Last spring I had the opportunity to take a practice version of our new state assessment (the Smarter Balanced Assessment). In some states in the U.S. the PARCC is the new assessment which is similar in nature.

Talk about a jaw dropping, sweat on my forehead, instant anxiety through my whole body moment.

What the students are being asked to do is way more than a few math problems. They are expected to read, write and use appropriate grade level math in VERY complex ways. I realized that I needed to add some deep problem solving to my math instruction.  So I began to make open ended problem solving problems to introduce regularly into the classroom.

I decided to create Doggy Dilemma, a free problem for anyone to try out.  It is a highly motivating, real world problem in which students must read through information to decide what dog they must adopt. They draw a diagram of the dog pen, calculate the cost of the fencing, and write a letter to their parents explaining why they made the choices they did.

My third graders have gone crazy over it.  They love it!  There are two full pages of reading involved which mimics the new assessments.  I have enjoyed creating it and want to make it available to anyone who teaches elementary math so that you can give your students the experience they need before the real assessments begin. You can get it by clicking on the picture below:

I’d love to hear how other teachers are encouraging this type of thinking in their classrooms. Please feel free to share in the comments!

I am happy to link up here: