Wednesday, August 31, 2016

#MTBoSBlaugust Always Sometimes Never Reprise

Always, Sometimes, Never are statements that allow students to justify thinking using prediction, inference, and testing hypotheses.  Last summer I started a website curating statements to be used for this purpose.

Currently there are 179 ASN statements in 13 categories:  Absolute Value, Conic Sections, Exponential Functions, Financial Literacy, Functions, Geometry, Linear Equations, Number Properties, Polynomials, Real Number System, Systems of Equations, Trigonometry, and Trig Identities. I have plans to continue adding categories and statements to this site - until I run out of ideas :)  I'd love your help ... click here to offer suggestions!

I created two templates for collecting student work:
Template 1 for working with multiple statements
Template 2 (2 per page) for working with a single statement


My ideas include:

Using one slide as a warm-up or discussion or debate starter.  Simply project the slide of choice.  Use the structure, "Think, Pair, Share" so that individuals consider the statement and they talk the math with their neighbors.  Ask students to defend their solutions and if there are varying ideas, invite students to "win over" the other group!

A second idea is to use a set of slides, maybe 4, 6 or 8 of them for formative assessment or small group discussion.  Students categorize the statements and justify their reasoning for the sometimes and never statements.

You could use the slides for homework, for student blog or writing assignments, or a review station!

When using ASN statements ...
  • encourage students to talk math with one another, agreeing, questioning each other, helping others to think through their reasoning
  • suggest that students consider working through examples, use modeling, tables, graphs, equations to justify their work
  • ask probing questions to help students clarify their thinking or to develop their vocabulary
  • possibly review expected vocabulary before beginning the activity
  • obviously the key is for all students to explain their thinking!
I'm curious ... if you use the site will you share in the comments?  How do you use it in your classroom?



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