3 Act Tasks: Have you tried them yet?

3 Act Tasks offer our students such an engaging opportunity to make sense of math! However, as teachers, sometimes we are afraid to try something new not knowing where it might take us and scared that something bad might happen.  I just heard an analogy recently about this being like being at the top of a rollercoaster:









via ytCropper
And, while it might have twists and turns and dropoffs, not to mention bugs in the face, it also brings an excitement and thrill that we rarely find doing a traditional math lesson. We need to think about putting ourselves in that precarious position at the top of the rollercoaster; it's what we ask our students to do on a regular basis so that they can grow.  We should try it, too!

3 Act Tasks are real-world problem-solving scenarios which require students to make sense of what to do.  During Act 1, they use the reading skills of visualizing, predicting, and inferring in a math context.  They figure out what they need to know to solve the problem. In Act 2, students work to solve the math question in a way that makes sense to them. They discuss their thinking with a friend and compare their answer to their estimate.  Act 3 is exciting because that is when they find out if they were on the right track!  

While they are working during Act 2, you are monitoring (and asking questions that help them understand--not helping too much).  You are monitoring to see the methods that students used in order to solve the problem.  During Act 3, it is your job to have students share ways that they solved the problem.  These should be sequenced so that you can show connections between different methods. Be clear on what your math target for the lesson was and be sure that your models and discussion help that math target to be evident to everyone.  You synthesize the learning at the end of the lesson.

3 Acts are very visual and often use videos to help students better understand the situation. They follow more of the format of "you do, we do, I do" rather than the traditional layout of "I do, we do, you do."

Typically, a 3 Act Task in K-2  about 20-30 minutes.  In 3-5, a task usually takes about 4o minutes.  As students get stronger and more comfortable, the time needed for a 3 Act might decrease.

I am happy to come and model a 3 Act Task for you and your class, but I know that many of you can do them without my support.  You just need to put yourself on the rollercoaster!

At the top of this blog, you will find a tab labeled 3 Act Tasks.  This will take you to a large number of standards-aligned tasks that I have organized using SMART Notebook (and sometimes Google slides).  They are by a variety of mathematicians; I just put all of the pieces together into one format.  You can also find more great tasks by clicking here or here or even by Googling 3 Act Tasks.

As always, share with me your questions, struggles, or successes and let me know how I can help!