Writing to Form Mathematical Arguments
Instructional Support
Task
What is the main activity that students
will be working on in this lesson?
Students are asked to share their thoughts
about their favorite and least favorite method
to solve quadratic equations out of the four we
have learned. Once they have responded, I will
separate them into groups for a four corners
debate the next day.
What are the various ways that
students might complete the activity?
I anticipate a lot of students will just say
“because it’s easy/hard”, and not really go into
the mathematical arguments for why their
method really is better than someone else’s
choice. Others may touch on a few
mathematical procedures, or even use
reasoning that includes mathematical ideas
rather than easy/hard.
What tools or resources will students have to use in their
work that will give them entry to, and help them reason
through, the activity?
Students will be allowed to use their notes and book in order to
help decide on their response and support it.
I will also provide a model response that I will complete while they
are journaling. This will show the type of reasoning that I am
looking for in a mathematics argument.
What questions might you ask students that will support
their exploration of the activity and bridge between
what they did and what you want them to learn (the
two green boxes)?
To be clear on what students actually did, begin by asking a set of
assessing questions such as: What did you do? How did you get
that? What does this mean? Once you have a clearer sense of what
the student understands, move on to appropriate set of questions
below.
What makes this method easier than another? Why do you think
you understand it better than the others? Will this method always
work? If so, when wouldn’t it work? Is there a method that always
works better than another? What if you are given
(standard/factored/vertex) form, what would you use? What form
do you need to have in order to use the method we call “square
roots”?
Learning Goals (Residue)
What understandings will students take
away from this activity?
This lesson will expose students to the idea of
mathematical reasoning. I plan to model my
responses that I write during class in order to
begin to show students what type of arguments
are used in math. The debate is meant to
reinforce this idea, and the goal is to push
students beyond the arguments that stick to the
“it’s easier/harder” mantra that students
are so fond of.
Evidence
What will students say, do, produce, etc.
that will provide evidence of their
understandings?
 compare and contrast their method
with others, systematically explaining
why they prefer this to the others
 show examples of instances where one
may work better than another
 argue that depending on the given
information, their preferred method
may change