When was the last time your students wanted to forego lunch so they could continue working through a task? When was the last time your students “high-fived” during math class?  Unfortunately, timed tests and the majority of elementary math curriculums do neither.  If I could force anything to happen at this present moment in education, it would be for complex tasks and elementary mathematics to fall madly in love.

For the record using larger quantities doesn’t make math harder or more complex…it makes math cumbersome!!!  Tedious math is not fun math for students.  Taken straight from the mouth of a 2nd grader earlier this year:

S: Hey Mr. Fletch.  This math is fun!

Me: Oh ya….why’s this math fun?

S: Because it’s like we’re not really doing math!

I’ve spent the last 8 months seeking complex and worthwhile tasks for our elementary students and have repeatedly struck out.  What I’ve come to find out (recently and over the past year), is that there are lots of people who own the idea of complex tasks and being less helpful in Middle and High School (Stadel, Fawn Nguyen,  Kaplinsky, and Dan), but very few in Elementary School.

The scarcity issue with complex tasks in elementary school is alarming! Because of that, I’ve been scrambling to create new tasks and adapting some of the brilliant ones already shared (from the aforementioned gurus). I’m not saying that every K-5 teacher needs to become a task master!  But what I am suggesting is that teachers can take what is already out there and make it accessible to students, without ever compromising the complexity of the task.  Here’s one example of taking a complex high school task and purposefully making it accessible (NOT EASIER) for students!

Below is a side-by-side comparison of Dan Meyer’s Water Tank to my Fish Tank:

The complexity of the problem doesn’t change just because the grade level changes.  The math is made accessible to students but the same struggle occurs in both classes. I’m continually trying to improve in this area and be more purposeful in the choices I make.  For the Fish Tank it took me about 10 minutes to get the water rate to be exactly 10 seconds per cup…but that’s ok.  This is the “behind the scenes stuff”  that purposefully makes the numbers AND this task accessible to 5th grade students.

There is no upper level or lower level math and it is my hope that the push to engage our K-5 students in complex tasks continues.  Thanks to those who are already leading the way  and continue to push me as an educator!  (Yummy Math, Joe Schwartz, Kaplinsky, and my 2 math nerd friends Mike Wiernicki and Jenise Sexton.

The Challenge: Take a complex high school or middle school task and make it accessible for elementary grades.  Then share with the world where to find it.  If you’re already doing this please don’t be selfish and share the love!