Presented by Bryan Flannigan

The following task was a homework assignment after a lesson about how to add decimals. Students were given until the next class to complete the assignment.

I chose this task because I wanted to check not only computation skills and concept knowledge for adding decimals, but also check for strategic understanding, number sense and find out any misconceptions. The assignment allows for creativity and the use of many different strategies. I wanted students to have to discover more than one solution to a problem to truly gauge understanding. I tried to use multiple levels of questioning to ensure students can manipulate numbers with decimals.

1.

2.

Each of the center circles are worth .5 points. The middle circle is worth .25 points and the outer circle is worth .10 points. For questions 1 and 2, find out how many points a person would have earned if his/her darts landed as shown above.

For problem numbers 3 & 4, list two different ways someone could score 2.45 points. 3. 4.

5. What is the least amount of darts needed to score 4.65 points? Show your work.

Standard:
The Number System-Apply and extend previous understandings of numbers to the system of rational numbers.

Practices:
Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. Reason abstractly and quantitatively. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others. Attend to precision.

Problems 1 & 2 are both level 1 questions. They simply ask students to compute addition with decimals. All students should be able to try and solve these problems.
Problems 3 & 4 are both level 2 questions. Students need to develop different combinations that add up to a certain value. Students need to connect the point values of each ring and determine how many of each are required. Problem 5 is a level 3 question. Students are required to analyze the values of the rings and determine how to find the least amount needed in order to reach a certain point value. They will have to recognize that at least 1 .25 dart is needed since the number ends in a 5 and that is the only ring that ends in a 5.

Problem #1 2 points : Correct answer of 1.20 points with correct work shown 1 point: Mathematical error in addition or strategic misconception 0 points: lack of understanding of the concept X- did not attempt Problem #2 2 points: Correct answer of 1.05 points with correct work shown 1 point: mathematical error in addition Or strategic misconception 0 points: lack of understanding of the concept X- did not attempt Problem #3 2 points: Correct answer including work (ex. 4.5s, 1-.25, & 2-.10s.; 9-.25s & 2-.10s) 1 point- correct strategy that could lead to a correct answer, but not completed Or addition error Or strategy error 0 points: random points without a strategy X- did not attempt

Problem #4 2 points: Correct answer including work ( ex. 4-.5s, 1-.25 & 2-.10s; 9-.25s & 2-.10s) 1 point- correct strategy that could lead to a correct answer, but not completed Or addition error Or strategy error 0 points: random points without a strategy X-did not attempt Problem #5 2 points: correct answer with least amount of darts listed (13 darts: 9-.5, 1-.25 and 4.10) 1 point: correct strategy that could lead to a correct answer, but not completed Or correct total without least amount of darts Or addition error Or strategy error 0 points: darts incorrectly placed without any reasoning X- did not attempt

I changed how much the first and second problems were worth. Both problems went from 2 points to 4 points because they were entry level computation problems that the students should have been able to answer. I also gave credit for the correct answer without showing any work because one student had the right answer, but only showed partial work. I also moved strategy error down a level because a simple error in mathematics should receive more credit than a strategic misunderstanding. One student also had an incorrect placement of a decimal, so this was added under 1 point because not understanding the placement is similar to strategic misunderstanding. For problems 3 and 4, I changed the values from 2 points to 3 points because students need to connect decimal values to develop two separate solutions. One student did not understand where the decimal should go, which caused me to switch addition error to 2 points and misconception of a decimal to one point because a simple addition error does not mean a student does not understand the concept, but not understanding where the decimal goes is a key aspect to the concept. For problem 5, I added correct solution without the correct number of darts listed under 1 point because one student showed the correct work and the darts were correctly placed, but did not mention 13 darts.

Decimal Bulls Eye Assignment

Problem #1

4 points: Correct answer of 1.20 points with correct work shown 3 points: Correct dots without work shown 2 points : Mathematical error in addition that would lead to a correct answer 1 point: misconception of a point value Or incorrect placement of decimal 0 points: lack of understanding of the concept X- did not attempt 4 points: Correct answer of 1.05 points with correct work shown 3 points: Correct dots without work shown 2 points : Mathematical error in addition that would lead to a correct answer 1 point: misconception of a point value Or incorrect placement of decimal 0 points: lack of understanding of the concept X- did not attempt 3 points: Correct answer including work (ex. 4-.5s, 1-.25, & 2-.10s.; 9-.25s & 2-.10s) 2 points: Correct answer without work Or correct strategy that could lead to a correct answer, but not completed Or addition error 1 point: misconception of a point value 0 points: random points without a strategy X- did not attempt 3 points: Correct answer including work (ex. 4-.5s, 1-.25, & 2-.10s.; 9-.25s & 2-.10s) 2 points: Correct answer without work Or correct strategy that could lead to a correct answer, but not completed Or addition error 1 point: misconception of a point value 0 points: random points without a strategy X- did not attempt 2 points: correct answer with least amount of darts listed (13 darts: 9-.5, 1-.25 and 4-.10) with work shown 1 point: Correct answer with no work shown Or correct strategy that could lead to a correct answer, but not completed Or correct total without least amount of darts Or addition error 0 points: darts incorrectly placed without any reasoning X- did not attempt

Problem #2

Problem #3

Problem #4

Problem #5

Student number 1 had a common misconception throughout all of the problems. On problems 1 and 2, he added .5 points as if it were .05 points. On problem 4, where he needed to place where the darts would land, he did not use the center circle (.5) and arrived at a correct answer. For problem 3, he used a dart in the center circle and again added it as if it were worth .05 points. For the fifth problem he once again added .5 as worth .05, but also did not use the least amount of darts. For all but the 5th problem, he understood most of the concept and used a correct strategy to reach an answer, but his misunderstanding of what the true value of .5 is and how it should be added, led him to an incorrect answer.

Student number 2 was able to correctly distinguish the values that should be added. When initially adding the numbers, he removed the decimal altogether and added whole numbers together. However, he struggled placing the decimals back in the correct place. Also, he wrote out the addition work to begin with, then added the darts into the bulls eye. This caused him some trouble when needing to add additional numbers because he did not remember to add additional darts on the bulls eye. He was able to correctly answer question number 5.

Student 1 has not mastered place value, which is why without a 0 on the end of .5, he thought it was the same as .05. He also is not clear on the concept of how to use the least amount of darts to find the total points. Further investigation might show he was trying to use lower point values. Student 2 was unclear on correct position of the decimal point. Although he added the numbers correctly, place value has not been mastered.

I was able to learn that both students did not have a solid understanding of place value and the use of the decimal point. However, it was interesting to see how two different students could have a problem with the same concept, but not the exact same misunderstanding. A future activity to build on the concept would have to address both concerns. I was also able to see that a student was struggling with how to use the least amount of an item to reach a desired point value. Although this concept is not related to the actual concept being assessed, the student could not perform accurately without this previous knowledge.

Students were confused about the labeling of the circles at first. The two smaller circles were labeled center and middle and students needed clarification on which was which. Instead of naming the circles I would place the point values inside each one. I also would suggest to struggling students to use manipulative pieces to help have a concrete item that equals the same point values in order to reach the goal. This could help a student understand least amount by telling them to use as few items as possible. I would also make sure to have students explain what it means to use the least amount of an item before the activity was handed out.