Creating Your Own Notice and Wonders.

 It is often hard to find decent pictures to use for math on the internet.  I did a quick search and found several good pictures and videos to use in class but some of the pictures were nothing more than worksheets.

Anytime you use something for notice and wonder, it needs to be open ended so students do not go straight for the answer.  I saw one that is labeled a notice and wonder but it basically said that John spends 5 minutes setting up a game and has 7 games to set up.  This limits what can be noticed or wondered because there are numbers and most kids will automatically multiply the two numbers together to get 35 because they've been taught that.

On the other hand, the picture I put at the top has no numbers but it has lots of possibilities to notice things such as there are four different pizza boxes in a different size.  I also notice that three of the four boxes have a hole in the upper right hadn't corner.  I could wonder if the size increases the same amount from the smallest to the largest or I might wonder if the pizza inside is square or circular.

 This is another picture that has lots of possibilities.  Although it has lots of percents listed, it doesn't give any information to make it seem as if it is a problem.  I noticed that most of the percents end in zero and not five.  I also notice that the none of the numbers are done in the same color.  I could wonder if these are discounts or perhaps amounts you might put down for a car or house.  Maybe these are all the scores earned on the last test given in class.

Again, this picture offers possibilities rather than exact numbers.  There is no "right" answer and this one might be a good introduction to a unit on mark up or discounts.

I found both these photos on Pixabay.  All the photos on the site except for the top row are free to use and are not copyright protected.  I've found some awesome pictures there that could be used.  The photos do not have to appear to be math oriented but most are.  For instance, throw up a picture of a bridge that might have a parabola or a dining table set for lots of people.  The picture might show a kitchen or a road with a car.  If you make or find a video, know where to stop it so you can have students

Now if you don't have time, there are places you can find material that is put together but you just need to make a slight adjustment.  If you have a video, do not show the whole thing, show just enough of it to hook students when you have them do the "What do you notice?", "What do you wonder?"  Let students answer those questions and share their answers.

If you are using one of the three act activities, show the picture before you introduce the whole situation rather than going straight into the activity.  Math is visual has some really nice videos that you can show a little before stopping it so you can have students notice and wonder.  Once they've finished, continue with the video and the lesson.

Estimation 180 has some nice pictures with questions that ask students to make estimations of the situation.  To use it for notice and wonder, just show the picture without the question so students can think about it before they have to do a problem.

Think about using these a couple times a week to up the teaching in your classroom.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear. Have a great day.