Lesson 14

Notice and Wonder

Warm-up: Notice and Wonder: Sharing Bread (10 minutes)

Narrative

The purpose of this warm-up is for students to discuss how sharing situations can be represented using division and fractions, which will be useful when students create their own Notice and Wonder in a later activity. In the synthesis it is important to discuss things the writer had to pay attention to when they designed this activity.

Launch

  • Groups of 2
  • Display the image.
  • “What do you notice? What do you wonder?”
  • 1 minute: quiet think time

Activity

  • “Discuss your thinking with your partner.”
  • 1 minute: partner discussion
  • Share and record responses.

Student Facing

What do you notice? What do you wonder?

photograph, garlic bread

Student Response

For access, consult one of our IM Certified Partners.

Activity Synthesis

  • “What did the writer of this activity have to pay attention to when they designed this activity?”
  • “Where do we see those things in what we noticed and wondered?” (something that can easily be shared, something that is divided or cut up, equal pieces)
  • Record and display responses for all to see.

Activity 1: Design Your Notice and Wonder (20 minutes)

Narrative

The purpose of this activity is for students to work in groups to create a Notice and Wonder activity that focuses on viewing quotients as fractions. Students find an image in a book or from another source and fill in what other students might notice and wonder about the image.

Required Preparation

  • Gather books, magazines, or other print materials with images for each group of 2 students.

Launch

  • Groups of 2
  • “You will create a Notice and Wonder activity. Use the magazines or books to find an image that shows sharing or can be used to represent division as a fraction.”

Activity

  • 15 minutes: partner work time

Student Facing

  1. Find an image that would encourage your classmates to notice and wonder about sharing and interpreting the result as a fraction.
  2. Fill in the possible things students might notice and wonder about your image.

Students may notice:

Students may wonder:

Student Response

For access, consult one of our IM Certified Partners.

Activity Synthesis

  • “What questions do you still have about creating a Notice and Wonder?” (How do I know what someone will notice or wonder? What if they don't think of division when they see the picture? What if they focus on a part of the picture I was not thinking about?)
  • Give students a few minutes to make adjustments based on questions, if needed.

Activity 2: Facilitate Your Notice and Wonder (15 minutes)

Narrative

The purpose of this activity is for students to facilitate the Notice and Wonder they created in the previous activity for another group in the class. Each group should be paired with another group and they will take turns facilitating their Notice and Wonder for the other group. If time allows, students could facilitate their Notice and Wonder with more than 1 group.

MLR8 Discussion Supports. At the appropriate time, give students 2–3 minutes to make sure that everyone in their group can explain their Notice and Wonder activity. Invite groups to rehearse what they will say when they share with the whole class.
Advances: Speaking, Conversing, Representing
Engagement: Develop Effort and Persistence. Invite students to generate a list of shared expectations for group work. Record responses on a display and keep visible during the activity.
Supports accessibility for: Attention, Social-Emotional Functioning

Required Materials

Launch

  • Groups of 4
  • Match partners from the previous activity with another pair.
  • “Now you will do your Notice and Wonder with another group.”
  • Give each pair a piece of chart paper and a marker to record responses.

Activity

  • 6 minutes: small-group work time
  • Switch roles.
  • 6 minutes: small-group work time

Student Facing

  1. Display your image for your classmates.
  2. Ask them, “What do you notice? What do you wonder?”
  3. Give them a minute to discuss together.
  4. Have them share what they notice and wonder.
  5. Record their ideas.

Student Response

For access, consult one of our IM Certified Partners.

Activity Synthesis

  • “What did you learn as you presented your Notice and Wonder?” (I learned that people might notice or wonder things we did not think of. I learned that recording the ideas helps people understand what is being shared. I learned that the picture that I thought showed division can also be seen as showing multiplication.)

Activity 3: Design Your Notice and Wonder, Part 2 (15 minutes)

Narrative

The purpose of this activity is for students to work in groups to create a Notice and Wonder activity that focuses on finding meaningful mathematics in images or photographs. Students are encouraged to make connections to a mathematical topic they have become familiar with this past school year. No specific content is specified, unlike in the previous activity which focused on viewing fractions as division of the numerator by the denominator.

Required Preparation

  • Each group of 2 needs a few books, magazines, or other print materials with images.

Launch

  • Groups of 2-4

Activity

  • 15 minutes: small-group work time

Student Facing

  1. Find an image that you find interesting and would encourage your classmates to notice and wonder about a mathematical topic you have learned this year.
  2. Fill in the possible things students might notice and wonder about your image.

Students may notice:

Students may wonder:

Student Response

For access, consult one of our IM Certified Partners.

Activity Synthesis

  • “What mathematical questions does your image make you think about? Why? What are some specific things in the image that will help your peers see or wonder about these mathematical concepts?”
  • “What questions do you still have about creating your Notice and Wonder?”
  • Give students a few minutes to make adjustments based on questions, if needed.

Lesson Synthesis

Lesson Synthesis

“What were the most important things about your image you had to consider as you created your Notice and Wonder? Why were these things important?” (I wanted an image that would show equal parts for division, but it was hard to find things that were equal. Sometimes the equal groups, like groups of windows on each floor of a building, made me think of multiplication, not division or fractions.)

Cool-down: Reflection (5 minutes)

Cool-Down

For access, consult one of our IM Certified Partners.