So, I have to start my blog today with a little shout out to Trish. Trish made an excellent point today which modeled an excellent attitude for planning and creating rich tasks. She said that although she may take a really long time to develop them now, she knows she will improve and become more efficient overtime so teacher's should be brave and implement them even if they're intimidated at the prospect. I could hear Ms. Frizzle's voice in my head... "take chances, make mistakes, and get messy!!!" We should not be hard on ourselves just because this part of Math planning is difficult! We are still learning and we would be cheating our students if we don't take the time to develop these skills as Math teachers! So, thank you Trish for encouraging me to be brave and keep on keeping on...
In the article "Rich Tasks and Contexts," Jenny Piggott provided an excellent list of the components of a rich task:
- are accessible to a wide range of learners,
- might be set in contexts which draw the learner into the mathematics either because the starting point is intriguing or the mathematics that emerges is intriguing,
- are accessible and offer opportunities for initial success, challenging the learners to think for themselves,
- offer different levels of challenge, but at whatever the learner's level there is a real challenge involved and thus there is also the potential to extend those who need and demand more (low threshold - high ceiling tasks),
- allow for learners to pose their own problems,
- allow for different methods and different responses (different starting points, different middles and different ends),
- offer opportunities to identify elegant or efficient solutions,
- have the potential to broaden students' skills and/or deepen and broaden mathematical content knowledge,
- encourage creativity and imaginative application of knowledge.
- have the potential for revealing patterns or lead to generalisations or unexpected results,
- have the potential to reveal underlying principles or make connections between areas of mathematics,
- encourage collaboration and discussion,
- encourage learners to develop confidence and independence as well as to become critical thinkers.
This list may look intimidating at first, but remember... we don't need to include ALL of these considerations in every task.
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| Which one doesn't belong? |
As we delve through this Math course, I'm definitely doing my best to compile as many strategies and resources as possible to ensure as rich of a Math class experience as possible. I had never played "which one doesn't belong" but I have to say, totally love it! What a great mind's on activity that can be applied in a variety of subject! My favourite part about this activity is that it encourages students to think creatively, reason their answers, and they can all have a chance at being right! It's a great confidence booster for students and can be a great diagnostic tool for us teachers to assess vocabulary among other things.
On my quest for resources, I stumbled across the Ontario Association for Mathematics Education! There is a hefty registration fee ($299) but the website has some interesting articles and links to free resource. I enjoyed this article on developing rich assessment tasks: Using Rich Assessment Tasks
The modules from this week have only reinforced what I already knew about the value of collaboration. If I can clearly see the benefits that collaboration have had on me in the Math classroom as a fairly reluctant learner, why wouldn't I extend the same courtesy to my students that I can empathize with? Not only do I get the chance to process my thoughts out loud (which is very important for an external processor) but I can also maneuver through the mathematical processes with confidence because I have so many great minds by my side to offer insight and strategies that will embed my learning!
I have to admit when i first looked at the criteria for a rich task I was very intimidated. How are we supposed to include all of those things in one question for grade 4's or 5's? But Trish is right, all we can do is try our best. As math has taught us we can only learn from making mistakes and helping each other along. Creating rich tasks may be difficult right now but the more we try and the more we absorb from and collaborate with our peers the stronger our skills will become!
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
I think its important that we all have the opportunity to practice creating rich tasks. The unit plans will be a great opportunity for us to add in rich tasks to our own lessons. The math modules this week displayed the importance of collaboration in the community.
ReplyDeleteGreat post this week and thanks for pointing out the Ontario association for mathematics resource.
Hi Sarah,
ReplyDeleteFirst off...awesome blog title!
During my first placement, I taught math in a Grade 7 classroom, and did not really have the opportunity to create rich tasks for my students. Since looking through the modules, I definitely feel more prepared to create rich tasks in my next two placements. I especially love that you pointed out using empathy when teaching your students, as that is something that is extremely important, but does not really have an "official" spot on the lesson plan. Great ideas and awesome post!