Making My Own Three-Act Task: What I Learned and Why You Should Try It

A three-act task is a whole group problem-solving activity, presented in three “acts” to engage and immerse students in authentic and meaningful math learning. Three-act tasks encourage curiosity, perseverance, and growth mindset (“We can do hard things!”). And even better – they are fun!

The Hero’s Journey

My Hero’s Journey Begins

As it turns out, and as the literary lovers out there probably know, the Hero’s Journey is a mono-myth template developed by Joseph Campbell (Matthew Winkler on TEDEd summarizes it well here). What I need you to know is: it will also save your math lessons. 

This past September I started a new gig that changed my life. I had been a full-time educator for seven years prior and, especially with the past couple of COVID years, “teaching” for me had started to become synonymous with “draining.” I kid you not I was digging deep and doing the work to make a career swap… and then I found my current school. Though I’m not technically a teacher anymore, I am still very much an educator. It’s just that now the learners call me a Guide. 

So what exactly does a Guide do that is different from a teacher? 

You may have heard of these expressions before, the “sage on the stage” or “meddler in the middle” – well, I am the “guide on the side.” Each refers back to various learning theories and tries to define the educator’s role in the classroom. The semantics might not seem like much, but for me, moving through the roles of traditional teacher to even a reformed meddler does not nearly compare to the dynamic power shift that occurs quite dramatically as a Guide. And if I’m being perfectly honest, I’m failing at this all the time because it requires that I step back from the learners and let them truly lead. And when things don’t work for the learners, I am supposed to step back some more. Failure is the goal because it will be their greatest teacher (not me). They are on a journey together as a community, and as a Guide, so am I. 

The Call To Adventure!

In between considering leaving teaching and still teaching, I had been wanting to expand my approach to math education in particular. When I came across the practice of Three Act Math Tasks I was instantly intrigued. They are typically multimedia-driven, with a real-life hook, they capture EVERY learner’s attention and they make math accessible to all learners where they are using the power of intuition. And, cue serendipity, they often follow the Hero’s Journey as a template. When I found out that my new school uses this as the arc for every school year, every sessional quest, right down to the weekly and daily narratives too, I couldn’t help but feel that little spark from the universe that I was on the right path.

Assistance

Dan Meyer (one wise mentor I discovered on my journey) explains how this refreshing approach helps rectify many “symptoms” you’ve likely encountered at some point in teaching mathematics. Though he is coming from a secondary perspective, I find the same applies for primary/junior-aged learners: 

• They often hesitate to try something new or perceived as hard and,
• give up easily, and/or,
• don’t seem to truly make meaning of the math, and,
• have easily caught on to the notion that “word problems” are the ones we boycott. 

What is a Three-Act Task?

So, what exactly is a Three-Act Task and how does it work? Simply put, this is a whole group problem-solving activity, presented to learners in three “acts” to engage and immerse them in authentic and meaningful math learning. Let’s dig in!

A Tasty Task

Full disclosure: when I was younger I used to eat A LOT of Starburst candies and my friends and I used to fold up and keep the wrappers. I kept them all these moons and finally found a use for them (no, I never did quite make them into origami or a purse).

ACT I – Present a teaser, a short clip, something recognizable from daily life but curious! Everyone can participate because we are bringing thinking down to shared experience and intuition.