Explaining Mathematical Thinking Helps Children Learn More Effectively
The classroom experiences of an elementary school teacher in the United States have shown that encouraging young students to explain their mathematical thinking aloud can significantly strengthen the learning process. Ashley Landry, a teacher at Reynolds Elementary School in Texas, emphasized that students should be assessed not only on whether they reach the correct answer, but also on how they arrive at it.
According to Landry, children aged six and seven begin developing fundamental beliefs about mathematics during first grade. At this stage, students form lasting attitudes about whether they are “good at math,” whether their ideas are worth sharing, and what their mistakes say about them as learners.
Landry noted that written work does not always fully reflect students’ mathematical understanding. Some students may find the correct answer but be unable to explain the method they used, while others may reach an incorrect answer through a highly sophisticated strategy. Assessments based solely on worksheets may therefore be inadequate, particularly for first-grade students whose writing skills, vocabulary, and fine motor abilities are still developing.
The practice also had positive effects on students who struggled to participate in classroom discussions or express their understanding through written work. Some students who were initially hesitant to share their mathematical thinking became more confident in video recordings, explained their strategies more comfortably, and gradually began asking for more mathematics activities.