• Research in Mathematical Education
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.219-233
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• 2020

Teachers' intervention in small groups is a research area that needs more research attention. Ehrenfeld and Horn (2020) identified teachers' group work monitoring routines that consist of four recurrent talk moves: 1) Initiation, 2) Entry, 3) Focus, and 4) Exit. To better understand prospective teachers' (PTs) intervention in small groups in mathematics classrooms, I investigated how PTs' intervention actions and purposes are related to the monitoring routines, particularly, in terms of Focus moves. I analyzed 26 PTs' responses to four written scenarios, each of which depicts interactions among students in a small group. I identified 1) types of PTs' math talk, 2) types of PTs' non-math talk, 3) types of intervention purposes, and 4) patterns of intervention actions and purposes by scenario. This study contributes to understanding PTs' intervention actions and purposes in mathematics instruction.