Numeracy Challenge

Today I worked with a grade 8 class. We’ve been working over the last few weeks on developing some confidence to start and persist while problem solving.

We had such intense focus and good spirits of competition and challenge today. There were high fives and cheers, and students told me that they liked the problems we did.

The lesson sequence is from Peter Liljedahl. I didn’t post anything, but said it all out loud. Groups are given the answers to 5 equations, and they need to make the equations to follow the rules. Once a group was done with one set of numbers, I came around to check, and then give them the next set to work on. (See below)

In 45 minutes we had some groups get through 6 of the 7 sets. Most groups got through 5 of them.

Groups not only practiced their operations, but they also needed to use logic to determine which number is made with the fewest possibilities, e.g. in that first number set, 21 can only be made by 3×7 so we know that 3 and 7 cannot be used in any other equation. Students also practiced checking their work for small details like how many repeated operations they used, and if they repeated any of the values 1-10 in their work.

Proud of them for their excellent attitude and effort!