Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Materials
Maze Playing Boards
Pencils
Highlighters
Colored Pencils
Markers
Clipboards
Calculators
Notebook paper
Post-Its
Exit Ticket Index Cards
Blank Chart Paper
Talk Moves Anchor Chart
Classroom Arrangement & Management Issues
Launch
I will start our lesson by meeting with my students at a small group table in the
hallway outside our fifth grade classroom.
I will launch the lesson with everyone sitting around the small group table and
before dismissing students to independent work, I will point out the materials I have
for each of them to use. Here, I will explain to them that they may use any of
these materials to help them solve the task. (I intentionally want the students to
know they have access to these tools, but at the same time, I do not want to be
presumptuous by telling the students what materials they need to solve the
problem.)
Plan (Continued)
Explore: 15 min.
Students begin working on the task independently.
Give the students a few minutes of uninterrupted thinking and work time before I
start going around, looking at the students work and asking follow up questions.
As I rotate around to each student, I will be looking to see what pathways each
student is choosing and I will ask them why they choose that pathway.
Potential questions:
o What is the problem asking you? (If students need some encouragement to
start the task.)
o What path did you choose to take in the maze? Why? What decisions were
you making along the way?
o What is this called in mathematics? (If students are not using vocabulary
such as product or quotient as they are talking about their work.)
o What patterns are you noticing and why?
o Would this pattern work for other numbers? Why or why not?
o What does division mean? What does multiplication mean?
o What is important about the pattern you are noticing?
After about 15 min. have passed, I will pair up the students depending on my
observations during their independent work time.
At this time, students will have the chance to share their answers with their partner
and explain their reasoning behind their solution. In other words, students will need
to justify to their partner why they choose that specific route.
Discuss: 15 min.
Before opening up the conversation, I will review our Talk Moves anchor chart with
the students and encourage them to use these sentence starters during our
discussion.
o So youre saying? Can you repeat what ____ just said in your own words?
o Do you agree or disagree and why? How did you reach that conclusion?
o Who would like to add on?
o Does anyone have the same answer but a different way to explain it?
o Do you see a pattern?
o Does that always work? Is that true for all cases?
o Can you think of a counterexample?
o What would happen if . . .?
Potential questions:
o What strategies did you use to solve the puzzle when you first started?
o After trying to solve the puzzle for a while, what strategies did you use?
o Which moves had the greatest impact on increasing the magnitude of
the resulting value? Why?
o How has our thinking changed from when we started to now?
o What were the largest values everyone reached at the Finish?
After writing the answers on the chart paper, I will ask the student with the lowest
answer to explain to the group how they arrived at that answer. Then, the students
will build off each others ideas and the students will have the opportunity to revise
their thinking as they listen to each other.
[The answer is approximately 6,332. If the longitude is 63 and the latitude is 32, then
the meteor is heading towards Santa Fe, Argentina.] Once students agree on an
answer, we will type in these coordinates into my laptop to reveal the location.
Comment [CE6]: I
think
here
you
can
also
ask
the
why
questions.
Why
does
division
by
a
decimal
result
in
a
larger
answer?
Why
does
multiplication
by
a
decimal
result
in
a
smaller
answer?
Even
if
they
dont
have
it
completely
worked
out,
their
answers
will
give
you
very
interesting
information
about
their
developing
understanding
and
their
understanding
of
the
operations
of
multiplication
and
division.
You
could
use
money
to
help
them
make
connectionse.g.,
dividing
by
0.25
is
like
finding
out
how
many
quarters
are
in
an
mount.
Accommodations
Too Challenging?
Change the length of the process: ask the students to start at the top and try to
find the greatest number in only three moves.
Change the numbers: instead of using decimal numbers like .87 and .6, use
decimal numbers like .25, .50, and .75 which more closely resemble quarters
because students often understand decimals as it relates to money.
Break the task up into smaller steps: Have the students write down their answer at
each vertices so that they keep track of the numbers on the paper and not in their
head or on the calculator.
Make the starting number smaller: Start with the number 10 instead of 100 so the
students are working with smaller, more familiar numbers.
Too Easy?
Ask the students to find the path that leads to the smallest number as possible.
Ask the students to find the path that leads to the number closest to 100.
Students could change the numbers to using scientific notation or extended form.
Each student can create his or her own maze. The student can also create their
own rules (Can you move up, to the side, or only down? Is the goal to get the
greatest number?) The student then needs to make an answer key before trading
their maze with another student to solve.
Date: ______________
Decimal Maze
Move down or sideways (never up) through the maze from Start to Finish. You may not
retrace any steps.
Begin with a value of 100 on your calculator. As you cross a segment, perform the indicated
operation on your calculator.
The goal is to choose a path that results in the largest value when you reach Finish.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
What patterns
do they notice in
the Decimal
Maze? What
assumptions are
they making?