How to Talk To Students About Perseverance Using Monster Truck Math and John Cena’s Elbow Grease
Math Practice Standard 1 is the following:
“Make Sense of Problems and Persevere in Solving Them.”
You know that problem solving and perseverance are important, but how do you talk to students about perseverance? It’s such a big word! And once you talk about it, how do you get students to actually persevere? My solution is to use picture books coupled with rich, engaging tasks.
Gumption and Mindset
I first encountered the word gumption when reading Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery as a child. One of her quotes has stuck with me over the years:
“Anyone who has gumption knows what it is, and anyone who hasn’t can never know what it is. So there is no need of defining it.” ~L.M. Montgomery
However, I disagree. Gumption is a great word, and it’s worth defining! Merriam-Webster defines it as “courageous or ambitious initiative.” People with gumption try new things and don’t give up. They have a go-get-it attitude. They aren’t easily discouraged when challenged. They are the doers and the shakers of the world.
If you’ve read Carol Dweck’s Mindset: The New Psychology of Success or Jo Boaler’s Mathematical Mindsets: Unleashing Students’ Potential Through Creative Math, Inspiring Messages and Innovative Teaching, you understand that a lot of problem solving comes down to grit and perseverance and dare I say gumption. Students need to approach mathematics with a growth mindset. Anyone can learn mathematics if they persevere at appropriate tasks. Perseverance is a learned behavior; therefore, we can continue to grow in it.
Gumption, Perseverance, and Elbow Grease
My son, like many boys, loves trucks! One of my son’s favorite books is Elbow Grease by John Cena. Elbow Grease is a monster truck with four older brothers. Each brother has a special talent: bravery, strength, intelligence, and speed. Elbow Grease is the smallest, but he has something that the other trucks don’t. He has gumption. He never gives up! Wait! You probably thought this is a blog post about SMP.1 and perseverance. Yet this post is focusing on gumption? Monster Grease has perseverance, but he also has gumption. These two qualities go hand-in-hand. Read on for ideas on how to incorporate Elbow Grease into your Math Classroom.
Defining Big Ideas
Words like gumption and perseverance are big words, but students can learn them. Think of all the 4-year olds who memorize the names of dinosaurs. Read picture books that talk about the concepts, so they understand the words in a context. After reading, give students a formal definition and discuss what the words perseverance and gumption mean in relation to the story.
Self-Reflection
Give students a self-reflection sheet on perseverance and gumption. Have them reflect on times when they persevered or had gumption. You could have them write their examples, share their examples with a partner, or share them with the class. Then give them the same self-reflection sheet and have them fill it out specifically related to mathematics.
Example Rubric
Subscribe now to get access to this FREE Pre-assessment Rubric and other documents that are exclusively available to subscribers. The K-2 version is shown above, but subscribers will also have access to the grades 3-8 version along with corresponding post-assessment rubrics.
Strategies for Persevering
Explain to students that persevering is hard, but it’s worth it. Use a piece of chart paper and brainstorm ways to persevere in math class. Ideas may include rereading the problem, asking a friend for help, drawing a picture, taking a quick break to sharpen your pencil, solving a simpler but related problem, etc. Hang up your chart on the wall and have students refer to it throughout the year when they get stuck.
Create a Classroom Culture That Values Mistakes as Learning Opportunities
Discuss with students the importance of mistakes. Jo Boaler in her book, Mathematcial Mindsets, discusses how mistakes cause the brain to grow as the brain grows the most during times of struggle. That is why it’s important in math class to focus on growth instead of the end product. Correct answers are important but so is the thinking process that leads to the answer. Spend time encouraging students for working hard and coming up with new ideas. Leverage mistakes as an opportunity to learn. Model mistake making (either intentionally or unintentionally) by showing students how to learn from mistakes. When students are free to make mistakes, it is easier to correct course and persevere to the end of the problem.
