Reply To: Lesson 2-2 Question

[David McKnight]

This week I tried a 3 act lesson. We are at the end of our unit on systems of linear equations. The lesson is already created and it’s one created by “Tap Into Teen Minds.” I think it’s designed byJon & Kyle https://tapintoteenminds.com/3act-math/piling-up-systems/

The lesson definitely sparked curiosity. I had students use a Jamboard to record their noticings and wonderings. We shared and discussed things out-loud too. At this point, I had the students coming up with questions individually.

Once we moved to the estimation phase, I kept the students working individually. I wanted each student to have a stake in the the activity. I had them publish their individual predictions on the Jamboard with their initials. I promised prizes for the top 3 closest estimates.

The 2nd Act was fun. I grouped the kids into 5 groups of 4. I made sure to put the strongest 4 students together. I did this to avoid having one student dominating the work in each group. I had an extension prepared and anticipated that the strong group would need it. Again, they published their work on team Jamboards.

I announced that the group to get closest to the actual weight of the glue stick and glue bottle would win a prize. 4/5 groups got reasonable solutions and surprisingly enough, the winning group was not the advanced group.

When I played the 3rd act video, it was crazy. Kids were cheering and carrying on. Such a blast. I really love these types of lessons.

As an exit ticket, I had the students complete a reflection and to post their work in their virtual notebooks. I also had the top 3 groups explain their thinking before accepting their prizes. I had the best initial estimate explain their strategy for estimating. It was interesting and I opened the conversation to others who were eager to explain their initial strategies. Such a rich task.

Upon reflection, this was a lesson that could have easily been skipped, avoided or replaced with practice etc… However, it was a rich task that involved and engaged every single student. It also might go a long way towards future engagement in math class for some students. On the downside, there were a few students who didn’t ever fully understand the solution. I did offer to have a follow-up from the lesson in tutorial time, though I only had one student take up my offer.