Teaching and Learning

Mathematics through
Problem Solving

Facilitator’s Handbook
A Guide to Effective Instruction in
Mathematics, Kindergarten to Grade 6
(with reference to Volume Two)

The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat Professional Learning Series

Aims of Numeracy Professional
2
Learning
• Promote the belief that all students have learned some
mathematics through their lived experiences in the world
and that the mathematics classroom is one where
students bring that thinking to their work
• Build teachers’ expertise at setting classroom conditions
where students can move from their informal math
understandings to generalizations and formal
representations of their mathematical thinking
• Assist educators working with teachers of students in the
junior division to implement student-focused instructional
methods referenced in A Guide to Effective Instruction in
Mathematics, Kindergarten to Grade 6 to improve student
achievement
Aims continued 3

• Have teachers experience mathematical problem solving as

a model of what effective math instruction entails by:
– collectively solving problems relevant to students’ lives that
reflect the expectations in the Ontario mathematics
curriculum
– viewing and discussing the thinking and strategies in the
solutions
– sorting and classifying the responses to a problem to
provide a visual image of the range of experience and
understanding of the mathematics
– analysing the visual continuum of thinking to determine
starting points and next steps for instruction
Overall Learning Goals for
4
Problem Solving
During this session, participants will:
• become familiar with the notion of learning
mathematics for teaching as a focus for
numeracy professional learning
• experience learning mathematics through
problem solving
• solve problems in different ways
• develop strategies for teaching mathematics
through problem solving
Effective Mathematics Teaching
5
and Learning
 Mathematics classrooms must be challenging and
engaging environments for all students, where
students learn significant mathematics.
 Students are called to engage in solving rich and
relevant problems. These problems offer several
entry points so that all students can achieve, given
sufficient time and support.
 Lessons are structured to build on students’ prior
knowledge.

Agree, Disagree, Not Sure

Effective Mathematics Teaching
6
and Learning continued
 Students develop their own varied solutions to
problems and thus develop a deeper understanding
of the mathematics involved.
 Students consolidate their knowledge through
shared and independent practice.
 Teachers select and/or organize students’ solutions
for sharing to highlight the mathematics learning
(e.g., bansho, gallery walk, math congress).
 Teachers need specific mathematics knowledge and
mathematics pedagogy to teach effectively.

Agree, Disagree, Not Sure

What Does It Mean to Learn
Mathematics for Teaching? 7
Deborah Loewenberg Ball
8
Mathematics for Teaching
• Expert personal knowledge of subject matter is
often, ironically, inadequate for teaching.
• It requires the capacity to deconstruct one’s own
knowledge into a less polished final form where
critical components are accessible and visible.
• Teachers must be able to do something perverse:
work backward from a mature and compressed
understanding of the content to unpack its
constituent elements and make mathematical ideas
accessible to others.
• Teachers must be able to work with content for
students while it is in a growing and unfinished
state.
What Do Teachers Need to Know and
9
Be Able to Do Mathematically?
• Understand the sequence and relationship between
math strands within textbook programs and materials
within and across grade levels
• Know the relationship between mathematical ideas,
conceptual models, terms, and symbols
• Generate and use strategic examples and different
mathematical representations using manipulatives
• Develop students’ mathematical communication –
description, explanation, and justification
• Understand and evaluate the mathematical significance
of students’ comments and coordinate discussion for
mathematics learning
Why Study Problem Solving?

10
Why Study Problem Solving?

11
Why Study Problem Solving?

12
Why Study Problem Solving? 13

EQAO suggests that

• a significant number of Grades 3 and 6 students
exhibited difficulty in understanding the demands of
open-response problem-solving questions in
mathematics
• many Grades 3 and 6 students, when answering open-
response questions in mathematics, had difficulty
explaining their thinking in mathematical terms
Excerpted from EQAO. (2006). Summary of Results and Strategies for Teachers:
Grade 3 and 6 Assessments of Reading, Writing, and Mathematics, 2005 –2006
 An Overview 14

A Guide to Effective Instruction in

Mathematics, Kindergarten to Grade 6

Volume 1: Volume 5:
Foundations of Teaching Basic
Mathematics Instruction Facts and Multidigit
Computations
Volume 2:
Volume 3: Volume 4:
Problem Solving and
Classroom Assessment and
Communication
Resources and Home Connections
Management
In What Ways Does A Guide to
15
Effective Instruction in Mathematics
Describe Problem Solving?
1. List 2 ideas about problem <put in graphic of
solving that are familiar. Volume 2 – Problem
solving>
2. List 2 ideas about problem
solving that are unfamiliar.
3. List 2 ideas about problem
solving that are puzzling.

Familiar, Unfamiliar, Puzzling

Problem Solving 16

Session A
Activating Prior
Knowledge
Learning Goals of the Module 17

Experience learning mathematics through

problem solving by:
• identifying what problem solving looks,
sounds, and feels like
• relating aspects of Polya’s problem-solving
process to problem-solving experiences
• experiencing ways that questioning and
prompts provoke our mathematical thinking
Curriculum Connections

18
Curriculum Connections

19
Warm Up – Race to Take Up Space 20

Goal: To cover the game board with rectangles

Players: 2 (individual) to 4 (teams of 2)
Materials: 7x9 square tiles grid game board, 32 same-
colour square tiles per player, 2 dice
How to Play:
1. Take turns rolling the dice to get 2 numbers.
2. Multiply the 2 dice numbers to calculate the area of a
rectangle (e.g., 4, 6  area = 24 square units).
3. Construct a rectangle of the area calculated, using
square tiles of the same colour.
4. Place your rectangle on the game board.
5. Lose a turn if the rectangle you constructed cannot
be placed on the empty space on the game board.
6. The game ends when no more rectangles can be placed on the
game board. Which player is left with the most tiles?
Working on It – Carpet Problem 21

Hello Grade 4 students, 1. What is the problem to

solve?
The carpet you have been 2. Why is this problem a
asking for arrives tonight. problem?
Please clear a space in your
room today that will fit this 3. Show two different ways
new carpet. The perimeter to solve this carpet
of the carpet is 12 m. problem.
4. How do you know we
From your principal have all the possible
solutions?

A Guide to Effective Instruction, Vol. 2 – Problem Solving, pp. 18–25

Look Back – Reflect and Connect 22
How Were the Students Solving the Problem?
Read one page from the Mathematical Processes
“Problem Solving a) problem solving
Vignette” on pp. 18–25.
b) reasoning and
1. What mathematics was evident in
the students’ development of a proving
solution to the carpet problem? c) reflecting
2. Describe the mathematical d) selecting tools and
processes that the students were
computational
using to develop a solution.
strategies
3. Provide specific details from the
vignette text to justify your e) connecting
description. f) representing
g) communicating
Look Back continued
Focus on the one or two
pages that you read from
the “Problem- Solving
Vignette.”
4. What questions does the
teacher ask to make the
problem-solving process
explicit?
5. What strategies does the
teacher use to engage all the
students in solving this carpet
problem?
23
Polya’s Problem-Solving Process
Understand the Problem
Communicate – talk to understand the
problem
Make a Plan
Communicate – discuss ideas with others to
clarify strategies
Carry Out the Plan
Communicate – record your thinking using
manipulatives, pictures, words, numbers,
and symbols
Look Back
Communicate – verify, summarize/
generalize, validate, and explain
Next Steps in Our Classroom 24

1. Describe two strategies from the “Problem-

Solving Vignette” that you use and two
strategies that you will begin to use in your
classroom to engage students in problem
solving.
2. Keep a written record of the questions that you
ask to make the problem-solving process
explicit.
3. Practise noticing the breadth of mathematics
that students use in their solutions.
4. During class discussions, make explicit
comments about the mathematics students are
showing in their solutions.
Problem Solving 25

Session B
Modelling and
Representing
Area
Learning Goals of the Module 26

Solving problems in different ways and developing

strategies for teaching mathematics through
problem solving in order to:
• understand the range of students’ mathematical
thinking (mathematical constructs) inherent in
solutions developed by students in a combined
Grade 4 and 5 class
• develop strategies for posing questions and
providing prompts to provoke a range of
mathematical thinking
• develop strategies for coordinating students’
mathematical thinking and communication (bansho)
 Curriculum Connections

27

Specific Expectations Gr 3
Specific Expectations Gr 4

Specific Expectations Gr 5
 Curriculum Connections

28

Specific Expectations
Warm Up – The Size of Things 29

How do the areas of the items compare?

How do you know?
1. Examine the cards in the envelope a five-dollar bill
on your table.
2. Order the items on the cards from a credit card
smallest to largest area.
3. How do you know that your order is a cheque
accurate?
an envelope
3. Compare the order of your cards
with that of another group at your
table.
4. Discuss any differences you
observe.
Working on It –
30
4 Square Units Problem
Show as many polygons as possible
that have an area of 4 square units.
a) Create your polygons on a
geoboard.
b) Record them on square dot paper.
c) Label the polygons by the number
of sides (e.g., triangle, rectangle,
quadrilateral, octagon).
d) Show how you know that each of
your polygons are 4 square units.
Working on It continued 31

1. What could a polygon look like that is

a) 1 square unit?
b) 2 square units?
a) one square unit b) two square units

2. a) What is the area of this polygon?

b) How can you reason about
half-square units?
Working on It continued 32

3. Show as many polygons as possible

that have an area of 4 square units.
a) Create your polygons on a
geoboard.
b) Record them on square dot paper.
c) Label the polygons by the number
of sides (e.g., triangle, rectangle,
quadrilateral, octagon).
d) Show how you know that each of
your polygons is 4 square units.
Constructing a Collective Thinkpad
33
Bansho as Assessment for Learning
Organize student solutions to make explicit the mathematics inherent in
this problem. Solutions that show similar mathematical thinking are
arranged vertically to look like a concrete bar graph.

Squares Rectangles Polygons (composed Parallelograms, Triangles Polygons (composed

of rectangles): and so on of other polygons):
octagons, hexagons, hexagons, and so on
and so on
Look Back – Reflect and Connect
Questioning and Prompting Students to 34
Share Their Mathematical Thinking

See Volume 2, Problem Solving and Communication (pp. 32–34).

In groups of 2 or 3, share the reading and
answer these questions:
1. What is the purpose of carefully questioning and
prompting students during and after problem solving?
2. What are a few things that teachers need to keep in
mind when preparing questions for a reflect-and-
connect part of a lesson?
3. How should teachers use think-alouds to promote
learning during a math lesson?
Next Steps in Our Classroom 35

1. Describe 2 strategies that you use to get

students to share their mathematical thinking as
they solve problems.
2. Describe 2 strategies that you will begin to use
in your classroom to engage students in
communicating their mathematical thinking.
3. Keep a written record of the prompts you use to
unearth the mathematical ideas during problem
solving.
4. Practise noticing the breadth of mathematics
that students use in their solutions.
5. During class discussions, make explicit
comments about the mathematics students are
showing in their solutions.
Problem Solving 36

Session C
Organizing and
Coordinating
Student Solutions
to Problems Using
Criteria
Learning Goals of the Module 37

Develop strategies for teaching mathematics

through problem solving by:
• recognizing and understanding the range of
mathematical thinking (e.g., concepts, strategies) in
students’ solutions
• organizing student solutions purposefully to make
explicit the mathematics
• developing strategies for coordinating students’
mathematical thinking and communication (bansho)
• describing the teacher’s role in teaching through
problem solving
Curriculum Connections

38
Curriculum Connections

39
Warm Up – Composite Shape Problem 40

What could a composite shape look like that …

• has an area of 4 square units?
• is composed of 3 rectangles (Grade 5)?
• is composed of at least one rectangle, one
triangle, and one parallelogram (Grade 6)?

1. Draw and describe at least one composite

shape that meets these criteria.
2. Explain the strategies you used to create
each composite shape.
3. Justify how your composite shape meets the
criteria listed in the problem.

Think-Aloud
Working on It – L-shaped Problem 41

1. What is the area of this shape? 4 cm

a) Show at least 2 different
solutions.
b) Explain the strategies used.
2. For Grade 5: 8 cm
a) Use only rectangles.
b) What is the relationship
between the side lengths and 4 cm
the area of the rectangle?
3. For Grade 6: 6 cm
a) Use only triangles.
b) What is the relationship between the area of a
rectangle and the area of a triangle?
Constructing a Collective Thinkpad
42
Bansho as Assessment for Learning
1. What does the teacher need to do to
understand the range of student
responses? (See pp. 48–50.)
2. What does the teacher need to know and
do to coordinate class discussion so it
builds on the mathematical knowledge from
student responses? (See pp. 48–50.)

Mathematics Chapter/Unit - Gr 5 and 6 – Calculating Area of Rectangles and Triangles Date

Mathematics Task/Problem – Learning Goals (Curriculum Possible Solutions
What is the area of this figure? Show Expectations) 1
2 different solutions. Gr 5 – use 2
rectangles. Gr 6 – use triangles.
3
Seating plan to record student responses 4

6
 Understanding Range of Gr 5 Responses 43

4 cm 4 cm 4 cm 4 cm 4 cm

8 cm 8 cm 8 cm 8 cm 8 cm

4 cm 4 cm 4 cm 4 cm 4 cm

6 cm 6 cm 6 cm 6 cm 6 cm

4 cm 4 cm 4 cm
4 cm
6 cm

4 cm

8 cm
8 cm 8 cm 8 cm

8 cm

4 cm
4 cm 4 cm 4 cm

6 cm 6 cm 6 cm
4 cm
6 cm

Will these strategies work for any size L-shaped figure? Bansho
 Understanding Range of Gr 6 Responses 44

4 cm 4 cm 4 cm 4 cm 4 cm

8 cm 8 cm 8 cm 8 cm 8 cm

4 cm 4 cm 4 cm 4 cm 4 cm

6 cm 6 cm 6 cm 6 cm 6 cm

4 cm 4 cm
6 cm

What’s the relationship between

4 cm

calculating the area of a

8 cm

8 cm
8 cm

rectangle and calculating the

4 cm

4 cm

6 cm
4 cm area of a triangle?
6 cm

Bansho
Look Back – Reflect and Connect 45

1. What mathematics is evident in the

solutions?
2. Which problem-solving strategies
were used to develop solutions?
(See pp. 38–44.)
3. How are the following mathematical
processes evident in the
development of the solutions:
a) problem solving
b) reasoning and proving
c) reflecting
d) selecting tools and computation
strategies
e) connecting
f) representing
g) communicating
Look Back continued 46

4. What are some ways that the teacher can support student
problem solving? (See pp. 30-34.)
47
Next Steps in Our Classroom 48

1. Choose 4 student work samples to analyse

and describe in terms of:
a) the mathematics evident in their work
b) the problem-solving strategies used to
develop their solutions.
2. Reflect on and apply 2 of the following
strategies to support student learning of
mathematics through problem solving:
a) bansho
b) think-aloud
c) any teaching strategy from pp. 30–34, 38–44, or 48–50.
Problem Solving 49

Session D
Selecting and
Writing Effective
Mathematics Problems
for Learning
Learning Goals of the Module 50

Develop strategies for teaching mathematics

through problem solving by:
• identifying the purpose of problems for learning
mathematics
• analysing the characteristics of effective
problems
• analysing problems from resource materials
according to criteria of effective problems
• selecting, adapting, and/or writing problems
 Insert

Warm Up – About Problems cover vol

2
51

1. What are the purposes of problems in terms of learning

mathematics?
2. How are the ideas about problems, described on pp. 6–7,
similar to and different from your ideas?
 Insert

Warm Up continued cover vol

2
52

3. What do you think are the key aspects of effective

mathematics problems?
4. How are the ideas about mathematics problems,
described on pp. 26-28, similar to and different from your
ideas?
 Working on It – Analysis of Problems
1. How do the following problems
from sessions A, B, and C
measure up to the Criteria for
Effective Mathematics
Problems?
a. Race to Take Up Space
b. Carpet Problem
c. The Size of Things
d. 4 Square Units Problem
e. Composite Shape Problem
f. L-shaped Problem
2. What are the relationships
among the six problems?
53
Criteria for Effective
Mathematics Problems
• solution is not immediately
obvious
• provides a learning situation
related to a key concept as
per grade-specific curriculum
expectations
• promotes more than one
solution and strategy
• situation requires decision
making above and beyond
choosing a mathematical
operation
• solution time is reasonable
• encourages collaboration in
seeking solutions
Working On It continued
3. Consolidation is the third
part of the three-part
problem solving-based
lesson. What does it mean
to consolidate learning in a
lesson?
4. Write consolidation
problems for session A, B,
and C, using the Criteria for
Effective Mathematics
Problems.
54
Criteria for Effective
Mathematics Problems
• solution is not immediately
obvious
• provides a learning situation
related to a key concept as per
grade-specific curriculum
expectations
• promotes more than one
solution and strategy
• situation requires decision
making above and beyond
choosing a mathematical
operation
• solution time is reasonable
• encourages collaboration in
seeking solutions
Curriculum Connections – Session A 55

Grade 3 –
• Estimate, measure (i.e., using centimeter grid paper, arrays), and
record area (e.g., if a row of 10 connecting cubes is approximately
the width of a book, skip counting down the cover of the book with
the row of cubes [i.e., counting 10, 20, 30, ...] is one way to
determine the area of the book cover).

