Problem-Based Learning Blog

Example 1:

Presentation in class

Example 2:

This model would work well for doing a math related task. I would pair students up ahead of time thinking about their skill level and how well they work with a partner.

Step 1: Present or Identify the Problem

We are having an end of year class award's assembly. There are 19 students in our class.  Each student can bring 2 or 3 family members. We need to decide how many chairs to set up. 

Step 2: Development Plan For Problem Solving

I would have students work with a partner to come up with a plan on how to figure out how many chairs we would need to set up. They would draw out their plan to show their idea. If pairs are struggling, scaffolding questions could be used to help them think through their plan. Using any resources in the classroom would be an option as well. (Ex. unifix cubes, base ten blocks, calculator, etc.)

Step 3: Implement the Plan

Students would try out their plan, showing their thinking and math reasoning (Extension: Show how they would set up the chairs once they know how many chairs we would need. This could also be tomorrow's lesson.)

Step 4:  Evaluate the Implementation

In this step, students would evaluate whether or not their plan worked. Did they set up enough chairs for the class and their family members? This would also be a good time for them to share the plan. Any misconceptions could be discussed as a group. The plan everyone liked best and agreed on would be the plan used. Students would then set up the chairs according to our plan for the class award's assembly.

Technology
Taking pictures or doing video recordings during the problem solving would be fun to share with parents at the award's assembly.

2.OA.1 Use addition and subtraction within 100 to solve one- and two-step word problems involving situations of adding to, taking from, putting together, taking apart, and comparing with unknowns in all positions, for example, by using drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem. 

2.OA.3 Determine whether a group of objects (up to 20) has an odd or even number of members, (for example, by pairing objects or counting them by twos). Write an equation to express an even number as a sum of two equal addends.