Host Drum Problem Solving Task

I return to concepts taught in math as the year progresses to ensure student understanding and since math concepts continue even after a unit is "completed".  This ensures that students continually use the skills learned and apply them to various situations so that they become understood.

Last week, students worked on a Host Drum problem solving task that incorporated their knowledge of time and addition.   Each student received a sheet as follows:

(Taken from a unit from Saskatchewan Education)

To prep for the task, we read about host drums and talked about pow-wows.  I never showed a video of one, or even of a portion of pow-wow dancing, which I wish I would have and will definitely do next time. Then we looked at the examples of the host drum programs (group 1 and two) and made observations.  The students observed that there were only 5 different songs but they could be used repeatedly.  So we listed the 5 songs that were used (on the bottom of their sheet).

Next, I gave the students their task: to create a pow-wow program for the host drum for 1 hour.  Considering the information on the sheet was in minutes, they needed to use their knowledge that an hour is 60 minutes to help them (the idea of conversions to similar units).  Then we talked about starting with the grand entry and working from there.  Here are a few examples of the students' work:

 

When they finished one, they were challenged to come up with another program.

We talked about proving that the total was 60 minutes and how to show this.  This student showed it through addition equations with ongoing calculations.  We also noted how groups of 10 were made.  When asked why, this student said it was the easiest way to add and group the numbers.

The students really enjoyed this task and took on the challenge eagerly.  It was also easy to modify for those students who needed by changing the time of the program.  For these students, they made a program for 1/2 hour (30 minutes).