Three-Part Math Lessons

There's been a lot of talk about Three Part Math Lessons and the benefits of a three part lesson in comparison to the type of lesson I would have been subjected to when I was in elementary school.

So, how do I find the two types of lessons compare:

Traditional Math Lesson	Three-Part Lesson
Teacher brings forth the lesson for the day, going over the concept or idea (as much time as it takes to teach lesson, take questions)	Lesson starts out with whole class (usually) and brings forth the concept in order to ensure students have the practical understanding of what will be happening (“Getting Started” – approx. 10-15 minutes)
Students are then usually given sheet work to do, or work from the math textbook.	Students are given 30-40 minutes to work through a mathematical task – may be shared, guided or an independent activity/with groups, partners or alone.
Work may go unchecked or unmarked. Teacher may not be aware of struggles or misunderstandings of what was being worked on until a quiz or test is done for assessment	Teachers have a chance to circulate and observe and provide guidance and extra support as needed
Students may be bored, disinterested or unable to grasp on simple paper based learning	Students have an opportunity to explore, discuss and learn through their peers and hands-on activities
Pass or fail. Understand or not kind of mentality	Chances to actively understand, and work at solving the problem through perseverance
Usually no follow-up until assessment of some type is performed	“Reflecting and Connecting” of about 10-15 minutes is brought at the end of the class as a chance to discuss and unwrap some of the ideas and learning that occurred during the “Working on it” time. Chance for the teacher to ask questions and assess the students’/class’ understanding of the material
Not many chances to share ideas and solutions with peers, or find out if the class is understanding properly	Chance to articulate ideas, make connections and make talking about math normal.

The point of the Three Part Lesson is not to drill facts and singular ways to use math into our students' minds, but to instead allow our students a chance to come up with ways to use strategies and skills to solve problems. It's a chance to discuss with a partner or a group ways that they could solve the problem given to them by the teacher. Each group may come up with completely different ways to solve through a problem, and all come to the same answer.

Some groups may come up with incorrect answers, but as a safe community in the class (it's important to build a "safe community" by practicing what good communication looks and sounds like) there's a chance to take risks and learn through making mistakes. 


Having students do more themselves to aid in their learning gives them more control, independence and the ability to persevere through problem solving.

My own math classes in elementary school were right or wrong answers, and right or wrong ways of doing things. By allowing students a chance to problem solve with teacher guidance, we are giving our students the idea that math can be used in many different ways to solve lots of different real life problems. By coming together as a community at the end, we are able to see different ways of thinking and see how we can use different strategies in different ways that one may have not thought about before.

Have you used a 3 Part Lesson in Math before?

What kind of problems do your students like to solve?