Measurement. Time is Ticking

Topic closures are always a good opportunity to use the lowest SE's reinforce concepts and challenge students with new problems in an engaging way. To review measurement, we chose three topics: unit conversions, area and perimeter problems and elapsed time.

The first activity was a Maze, students had to solve the problem, color the answer to find the next problem, solve it, until they found the exit. As students were finishing, I paired them up for the next puzzle, a unit conversion pyramid. This stage, took longer than I expected, but it was a good opportunity to practice using the STAAR measurement chart. The pyramid, hide a message that lead them to find a QR code with the last problems. Students had to solve elapsed time problems and discover a code.

This was the first time I make a maze like that, and since I didn't want students to just guess, I emphasized that they must support and justify their choice. This prove quite an endeavor for some students. Using this method, students were paired with someone at the same level, this cause an initial reluctancy (mixed groups, boys and girls) but most teams got over it and continue onto the next stage. The pyramid took longer than I expected, and even-though some kids needed support, they were able to figure it out. The time problems presented a different challenge, elapsed time is a concept students usually struggle but I wanted to present it in an engaging way. The problem was that the code I created was too difficult to decipher. The next try, I will modify the keys so the code doesn't generate unnecessary frustration.