Math Practices Summary Sheet Handout 3.

2
MP Indicators Students might think or do:
 “I tried that approach to solving the problem and it
 explain to themselves the meaning of a problem
didn’t work. What’s another way I can try to
 look for entry points to its solution
solve it?”
 analyze givens, constraints, relationships, and goals
 “What’s a useful way to begin working on this
1: Make sense of problems  make conjectures about the form and meaning of
problem?”
and persevere in solving the solution
 They can set up a series of steps to follow to get
them  plan a solution pathway
themselves to the answer.
 consider analogous problems
 “There’s another problem I’ve done that’s like this
 monitor and evaluate progress and change course if that might help me here.”
necessary.
 “This isn’t working; I need to try something else.”
 “How can I capture important information in a
 make sense of quantities and their relationships in diagram or model?”
problem situations  “What solution path does this diagram or model
 decontextualize -‐ abstract and represent a problem imply?”
situation symbolically and manipulate those symbols  “OK, I’ve done all these calculations; now, what
without attending to their referents does that mean in the problem? Does my answer
2: Reason abstractly and
 contextualize -‐ pause during problem solving to connect make sense for answering this problem?”
quantitatively
symbolic work back to the context of the problem  Given the problem:
 Pay attention to the important quantities and There are 3/5 as many boys as girls. If there are 45
relationships between them boys, how many girls are there?,
 use representations to highlight those relationships and a student can create a diagram that shows the
the underlying mathematical structure of a problem relationship between the number of boys, of girls,
and of all the children together.
 A student can state a rule for a pattern, and can
explain why their rule works for that pattern.
 make conjectures and build a logical progression of  When someone claims “multiplying two numbers
statements to explore the truth of their conjectures gives you an answer bigger than either the
 analyze situations by breaking them into cases numbers,” a student can think about:
3: Construct viable arguments  recognize and use counterexamples -‐ what happens when you multiply 2 whole
and critique the reasoning  justify conclusions, communicate them to others, numbers;
of others and respond to the arguments of others -‐ what happens when you multiply by a
 distinguish correct logic or reasoning from that fraction;
which is flawed, and—if there is a flaw in an argument— -‐ what happens when you multiply 2 fractions
explain what it is as separate possibilities to consider.
© Education Development Center, Inc. 2012 For use with: Protocol #3: Rigorous Mathematics

 make assumptions and approximations to simplify a

complicated situation, realizing that these may need  When starting to solve a problem, a student makes a
revision later table, a flowchart or graphs the data to see if that
representation will shed light on the problem
 identify important quantities in a practical situation
solution.
 map their relationships using such tools as diagrams,
4: Model with mathematics  When working on a problem, a student might
two-‐way tables, graphs, flowcharts and formulas
estimate or round off a certain quantity for the
 analyze those relationships mathematically to draw
purpose of moving through the calculation to see
conclusions
what the results are – knowing they will have to
 interpret their mathematical results in the context of readjust to be more precise.
the situation
 A student wants to see how the difference between
values in a table changes, so she begins by making a
5: Use appropriate tools table, then decides to put the information in a
 are familiar with tools appropriate for their grade or
strategically spreadsheet to more easily do the calculations, and
course and can make sound decisions about when
(Ex: pencil and paper, concrete draw conclusions from the results.
each of these tools might be helpful
models, ruler, protractor,  A student is having trouble visualizing a situation
 identify relevant external mathematical resources,
calculator, spreadsheet, computer with a geometric shape, so he creates it in a
such as digital content located on a website, and use
algebra system, statistical package, geometry software application and is able to move
them to pose or solve problems
or dynamic geometry software.) the shape around to see how some parts of the
shape change while keeping certain characteristics of
the shape the same.
 use clear definitions in discussion with others and in their  A student rewrites his explanation to a problem
own reasoning using appropriate mathematics vocabulary.
 state the meaning of the symbols they choose, including
 A student learns why it is incorrect to write 14 + 4 =
using the equal sign consistently and appropriately
18 + 5 = 23 x 2 = 46.
6: Attend to precision  are careful about specifying units of measure, and labeling
axes to clarify the correspondence with quantities in a
 “My calculator says 3.581279, but since I’m asked to
problem find the number of inches, that’s not a number that
 express numerical answers with a degree of precision makes sense to write for measurement in inches. I’ll
appropriate for the problem context say 3.5 or 3.6.”
© Education Development Center, Inc. 2012 For use with: Protocol #3: Rigorous Mathematics
  “Since (problem A) and (problem B) are structurally
the same, what do I know about solving (prob A) that
will help me think about solving (prob B)?”
 look for similar mathematical structures across  “Figuring out what to do with 3 (x + 2) is just like the
seemingly different problems work I did in (?th) grade when I learned that 7 x 8 is
 use those similarities to help them reason about how the same as (7 x 3) + (7 x 5).”
7: Look for and make use of to solve a problem  Would recognize that 17 + 2 (X + 1) will be odd
structure  can step back for an overview and shift perspective because 2(x+1) is even (since it’s 2 times some
 can see complicated things, such as some algebraic number) and 17 is odd, and an odd amount + an
expressions, as single objects or as being composed of even amount will be odd.
several objects  Noticing that all numbers that have a remainder of 4
when divided by 5 will end in either 4 or 9
 “I recognize that 1/3 (A + B + C) is really just the
same as finding the average of 3 numbers.”
 “When I divide 15 by 9, the 9 keeps ‘going in’ 6
times .... over and over again. That means I have a
repeating decimal.”
 “I solve this problem using 8 adults. Then I solved it
 look both for general methods and for shortcuts in the using 10 adults, 12 adults and 20 adults. What’s the
calculations, understanding why the shortcuts work same about my solution steps each time? How can
8: Look for and express
 maintain oversight of the problem-‐solving process, that help me describe a process or an equation for
regularity in repeated
while attending to the details of the calculations the problem?”
reasoning.  continually evaluate the reasonableness of their  (When a student is immersed in some calculations,
intermediate results they can stop and think) “Wait, where am I going
with this? What does 5.76 represent? Where am I in
the process of solving this problem?”
 “Wait, I can’t just write 7.2 because you can’t have
7.2 children in a group.”

© Education Development Center, Inc. 2012 For use with: Protocol #3: Rigorous Mathematics