
7th: Use a conference form to help track your interaction and goal
(optional)

5. +
When high level students encounter challenge…

Do they have self-regulation and
behavior problems?

Do they handle challenge as well as
regular students?

Do they have self-mediated processes for
grappling with difficulty, or are they used
to everything being “easy”?

6. + Use conferencing to teach autonomous
learning skills…
Problem?
Try…
I don’t understand the
question or task.
-Reread it slowly
-Read it out loud
-Read it with a partner and discuss what it means
-Underline the important words; define the words and
read again
I understand the
question or task, but
don’t know what to do.
Use a strategy
I understood and
completed the task or
answered the problem,
but don’t know if it’s
-Complete a self-assessment form
-Complete a peer assessment form
-Compare your solution with a partner
-See if you can solve it another way and get the same
-Draw a picture or a diagram
-Make a list
-Make a table
-Break it into small parts and do those
-Find a pattern
-Act it out
--Guess and check (experiment)
-Work backwards
-Write a number sentence
-Change your point of view

7. +
I tried to solve it on my own but I’m
stuck!
Choose
another
task on
your choice
board.
Consider creating a
chart of
math enrichment
options for
your regular students
as well (in many
cases, this chart
could be the same!)
Choose from
the list of
other
activities if
your choice
board is
done.
Ways to
move
on…
Make sure you
have completed a
self or peer
assessment for
three items on your
choice board.
Write in
your
reflection
log about
your work
so far.

8. +
Watch Video #4
Then debrief…

What student needs are fulfilled most by conferring in math
(brief one-on-one coaching)?

What student needs are fulfilled most by small group
instruction in math?
(Bonus question: When should you use guided instruction and
when should you use direct instruction in small group)?