Growing Problem Solvers provides four original, related, classroom-ready mathematical tasks, one for each grade band. Together, these tasks illustrate the trajectory of learners' growth as problem solvers across their years of school mathematics.
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GPS: Composing and Decomposing Shapes Across the Grades
Kyle Carpenter and Sarah Roller Dyess
See, Think, and Wonder Geoboard Art
Enrique Ortiz
Two original images were inspired by the use of an art studio app for digital drawings. This artistic process could be used to help created other original art and during See-Think-Wonder routines emphasizing meaningful observations and questioning skills.
Cultural Responsiveness and Mathematical Practices
Jen Munson, Geetha Lakshminarayanan, and Thomas J. Rodney
Off You Go is a PK–12 mathematical routine that leverages children’s home resources and assets to support them in developing conceptual precision. We provide a guide for how to adapt this routine to engage students at any grade in argumentation and attending to precision.
Problems to Ponder
Chris Harrow and Justin Gregory Johns
Problems to Ponder provides 28 varying, classroom-ready mathematics problems that collectively span PK–12, arranged in the order of the grade level. Answers to the problems are available online. Individuals are encouraged to submit a problem or a collection of problems directly to mtlt@nctm.org. If published, the authors of problems will be acknowledged.
Puddle Play!
Deanna Pecaski McLennan
Student Engagement with the “Into Math Graph" Tool
Amanda K. Riske, Catherine E. Cullicott, Amanda Mohammad Mirzaei, Amanda Jansen, and James Middleton
We introduce the Into Math Graph tool, which students use to graph how “into" mathematics they are over time. Using this tool can help teachers foster conversations with students and design experiences that focus on engagement from the student’s perspective.
Conditional Reasoning Online with Mastermind
Sean P. Yee, George J. Roy, and LuAnn Graul
As mathematical patterns become more complex, students' conditional reasoning skills need to be nurtured so that students continue to critique, construct, and persevere in making sense of these complexities. This article describes a mathematical task designed around the online version of the game Mastermind to safely foster conditional reasoning.
GPS: Equivalent Expressions
Matt Enlow and S. Asli Özgün-Koca
Equality is one of the main concepts in K–12 mathematics. Students should develop the understanding that equality is a relationship between two mathematical expressions. In this month's GPS, we share tasks asking students one main question: how do they know whether or not two mathematical expressions are equivalent?
Investigating Using Lesson Study
Scott Corwin, Michelle Cascio, Katherine Emerson, Laura Henn, and Catherine Lewis
Our middle school mathematics department used lesson study to investigate how to introduce fractions division to our sixth-grade students. We highlight our learnings during the Study and Plan phases, describe our observations during the lesson, and provide tips for educators interested in using lesson study to study their own content.
Mathematizing Multilevel Marketing
Aline Abassian and Farshid Safi
This article dives into the importance of engaging students in investigating the mathematics of businesses that pressure their members to recruit new members as a basis for success, also referred to as multi-level marketing (MLM). The mathematics behind these businesses are discussed, and a sample student task is given.
