Hi {{custom.firstName}},

 

I’m so excited for your students to try out Bumpers, a world for learning about equations and their solutions.

 

Here’s a confession: I often find it hard to know what to do with wrong answers to multiple choice questions. (For instance, ⅛ + x = ¾ here.) Unlike free response questions where you can find value even in wrong answers, this answer just sits here . . . wrong . . . without any hint of the interesting thinking behind it.

The bumper in this lesson.

Tell me about a different world.

 

One way we like to help students make sense of and see value in a wrong answer is to ask them:

 

"What would have to be true about the original problem so that the wrong answer was correct?"

 

“Tell me about a world where ⅛ + x = ¾ was correct,” you can ask your students. “How would it look different?”

 

Here, that means the bumper would start at ⅛ and the star would be at ¾, reversing their position!

 

This connection can help students develop their understanding of adding positive and negative numbers. They're also likely to understand their value as thinkers and the value of their thoughts, even the ones that are still developing.

 

Dan & the Desmos Classroom Team

PS. Please give us feedback on the last lesson.

Use the feedback form or just click your answer below then click "Submit" on the form!

 

How likely is it that you would recommend this lesson to a friend or colleague?

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