Developing Number Sense in Your Intermediate Classroom
There are many ways to help students develop Number Sense. The most important part of the process is working on it a little each day using activities that are purposefully designed to help students explore numbers and number relationships. Let's focus this page on developing Number Sense using Math Wars.
Math Wars
I LOVE MATH WARS! Yep, I am totally biased toward this strategy. It is simple but powerful! I love the critical thinking that is required and the rich discussion that naturally evolves when using this VERY SIMPLE strategy. C'mon, let's battle.
Take some time to study the image below (yes, really engage in the thinking before you continue to read this post). Who do you think is correct: Patrick Star or Spongebob Squarepants?
Take some time to study the image below (yes, really engage in the thinking before you continue to read this post). Who do you think is correct: Patrick Star or Spongebob Squarepants?
Once you've determine WHO is correct, craft an explanation that tells why you believe that to be true?
(It's that "explain why you believe this to be true" part that generates critical thinking and encourages great discussions, so be sure to invest plenty of time in the discussion without giving away the answer until students have exhausted the discussion -- you'll see, the answer will make itself known without you ever needing to tell it).
How to Start a War
- Choose a topic on which to base the war (I chose place value as my topic).
- Select a single equation or image to represent the topic (I used an image of base ten blocks)
- Choose two characters to oppose each other and prepare a slide (I like to choose characters that the students know -- Batman vs. Superman,Taylor Swift vs. Beyoncé, etc.)
- Have each character state his/her mathematical solution (you can make one right and one wrong, both right, or even both can be wrong!)
- Ask students to determine "Who is correct?" Be sure to prompt them to have an explanation about why they believe that to be true.
- Let the war begin! Begin by simply having a volunteer offer his/her ideas – including the reasoning.
- Then ask if anyone would like to support or respectfully dispute the first claim with additional information.
- Allow the discussion to proceed with students doing all of the talking. Your job is simply to manage "who goes next".
- SMP3 - construct viable arguments
- SMP 3 - critique the reasoning of others
- SMP 1 - make sense of the problem
- SMP 2 - reason abstractly
* TIP: You may be able to use some ideas from the other grade level pages with some simple modifications. Check 'em out!
