Math Provocations using GAFE and other tools

Math provocations are fairly new to me.  I am still getting into them, and my kids are beginning to start to ask some neat and deeper questions.  I got the idea from a team of 2/3 teachers at Irma Coulson P.S. in Milton.  I am lucky enough to be a co-facilitator on a board sponsored ICT project.  Schools team up, co-plan and implement a lesson incorporating more tech into the classroom.

Anyway, my math provocations.  The first one I did was this:



I asked the students what math questions they could come up with about this bell. I shared a spreadsheet with the whole class. This allowed me to fit a little digital citizenship lesson into the class. My main theme there was about respecting each other in a shared space (shared online space). The students were to put their name and question on the spreadsheet and problem-solve any erased names or questions.

Some examples:

1. How heavy is the bell?
2. How hold it the bell?
3. What is the capacity of the bell?
4. I wonder how long 100 bells are?
5. What is the area and perimeter of the bell?

And so forth....

We looked through the questions and discussed how they were or were not math questions. And made some estimates.

My next thought was to put the image and a request on Twitter. A few adults responded with questions about the bell. My purpose was to compare adult provocations with student provocations.
I created a quick Storify just before class to share and discuss what questions the adults asked. It was neat to see similar questions, but worded differently.

Finally I extended the idea using Google Classroom. I shared links about the bell, so students could research and maybe answer some of the questions asked. The shared spreadsheet was altered, and I put an answer tab on it. I also extended some questions, so students could see how to extend their thinking too.

Spreadsheet
Storify

This weekend for homework, I am going to challenge the students to take a picture and post it on my Padlet, with a provocation.... And extend it by asking a question about someone else's image.

Homework Padlet
Tomorrow's provocation


I love this idea.  It was a mere 10 minutes in my class, maybe 15, and the thinking and discussion was great. The next time, I may use a Google Form to pose questions.