At the beginning of our polygons unit, students played a round of hexagons polygraph in Desmos. One student is the picker and another is the guesser. The picker selects a hexagon, and the guesser asks yes or no questions to determine which one was selected.
Let’s take a look at a round between SO and SA. SO selected a hexagon. SA asked:
SO answered no.
SA eliminated one.
SO answered no.
SA eliminated two.
SO answered no.
SA eliminated three more.
SO answered no, and SA eliminated all but one.
What a great way for students to learn how to practice MP6: attend to precision. In a whole class discussion, we talked about what it meant for a polygon to be regular. We talked about convex and concave. We talked about symmetry. It turns out that the hexagon SO chose actually does have rotational symmetry – it just didn’t have line symmetry like the rest. My students and I have so many opportunities to learn from each other when we take time to slow down, share our thinking, and listen to other’s thinking.
After a round of Polygraph last year, one student reflected that he learned that he could ask questions to find an answer.
Which has me thinking more about Slow Conversations. The Polygraph practice round celebrates the beauty and diversity of all of our students.
How might we teach our students to embrace that diversity by not only asking questions to identify and learn about each other’s uniqueness but also listening to each other’s responses? That’s where Slow Math intersects with Slow Conversations.
