Tag: Math Routine

Open Middle VERSUS

Many of you have probably used Robert Kaplinsky and Nanette Johnson’s wonderful Open Middle math problems. There are great problems and resources for running these problems with students on the open middle website and in Robert’s book.

The best ones are on their site, but I have made a few that I shared on my twitter.

The idea I had last week was to think about “playing” this problem against someone else. OPEN MIDDLE VERSUS.

I haven’t tried anything like this with students yet, but I think it could be a fun extra layer. Not only do students need to figure out which digits they need to create a large value for x (9, 8 and 1) but they need to figure out how the numbers play together, and which one is the most important to creating a big value for x. I think the 1 is most important, so maybe this version of this problem would drive a better discussion:

I think it could lead to some fun discussions in class, and you could use this for any type of open middle problem that uses 3 or 4 numbers:

Again, 1 is going to be very important. Is there a reason why?

Double Decker Dice

I wanted to share a quick routine that I have been using in my classroom the last couple of years. I found these funky dice at a stand at NCTM in Seattle three or four years ago. Each big die has a smaller one inside. I bought them without really knowing how I was going to use them.

(They are also available on amazon)

Over the last few years, I have started using them more and more as a way to quickly randomize problem sets in class. I created a slide template, and I plop in numbers based on the skill that we are working on. It looks like this:

The slide above would be displayed for the kids to see. Students roll the dice, and they generate a math problem based on the values on the dice. So a roll of 4 on the big dice and 2 on the little dice would generate a problem that reads 37/11. This particular slide was to practice reducing improper fractions, but the attached powerpoint file has a bunch of other problem sets as well.

I like this routine for a few reasons. Rolling dice automatically hooks kids. Dice are fun, and they seem to get started quicker when they have to do the small task of finding and writing down their problem. I also like this routine because it shows that the numbers work together the same way, no matter which values they roll. There is no magic to the numbers. They are learning a process or math idea that works no matter what numbers the dice ask them to use.

Here are some resources.

double-decker-diceDownload

I have created a bunch of these slides for my Algebra 1, Geometry and Pre-Algebra classes, and I slapped them all together into this powerpoint. The skills included here: improper fractions, percent change, graphing linear inequalities, distance formula, adding integers, subtracting polynomials, 2 step equations, equation of a line through two points, solving formulas for a new variable, solving proportions, missing angle in a triangle and surface area of a cylinder.