MINI LESSON: Writing Math How Tos

Writing Math How Tos

Overview:

In this activity, students will create Posts from scratch, using a picture of a recently solved math problem as their image. Students will the audio feature to record and explain how they successfully solved the math problem. (As the teacher, you can decide if you want it to be addition/subtraction/multiplication, etc.)

Objectives:

• I can solve a math problem.
• I can explain to my classmates how I solved this problem.

Standards:

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.OA.A.1

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.OA.A.1

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.OA.A.1

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.OA.A.1

Vocabulary:

• Post

Materials:

• One to one student devices
• Individual student Posts

Lesson Outline:

• Part One: Do the math!

• Have students complete a math problem or choose a recently (successfully) completed math problem.
• Using your one-to-one devices, have students take a picture of the math problem they solved.
• Have students create a post from scratch using the photo they took of their math problem.

• Part Two: Explain how it’s done.
• Start by writing an explanation for solving the math problem in their Post. Use a step-by-step list.
• Once students have created their Post, have them use the audio feature to explain how they solved their problem. If students are struggling with how to start, have them pretend they are teaching how to solve their problem to a friend or classmate. They can even explain it to another person as they record if that helps them feel more comfortable.

• Part Three: Publish

• When students are done, have them publish to their class Group or to a public Group like Math is Life (students must be members of the Group in order to publish into it).

Enrichment/Extensions:

• Have students listen to and comment on the Posts of their classmates.
• Students can create additional explanatory Posts for more (or more difficult) problems.
• Students can assist classmates in successfully finishing their Posts.

Accommodations:

• Use the Description area when creating an Idea to provide step-by-step instructions or links to instructional references (ie skill videos, visual aids, etc).
• Use the audio tool to record instructions when creating an Idea. You can read the Idea and Idea Description text out loud so students can listen and replay them as needed.
• Modify the lesson to include small groups and be sure to follow provided personalized accommodations based upon any student’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP).