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3 Act Mathematical Storytelling: A Venture in a Mathematical Curriculum Development Framework

Storytelling is a fundamental part of human nature.  Epic narrative, myth, and history all attest to the fundamental humanity of "story." There was a time when story was relegated only to the English classroom, but such is no longer the case.  Life is a story which we all live, and in order to lead our students to true real-world connections, it makes sense that through narrative, through story, we will  enrich the lives and academic pursuits of our students.

If you are unfamiliar with how Math can be story I suggest you read and watch the following by Dan Meyer.  It is his framework that I use with these 3 act lessons (also his terminology).
  • Dan's Ted Talk on a Math make over
  • Dan's explanation of the Three Act process
  • Dan's inception of #anyqs
  • Dan's framework for capturing these stories
  • Dan's stash of Three Act Lessons

I have tasted the Kool-Aid, and let me tell you, I cannot get enough of it.  This framework has really helped me focus on the planning and implementation of rich tasks into my teaching practice.  Once you begin planning these types of lessons you seem to be unable to stop. You want more; you need more; you hope that a trip to the grocery store, mall, park, or gas station will lead you to some grand mathematically rich context for your lessons.

I have been trying to make as many of these lessons as possible, and they have been great to implement in my class.  In order for me to organize myself, and offer to make my humble work as accessible as possible I give you my entries into the Three Act lesson world! I will organise them as the British Columbian Education ministry organizes topics in their IRP's.
Number
  • Road Lines - Rates
  • Domino Spiral - Rates
  • Fly me to the moon - Rates
  • Mega Coin - Rates and Ratios
  • Mmm Juice - Rates and Ratios
  • Megalodon - Ratios and Proportions
  • Viva Las Colas - Ratios and Proportions
  • Pepsi Points - Rates
  • Broken Calculator - Number Systems, Place Value

Shape and Space
  • TV Space -  Pythagorean Theorem
  • Domino Spiral - Area
  • Pop Box Design -  Surface area
  • Coca-Cola Slim - Surface Area and Volume
  • Really Big Coke - Volume
  • Mega Coin - Volume
  • Mmm Juice - Volume
  • Viva Las Colas - Volume

Patterns and Relations
Coming Soon 
Statistics and Probabilities
Coming Soon  
Some other folks who are going full tilt into this crazy Three Act World...
  • Dan Anderson
  • John Scammell
  • Andrew Stadel
  • Chris Robinson
  • Nathan Kraft
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