Playbook Quick Start Guide

How do Playbook pages work?

Every Playbook page contains some universal design principles that are intended to
support students as they navigate through them.

1. These pages are best done collaboratively. Encourage students to work with
   partners, small groups, or even the whole class.

   Some discussion questions that may help you are:

   • What math do you see on the page?
   • What is this problem asking you to do?
   • What information do you know? What information do you not know?
   • How do you know your answer is correct?
   • How can you use the information you know to find the information you do
     not know?
      
2. White spaces appear throughout each page to indicate where students should
   write something. They may be asked to write a numerical answer, circle something,
   connect two things, or explain their answer.
    
3. Students can (and should!) write their work anywhere on the page, on scrap
   paper, and/or a whiteboard - they just need to make sure their final answer is in the
   correct white space.
    
4. Math critters appear on pages and give students hints and more information about
   what to do for some problems.
    
5. There are no numbered problems on the page – students can start anywhere
   they would like.
    
6. At least one problem on each page has multiple possible answers. Students will
   need to make their own decisions in order to find one.

What should I do with them?

1. Start each page by having students notice and wonder about what is happening
   on the page by asking them, “What do you notice?” and “What do you wonder?”.
    
2. Promote students to have agency in their own learning by allowing them to
   choose where to start on the page and how they want to approach problems.
    
3. Provide manipulatives to students so that they can choose any tools they think
   might be helpful to help them solve the problems on the page. Some examples of
   manipulatives are base-10 blocks, counters, fraction bars, etc.
    
4. Most problems have many paths to solutions and some even have multiple
   solutions. Encourage students to compare and discuss their answers with a
   partner or small group.
    
5. Pages contain non-routine and novel problems that will ask students to try out their
   ideas and take risks - qualities that are needed in creative problem solving.
   Encourage students to make their own decisions and try out their ideas.
    

What should I look for?

Look for students who do the following:

• RECORD their thinking by circling, crossing out, or showing their work
• COLLABORATE with a partner or small group when they encounter a challenging
  problem
• FIND that a problem has multiple correct answers
• TRY out their ideas
   

What should I do after students are finished?

Each Playbook page has an answer key, which provides solutions for questions that have a
singular answer or some possible solutions for questions that have multiple solutions. They
also indicate problems where student answers will vary based on how they have thought
about a problem. You might be surprised by what else your students come up with! These
pages are intended to support students taking risks and trying out their ideas. This means
that students should receive feedback on their work, not necessarily just marking their
answers right or wrong.