As a teacher in today’s educational landscape, there are so many resources to choose from. I prioritize materials that will enrich learning and go hand-in-hand with the principles and lessons I teach. Our school uses the math EnVisions program, and I have utilized Exemplars math tasks to bring an element of problem-solving into group work that I felt was missing. I have been a teacher for 10 years and have worked in different grade levels, both in special education and an inclusion setting. In every one of my classrooms, I felt as if students’ problem-solving skills were not up to par. I normally see students shutting down when they see words or a word problem that requires them to explain.
Closing the Gap in Problem-Solving Skills
How Exemplars Transformed My Math Classroom
Written by: Kristy Rubino, 5th Grade Teacher, NV
Exemplars open-ended tasks give students practice in explaining, working out multi-step word problems, and cooperating with a group. These tasks require students to find useful information and then decipher how to solve the problem using what they know. These are the types of questions that students will see on performance tasks in standardized tests, and ones that can prepare them for mathematical scenarios in real life. With these problems, they cannot solely rely on classmates, but need to work out their own methods on paper and then be able to either explain in words or verbally to the class or their group. This touches upon many different levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.
"Exemplars open-ended tasks give students practice in explaining, working out multi-step word problems, and cooperating with a group."
Since implementing groups with an Exemplars station in my classroom, I have seen more perseverance in students solving difficult problems and an increase in students’ ability to explain their thinking. My students also understand that problems can be solved in different ways and still arrive at the same answer. Students take great pride in filling out their work papers, and even take them home to show parents some of the difficult problems they were able to persevere through.
"Exemplars resources are excellent for high achievers, students who need work on explaining their thinking, test preparation, tutoring, sub plans, early finishers, morning work, homework, summer school, winter break packets, or even as a teacher’s small group."
Exemplars resources are excellent for high achievers, students who need work on explaining their thinking, test preparation, tutoring, sub plans, early finishers, morning work, homework, summer school, winter break packets, or even as a teacher’s small group. It all depends on what specifically your students need, but this flexibility for such a high-quality resource is fantastic! This resource has also helped students understand the importance of a rubric and what a top-notch answer and explanation should look like. The rubric’s visuals, along with the student work examples, have really helped students who normally have no clue where to start or what a teacher is looking for. This will help them when they move on to higher grades or even college work.
Thank you to Exemplars for the aforementioned reasons and for many soon to come!