Grade 4 –
• Determine, through investigation, the relationship between the side
lengths of a rectangle and its perimeter and area (Sample problem:
Create a variety of rectangles on a geoboard. Record the length,
width, area, and perimeter of each rectangle on a chart. Identify
relationships.)
• Pose and solve meaningful problems that require the ability to
distinguish perimeter and area.
Curriculum Connections – Session B 56
Grade 3 –
• Estimate, measure, and record area using standard units.
• Describe through investigation using grid paper, the relationship between
the size of a unit of area and the number of units needed to cover a
surface.
Grade 4 –
• Estimate, measure, and record area, using a variety of strategies.
• Determine the relationships among units and measurable attributes,
including the area of rectangles.
• Pose and solve meaningful problems that require the ability to distunuish
perimeter and area
Grade 5 –
• Estimate, measure, and record area using a variety of strategies.
• Estimate and measure the perimeter and area of regular and irregular
polygons.
• Create through investigation using a variety of tools and strategies, two-
dimensional shapes with the same area.
Grade 6 –
• Construct a rectangle, a square, a triangle, and a parallelogram using a
variety of tools given the area.
Curriculum Connections - Session C 57

Grade 5 –
• Estimate and measure the area of irregular polygons using a variety
of tools.
• Determine through investigation using a variety of tools and
strategies, the relationships between the length and width of a
rectangle and its area and generalize to develop a formula.

Grade 6 –
• Construct a rectangle, a square, a triangle using a variety of tools.
• Determine through investigation using a variety of tools and
strategies, the relationship between the area of rectangle and the
area of triangle by decomposing and composing.
• Solve problems involving the estimation and calculation of the area
of triangles.
Three-Part Lesson Design 58

Session Before During After

(Warm Up) (Working On It) (Reflect and Connect)

A Race to Take The Carpet consolidation

Up Space Problem problem?

B The Size of 4 Square Units consolidation

Things Problem problem?

C Composite L-shaped consolidation

Shape Problem problem?
Problem
Look Back – Reflect and Connect 59

1. Solve 2 consolidation
problems: one that you
wrote and one that a
colleague wrote.
2. What mathematics do you
recognize in your solutions
and in the solutions of your
colleague?
3. What mathematical
processes are evident in
your solving of the two
consolidation problems?
Look Back continued 60

4. What are some ways that the teacher should support

student problem solving for these consolidation
problems? (See pp. 30–34.)
Next Steps in Our Classroom 61

Reflect on your classroom practices in teaching

mathematics through problem solving.
1. How do the problems from your resource
materials compare to the Criteria for
Effective Mathematics Problems?
2. Gather 4 student solutions to a
consolidation problem from your resource
materials.
3. Write 2 problems that better consolidate
student learning using the Criteria for
Effective Mathematics Problems.
4. Gather solutions to your improved
consolidation problems from the same 4
students. What’s the difference in their
solutions?
Revisiting the Learning Goals 62

During this session, participants will:

• become familiar with the notion of learning
mathematics for teaching as a focus for numeracy
professional learning
• experience learning mathematics through problem
solving
• solve problems in different ways to develop strategies
for teaching mathematics through problem solving
• develop strategies for teaching mathematics through
problem solving

Which learning goals did you achieve? How do you know?

Revisiting the Learning Goals continued 63

1. Describe some key ideas and strategies that you

learned about teaching and learning mathematics
through problem solving.
2. Which ideas and strategies have you implemented in
your classroom? Describe your own classroom
vignette.
3. How have you shared these ideas and strategies with
teachers and school leaders at your school? In your
region?
4. How did these ideas and strategies impact student
learning of mathematics?
5. What are your next steps for continuing to learn
mathematics for teaching?
Revisiting the Learning Goals continued 64

• Understanding the sequence and relationship between

math strands within textbook programs and materials
within and across grade levels
• Understanding the relationships among mathematical
ideas, conceptual models, terms, and symbols
• Generating and using strategic examples and different
mathematical representations using manipulatives
• Developing students’ mathematical communication -
description, explanation, and justification
• Understanding and evaluating the mathematical
significance of students’ comments and coordinating
discussion for mathematics learning
Professional Learning Opportunities 65

Collaborate with other teachers through:

• Co-teaching
• Coaching
• Teacher inquiry/study

View
• Coaching Videos on Demand
(www.curriculum.org)
• Deborah Loewenberg Ball webcast
(www.curriculum.org)
• E-workshop (www.eworkshop.on.ca)