Reasoning: The Essential Foundation for Building Students’ Understanding of Mathematics
Marilyn Burns
December 10, 2025 (7-8 pm EST)
Description: Numeracy is the cornerstone of K-5 mathematics learning and reasoning is the foundation for building understanding and skills. What does it look like when students reason? In this session, I show video examples of students in one-on-one interviews solving arithmetic problems mentally, without paper and pencil, and explaining how they reason. I also present a set of Takeaways that address the connections I’ve made between the students’ thinking and classroom instruction that focuses on students making sense of mathematics.
Marilyn Burns is a highly respected mathematics educator and author. For more than 60 years, she has taught children, led professional development sessions, spoken at educational conferences nationwide, written children’s books, and created math resources for teachers and administrators. She is a recipient of the NCSM Glenn Gilbert National Leadership Award, an honorary doctorate degree from Bank Street College of Education, and the Louise Hay Award for Contributions to Mathematics Education by the Association for Women in Mathematics. Her most recent work focuses on conducting one-on-one interviews with students to learn about how they reason numerically.
