Lessons - Robert Kaplinsky - Glenrock Consulting, LLC

Problem Solving Lesson Plan: The Quandary Game Preparation: This lesson plan is centered around the online game Quandary. In Quandary, players make difficult decisions that have no clear right or wrong answers, but important consequences – to themselves, to others in the colony, and to the planet Braxos. In their interactions with other settlers in the futuristic colony, players must consider facts, opinions and solutions, just as in real life. You can view the Quandary standards mapping page to see a complete list of skills and concepts addressed through the game. There are four episodes (scenarios) in Quandary.

Teaching to the Beat of a Different Drummer Have you ever said or thought any of the following? “They just add all the numbers! It doesn’t matter what the problem says.” Building Bridges This lesson assists teachers in building a bridge between their current instructional goals and new goals that emphasize an earlier introduction to algebraic thinking. In the activities which follow, we illustrate an approach to algebraic thinking that is based on an extension of problem-solving tasks typically investigated by elementary and middle school students. Problem Tasks Pose the following question to students. Marilyn Burns Math Blog Word problems are often dreaded by students. To try to help the grandmother who wrote about her frustration with helping her fourth-grade granddaughter with word problems, I replied with the following message: Instead of focusing on traditional word problems at this time, which seem to be dreaded by both of you, maybe it would be better to focus on math questions in a more playful way. Try posing problems that have more than one right answer, more in the spirit of math riddles. Here’s an example of a traditional word problem that a fourth grader would be expected to solve, followed by a problem that’s more like a riddle:

common core resources /mathematical content standards /standards by grade /8th grade / Problems of the Month: Non-routine problems designed to be used schoolwide to promote a problem-solving theme. Each problem is divided into five levels of difficulty, Level A (primary) through Level E (high school). The problems are aligned to the Common Core standards. Learn more here. Performance assessment tasks: Grade-level formative performance assessment tasks with accompanying scoring rubrics and discussion of student work samples. The tasks are aligned to the Common Core standards.

Making Math Visual A few days ago I had the priviledge of presenting at MAC2 to a group of teachers in Orillia on the topic of “Making Math Visual”. If interested, here are some of my talking points for you to reflect on: To get us started I shared an image created by Christopher Danielson and asked the group what they noticed: Atlas - Home You are using an unsupported internet browser. Atlas may not function as designed. Please download one of these updated browsers: Don't show this againAtlas is phasing out support for your internet browser. We recommend downloading one of these updated browsers: <div class="browserAlertMsgContainer" id="javascriptDisabledContainer">Javascript is required to use Atlas.

Numberless word problems and bar models for Multi-Step word problems (CCSS 2.OA.1) Saturday, March 23, 2019 Numberless word problems and bar models for Multi-Step word problems (CCSS 2.OA.1) It's been a while since I've had the chance to blog, but I miss it so much that I'm making my return. Math in Daily Life When you buy a car, follow a recipe, or decorate your home, you're using math principles. People have been using these same principles for thousands of years, across countries and continents. Whether you're sailing a boat off the coast of Japan or building a house in Peru, you're using math to get things done. How can math be so universal? First, human beings didn't invent math concepts; we discovered them.

robertkaplinsky If you think others need to see this, share it on one of the sites below by clicking on the button. My favorite tool for helping students solve problems is the Problem Solving Framework. I love using it because it scaffolds students often underdeveloped critical thinking skills and helps them develop their own problem solving techniques.