Mathematicians determine importance based on:- mathematical purpose.
- background knowledge.
- knowledge of text features and structures.
- ideas shared during discussions (202).
Color coding with red and green is one way to draw visual attention to importance. Red indicates those pieces of information where one should STOP and take note since it is IMPORTANT information. Green indicates those pieces of information where one can let GO of the information since it is NOT essential to solving the problem. Might this strategy work with your students?
Laney Sammons gives the recommendation to pose a story problem with plenty of facts, but no questions (213). Ask students what information is important. It should quickly become clear that there is no basis to filter the information since there is no answer to find. Click on the image to grab your copy.
The next step is to give groups of students different questions to answer based on the story. Have each group identify what information is important in answering their given question on chart paper. Once all groups are done post the different charts. Do all the charts have the same information? Why or why not? Discuss how importance is determined by the purpose of the task. Below is a sampling of questions that could be used with the problem above. What other questions come to mind? Click on the image to grab your copy.
