Agreat way for students to work collaboratively and show their thinking is by having them make a poster. This can be hard to manage sometimes, but I have a few tips to help.   

1. Create a template for a math poster for the students at the beginning of the year to provide clear expectations for showing thinking, learning and solutions on the poster. This template can be edited or altered for specific problems as the year goes on. 

2. Assign roles for each section of the template, so that all students have to participate in making the poster.  

3. Give the group only one marker. This practice, recommended by my colleague, Abby Gordon, nudges students to talk to one another about what they plan to write. She requires that only one person can write on the poster at a time and they have to write someone else’s idea! Once the posters are written, students can do a gallery walk to see their peer’s work and compare it to their own ideas.  Group Posters can also be helpful when working to implement the “5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematics Discussions” by Margaret Smith and Mary Stein.

Metamorphosis Coach Nancy Buck

Secrets to Engaging Every Student
Every Day In Math Class

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