“DISCOVER”ing Problem Solving

DenaPaloozaJoli BarkerMcKinney ISD

Where to begin?

If you are apprehensive about using technology, that’s ok! You can increase rigor and encourage problem solving without it!

HOW TO INCREASE RIGOR

Math and Science (STEM questions: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math)Anytime you can challenge students to think in terms of these four academic categories the better. These areas are fundamentally our weakest areas of performance and are the most problem-solving rich content areas.

Discover!In the beginning of the school year, 2nd grade does a unit on what does science and a scientist look like? in my classroom we take it a step further and begin, right out of the gate, with a research piece on various types of scientist. The “when I grow up” resources are informative and helpful in this endeavor. To add rigor to even this, I have asked for them to compare to seemingly unrelated fields of study ie. botanists and chemists.

TRICK QUESTION. Use divergent thinking. Juanita's grandmother is only five years older than her mother is. How is this possible? When giving story problems to students, increase the vocabulary and if needed, utilize discovery education content as a way to introduce new concepts and terms so that the problems become part of their schema and more accessible to successful solutions.

OPEN ENDED/CREATIVE

PROBLEM Toothpick Triangle ChallengesCan you make all of the triangles below? If you can't make one, explain why.

one equilateral triangle with 6 toothpickstwo equilateral triangles with 6 toothpicksthree equilateral triangles with 6 toothpicksfour equilateral triangles with 6 toothpicks

More on Math!APPLICATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS QUESTION:

Figure out how many + signs are needed in the string of numbers so that the expression equals 99: 9876543321

CRITICAL READING QUESTIONS:IF 1=5, 2=15, 3=30, 4=50, THEN 5=?

ALTERNATE SOLUTION QUESTIONS:

How could you purchase this loaf of bread if you can only choose an amount in coins once? Bread = $2.20 Choices: $1.00 $0.10 $2.00 $0.05

ADDING STEPS AND WORDINESS:

Original: James has 6 boxes of golf balls. Each box holds 11 golf balls. How many golf balls does James have all together?Improved: James enjoys golf almost as much as Mr. D! As a matter of fact, James wants to practice so that one day, he and Mr. D can play a round of golf together. James purchased 6 boxes of golf balls. Each box contains 2 rows of five balls and one free bonus ball. If each box costs $14.99, how many balls did James purchase and how much did he spend? How much would one ball cost?

There are four basic steps in problem

solving:Defining the problem. Generating alternatives.Evaluating and selecting alternatives.Implementing solutions.

How to embed problem

solving across content:

Writing:Have students write a lesson to teach others about a skill or concept they too are learning to do. Have students write how-to instructions that cover every possible step to doing an every day task.Have students write clues to solving a mystery about something that may have happened in their classroom.Have students write a script and act out a STEM based situation that offers more than one solution.

Reading:Have students read mixed up sentences from a familiar story and rearrange then so that they correctly tell the story. Have students read mixed up words and do the same thing.After reading several stories from a few authors, have students read new and unfamiliar stories by the authors and figure out who wrote which story. Then have them explain what the other text needs for it to sound more like the opposing author.Have students read a solution to a problem. Have them troubleshoot if the solution is the strongest most efficient solution or if it could be improved.

Science:

Have students take apart and rebuild common items.Expose students to the materials of a safe (one where free exploration of the materials will not pose any hazard to the kids) experiment and have them write possible procedures to discovery.

Social Studies:

Have students create a solutions to famous conflicts using a comparison of conflict-time and modern-time possibilities.Have students transpose a historical figure from one era into another era and hypothesize how that figure might react to situations studied from that era.

INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY

:

APPS:Writing:

WRITING PROMPTSDIGITAL STORYTELLING:

PHOTOCOMICFOTOBABBLESTRIP DESIGNVOICETHREADPUPPETPALSANIMOTOVIDEOLICIOUSSONGSYNTH (GREAT FOR KIDS WHO ARE MUSICAL OR FOR BUILDING MATH SKILLS)TOONTASTIC

PRODUCTIVE DEMONSTRATION OF LEARNING:

EXPLAIN EVERYTHINGEDUCREATIONSSHOW ME!

Spelling:

SPELLINGWORDLESIGHTWORD PHOTO TOUCHSQUEEBLES

GRAMMAR:BLUSTER!

MathSUMSTACKERYOKU-GAMI HDNUMBERTHINGS

FUN BRAIN-BREAKS THAT BUILD PROBLEM SOLVING THINKING:

FLOW FREEFLOW FREE BRIDGES100 FLOORSSCRIBBLENAUTS

IDEAS:

-TIME QR CODE SCAVENGER HUNT

THIS WAS A FUN ACTIVITY. STUDENTS WERE GIVEN QR CODES THAT LEAD THEM TO AN AVATAR THAT GAVE THEM A STORY ABOUT TIME. THEY HAD TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM AND CREATE THE TIME ON A JUDY CLOCK. THEN THEY HAD TO TAKE A PICTURE OF THE CLOCK THEY CREATED AND POST IT TO THEIR WIKI. THEY THEN COMPARED THEIR CLOCK TO AN AUGMENTED REALITY CODE ANSWER AND IF CORRECT RECEIVED A CLUE DEALING WITH TIME THAT LEAD THEM TO A NEW QR CODE AND ANOTHER PROBLEM. IN THE END, IF THEY HAD SOLVED THE 7 PROBLEMS CORRECTLY, THE ANSWER CLOCKS PROVIDED A NUMERICAL CODE THAT THEY THEN ENTERED AS A WIKIPAGE ADDRESS WHERE AN AVATAR CONGRATULATED THEM ON THEIR SUCCESS AND A DIGITAL BADGE WAS DISPLAYED. THEY COULD THEN TAKE THAT BADGE AND EMBED IT INTO THEIR OWN WIKI!

PROJECTS AND OTHER RESOURCES FROM JOLI

BARKER:www.mymth.wikispaces.comwww.brockstars2011-2012.wikispaces.comhttp://xbrox360.blogspot.com/ http://innovate50glogsteredu.blogspot.com/Twitter @Joli_Barker