Intent

There are at least two purposes for having students share their POWs. First, they get to see other students’ work—both good and poor. Second, they receive feedback so that they can improve their own POWs.

Mathematics

This activity is designed to communicate the characteristics of high-quality work. It asks students to think about students’ writing about a problem, including their own, rather than the problem itself. Thinking about thinking in this way is called metacognition. Research suggests that good problem solvers do a great deal of this kind of thinking and that students who practice metacognition improve their problem-solving skills.

Progression

Students will read and review the POWs of other students in class and then revise their own work outside of class.

Approximate Time

35 minutes for activity (in class)

30 minutes (at home)

Classroom Organization

Whole class

Materials

First drafts of POW 12: Eight Bags of Gold

Doing the Activity

Here are a few ways to have students review the POWs.

If there are students who did not bring their POWs to class, you might have them read someone’s POW after one reviewer has finished with it and is writing the review.

Suggest that in their reviews, students focus on two things: what they like about the write-up and how the write-up can be improved.

Be sure students understand their options for reworking their write-ups.