Table 2.
Level 3 questions
| Focused content questions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Standards of mathematical practice | Definition | Examples |
| Make sense of problems and persevere when solving them | Questions prompt students to plan a solution to a problem, explain connections between strategies, use reasoning for finding a solution, and the check reasoning another approach |
What information is given in the problem How would you describe the problem in your own words? How might you use one of your previous problems to help you? How might you organize/represent/show your thinking or problem-solving? Describe what you tried and what you might change? |
|
Construct Arguments and Critique the Reasoning of Peers |
Questions encourage students to use assumptions, definitions, and previous understandings to explain and justify their mathematical reasoning and listen to other’s reasoning and use questions to clarify or build on other’s reasoning |
How did you decide what you needed to use? How would you prove your answer? Is there another way to solve this problem? Why or why not? What mathematical evidence did you use? |
| Use Appropriate Tools Strategically | Questions encourage students to choose tools or strategies that are relevant and useful to solve the problem. Tools can be drawing, technology, manipulatives, estimation, or algorithms |
What strategies could we use to visualize and represent the problem? What information do you already have? What approach are you considering trying first/next? Why was the tool you chose helpful? What other tools can you use to solve this problem? |
| Attend to Precision | Questions elicit students to communicate precisely by using careful explanations, use precise mathematics vocabulary, describes relationships clearly, and calculates accurately, efficiently, and clearly |
What symbols are important to solve this problem? What would be a more efficient/precise strategy? What mathematical language/definitions/ vocabulary can you use to explain your answer? Explain to peers how you solved the problem using precise vocabulary |
Adapted from National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2014). Principles to actions: Ensuring mathematical success for all