Katie Chock

March 1, 2015
High Yield Activity-Mystery Number
My High Yield activity was the mystery number. Students are given a set of four to five
clues, and they are to guess the correct number based on the clues given. My set of 8th graders
did very well on this challenge. For the first three months of school we did mental math
equations. In my math questions, gave students three sets of clues, I could only repeat the clues
twice, then the students needed to show me on their fingers what the number was. Subsequently,
after the answers were revealed, students were to recall all three clues, and the numbers that
resulted after the clues given. We calculated three of these mental math questions, I believe my
students were prepared and eager for this high yield challenge. My high yield activity was
extremely successful with the 8th graders. The majority of the students not only arrived at the
correct answer, but due to the nature of the common core curriculum, many students wanted to
share their answers and though processes. When I asked for an explanation students were eager
to share. One thing That was common amongst both of the math classes that I fascilitated this
activity with was that many students used a random number to start with. The first clue on both
questions were, I am a four digit number, and I am a two digit number. Over half of the students
wrote out a random number, and changed the digits as the clues changed. The way I expected
many of the students to solve it, would be to draw four or two blanks on their paper, instead of
starting off with a random four or two digit number. If I had more time, I would like to continue
giving students mental math/mystery number problems. I got very positive feedback from the
students. They all loved the activity and were challenged by it. Once I told them there were

multiple ways of solving the problem, they were excited. One student said that if there are more
answer possibilities, there is more of a chance that we could get the right answer.
Students at the third grade level were very eager to solve the problem. I tried to fasciliate
the same technique when reading to my 8th graders. I gave three clues, and the students were
excited to sole the problem. There was a lot of shouting out, and I had to redirect the student
behavior multiple times. The main difference between the 8th graders and the 3rd graders was that
students shouted out more, and formulating a reasoning for their explanation was more
challenging for the students. I liked how students built upon another students idea. One student
said something and the other students were so excited, and they agreed or disagreed and were
talking about the situation all at once. I had to slow the activity down and ask the students to
share their ideas one at a time. If I was their teacher, I would have students practice their thought
ideas with sentence starter strips. Displaying appropriate academic/discourse language is
important to learn at a young age. Many students seemed to be unfamiliar with providing
evidence for their thinking; however, they are so young that many of them need more practice.
Some knew how to solve the problem, but were unable to explain what they were thinking, and
the steps they took to arrive at the answer they calculated.
I grabbed a hand full of my seventh grade Leadership students to complete the high yield
activity. Students were calm, and reasonable. There was minimal discussion because these
students are very intelligent, and were all able to agree on one answer. They thought in the same
way, and students did add on information, similarly to the 3rd graders. I believe this was because
it was an informal setting. They are not used to me as a math teacher, and were a little caught off
guard that I asked. Half of the students wanted pencil and paper, the boy and one girl did it all in
their heads. For the second mystery number, there were two possible answers. 64 and 82. All 6

students arrived at the answer 64, none of the students arrived at the answer 82. Only one of my
8th grade students arrived at the answer for 82, so it is consistent that 64 was the most popular
answer. If I were their math teachers, I would want them to write down the steps they took to
arrive at their answer. They rely heavily on their mental math abilities, and I would like to see
their thoughts on paper. They are extremely bright, and they do have the correct answer;
however, I would like to see what they are thinking. I was uncertain, if they had a different way
of solving the problem, but because their friends were explaining it a different way, they just
agreed. I would like to see each individual thought process.