Memes!
Some people love them and some people hate them, but they are memorable... I started making math memes during a fraction unit. Sometimes it seems like the only illustrations we share for fractions are pizza (or other foods!) These memes brought some variety to the table and helped to build connections in a subject area that students approach already confused. They can help guide us through the steps of a problem, like adding/subtracting/comparing fractions: Sometimes the references are a little more fun for me and they might not fully grasp the connection: Lately, students have been finding Harry Potter helpful. I may have learned about the order of operations using the mnemonic phrase "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally," but our class has been thinking of it as spell cast by a young Hogwarts wizard. This was even shared a few times by students as they led their winter conferences! There are a few meme generators to help you make your own. The problem is that most are blocked by the school's web filter. I used this one at Imgflip, but all that you find in a Google search are mostly the same. You can create them off site and upload the images into your Google Drive to use later. OR You can use the Meme Template by Alice Keeler. The template is in Google Drawings, has directions, suggestions, and links to Creative Commons photos. I think the best part of the template is that it is student friendly and another way for students to show what they know in math...or any subject! Make a copy...make a meme...I look forward to see what you create! Cheers, Matt B. Hawkins Whether you call them word problems or real world problems or something completely different, we find that they are a challenge for students. I also experience that if the problems are taken from the textbook, they are not often connected to the real world our students live in.
Dan Meyer, former HS math teacher and currently of Desmos, shares with some humor in this 2010 Ted Talk how math class can be made over, and more specifically the problems we ask. His action steps going forward are to: 1. Use multimedia to bring the real world to your classroom 2. Encourage student intuition 3. Ask the shortest question possible 4. Let students build the steps 5. Be less helpful The best math problems will build as a great story should unfold. If shared right, student will be connecting the pieces and will want to be continuing to each step. This idea and the action steps led to the structure of the 3 Act Math Lesson. An blog post by Dan shortly after his Ted Talk explains the essential components of a 3 Act Lesson. Act 1 - Introduces conflict and allows students to notice & wonder, formulate a question, and ask for additional details that would be helpful in answering the question. Act 2 - Where much of the math happens, students use clues and data to solve the problem. Act 3 - The answer is revealed! Most of our math curriculum hangs out in Act 2, do the math and move onto the next one. Previously I have shared about notice & wonder that are important to Act 1, but the reveal in Act 3 is just as important. Dan says that you certainly wouldn't want to sit through Star Wars Episode 4 and turn it off before the Death Star explodes! The third act is a great reward for the struggle in Act 2. So when do you use the 3 Act Math Lesson? Graham Fletcher suggests a great place to start is pre assessments for new units. The Act 1 is a good hook and more appetizing than a paper pre-test that can further decrease student confidence. During the struggle of the second act, you can formatively assess different student methods and make notes of the current understandings. Finally, Act 3 allows all of the class to wrap up on the same page. Graham has an awesome collection of 3 Act Lessons, ready to go for elementary. They are sorted by grade level and standard. I always start with his collection, but resources are growing as you can Google search 3 Act Math and find many other great math educators sharing their lessons. Here are some examples that we are using as a 5th grade team. Gassed - Multiply with decimals Sugar Cubes - Divide with decimals The Final Lap - Place Value (hyperdoc for students) March is "reading month," which is just around the corner, but I never hear anything mentioned about a "math month." A blog post by Tracy Zager wonders what it would be like if we took a similar approach to math as we do with DEAR, drop everything and read. Her daughter laments that her math class is too focused on timed tests and following text books. She wonders if they could just "drop everything and math."
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Matt HawkinsGull Lake Middle School Archives
March 2018
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