Teaching Problem Solving In Mathematics: Cognitively Guided Instruction In Kindergarten

The study explores the effects of mathematical conversations, using Cognitively Guided Instruction practices (CGI), on the problem solving ability and academic language usage of kindergarten students. Four treatment groups of students were followed over a ten week period. Students were grouped by the number of minutes that they participated in mathematical conversations per week. Students in the group that had the most minutes per week of mathematical conversations grew by the greatest amount in both problem solving and academic language capacity. Students in the control group regressed in both problem solving and academic language. Students in the group the met once a week for 30 minutes out performed the control group. The findings suggest that daily exposure to mathematical conversations guided by CGI practices could be a productive approach to developing both problem solving and academic language ability