A Change to my Teaching Point

So, when I was trying to solidify my teaching point this evening for this blog, I was really debating between the one in my original post, and visualizing what is happening in the problems that they are solving. I had put comparing the numbers that they are using to one another to see how they are the same and how they are different. However, I don't feel any longer that that would be all that helpful to the students. What I am actually going to have them do is really focus on picturing what is happening in the problem. I want them to really think about what is going on in the problem. Several of the problems are multi-step problems. Others are money problems. I really want to see the students thinking about what is happening in these problems. My teaching point is going to be that the students really visualize what is happening in the problem. What is going on? I want them to picture it in their minds so they understand it. Some ways that I am going to support them in this is through drawings, place value blocks, and numberlines. I really want the students to think about what is going on, and I think these representations will help them do that.