Eric Jayne

This activity has students using base-ten blocks to construct towers. The idea is to build the tallest tower using the least amount of blocks. The blocks are given a dollar value, and students must figure out the cost per height of their towers. This is a timed problem-solving activity. I put students in pairs and record each group's results on the board. It's fun to see the different ways students attempt to build their towers. I will record the tallest and most cost effective tower and l

I made this problem-solving activity for my math students to solve after they learned about compound events. Students need to understand the difference between dependent and independent compound events to solve this problem. The problem is embedded in a realistic situation, so students need to determine what information is important and relevant before solving the problem. The multiplication of fractions required for this dependent event might seem lofty at first, but if students simplify fac

One of the areas that students seem to struggle with the most is problem-solving. This download contains my basic plan to approaching problem-solving. It's a plan that has produced solid results for me. Included in the download are the following: a definition of problem-solving from the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics that I use as a poster in my room; an explanation of using a 4-step approach to problem-solving (I send this to parents); a student planner that my students use eve