“So I’m there on the beach with my friend Ben when we notice a taco cart up the road. Ben wants to walk straight over, but I’m thinking we walk a lot slower in the sand than we do on the street. So I say we walk straight to the street and then down the street to the cart. So we went our separate ways…” Thus begins the first Three-Act math task I ever experienced, courtesy of Dan Meyer.
Continue reading Inspiring Student Curiosity (or What’s “Real” about Real-world Math?)
Illustrative Mathematics is a great resource that brought together teachers, math educators and mathematicians to create mathematical tasks aligned to each standard of the Common Core. There are currently over 1000 tasks, from grades K through 12. Because it is K-12, some tasks will need to be adapted, but because it is K-12, there are rich materials for adult education students at all levels, from ABE to HSE. Continue reading Math Problems Aligned to the Common Core
Visual Patterns is a very simple and wonderful website, created by a public middle school teacher in Southern California named Fawn Nguyen.
The site is essentially a collection of 157 different visual patterns (and growing). For each pattern, you are given the first three figures/stages of the pattern. For example, Continue reading Developing Algebraic Thinking Through Visual Patterns
The Mathematics Assessment Project (MAP) is a joint venture between the University of California, Berkeley, and the Shell Center at the University of Nottingham, with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The project aims to “design and develop well-engineered assessment tools to support US schools in implementing the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics.” To meet this goal, the MAP website covers three major content areas: formative assessment, summative assessment, and professional development. Continue reading Great Activities for Formative Assessment and Problem-Solving in Math
Inside Mathematics identifies itself as “a professional resource for educators passionate about improving students’ mathematics learning and performance”. The goal of the site is to help educators continue to grow and transform their teaching practice. To accomplish this there are a lot of resources, including lessons, challenging math problems, videos of classroom instruction, videos of teachers planning lessons, videos of teachers reflecting on lessons they just taught, etc. Continue reading Developing Students into Deep Mathematical Problem-Solvers