Using a rubric to grade the problem-solving process can help create a culture that focuses on the process. Subscribe for my Student-Facing Problem Solving (SMP.1) Rubric for Grades 3-8. For high school students, you can access the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce Math Practices Rubric on their website.
Rich Task
To help students persevere, give them rich, high-interest tasks that have multiple entry points. Too encourage perseverance, it’s helpful if you can give students a problem that seems too big for them. Then discuss it and help them reframe it as a smaller problem. Once they can solve the smaller problem, scaffold the task so they can work up to the “big problem.”
Here are some websites where you can find rich tasks:
- Inside Problem Solving | Inside Mathematics
- Rich Tasks – Math For Love
- Activities and Tasks – YouCubed
- Search | NRICH
- Rich Mathematical Tasks | Virginia Department of Education
- Open Middle – Challenging math problems worth solving
- Illustrative Mathematics
- The Three Acts Of A Mathematical Story – dy/dan and Dan Meyer’s Three-Act Math Tasks – Google Sheets
Modeling problems are another great way to increase student engagement. See my post How to Cure Math Anxiety with Modeling Mondays for more ideas about modeling.
Mathematical Modeling Monster Truck Task
Modeling problems are a great way to promote perseverance and problem solving in the classroom. This problem aligns with SMP.4: Model with Mathematics and various other measurement standards such as 1.MD.2; 2.MD.1, 2, 3; 4.MD.2; and 5.MD.1. But it could also align to upper elementary and middle school standards depending on the types of questions you ask.
After reading Elbow Grease by John Cena and discussing examples of perseverance and gumption in the book, show students a toy monster truck. Point out a wheel turn (wheel rotation). Ask them how long is a wheel turn? They may have never thought about wheel turns as length. Dip the wheel in paint or on a stamp pad. Then show them that as the wheel turns it make a treaded path that you can measure.
A Big Question
To build perseverance, pose a “big question” to students that is hard to figure out. For Monster Truck Math, a good question could be “How many wheel turns it would take to race around the classroom (or perhaps the school)?” Put students in groups and let them try to figure it out for a bit. The point is to let them get stuck after some creative brainstorming.
Note: The grade level of this task can vary. It depends on the units (nonstandard, cm, inches, etc.) you have students use and the level of precision you require. For upper grades you can have them convert wheel-turns to inches or centimeters and use more advanced science vocabulary and concepts. For lower grades you can focus on non-standard units of measurement.
Make It Simple
After struggling for awhile, bring the groups together for a whole class discussion. Have them share their ideas on how to solve the problem. Ask students if any of them got stuck. Refer them back to their perseverance strategies. Discuss how sometimes it’s helpful to make a simpler problem. Put them back into their small groups to figure out a simpler question: “How long is one wheel turn?”
Wheel Turns as Length
Students may not associate wheel-turns with length. So, it might be helpful to let students dip wheels in paint and let them make wheel tread paths on paper. After they make tread lines ask questions such as “How can a round wheel make a straight line?” (This is a great set-up for understanding circumference in middle school!)
Tip: If students are using paint to find the wheel length, you might want to suggest that they have a different colored stripe on the wheel somewhere, so they have a clear starting/stopping point for measurement. See the picture above.
Using Tools Strategically
Give them materials such as blue painters tape, string, paint and paper. Depending on the age of the student, you may require them to give their answers in inches or centimeters. For younger students, they can just show you a piece of string or tape.
Choosing tools aligns with SMP.5: Use appropriate tools strategically.
Comparing Lengths
It might be worthwhile to give students different sized trucks and discuss which truck turns have bigger wheel-turns than others and why.
Make It a Little Harder
Once students figure out how long one wheel-turn is, have them figure out the length of a smaller track in the room (as opposed to the previous “big question.”) For example, you could ask, “How many wheel turns would it take to race around the desk.” Students can use non-traditional tools like painter’s tape to map out wheel-turns. Some students may try to count the wheel turns and that’s ok at this stage. Make sure they label their units!
Revisit the Original Big Question
Revisit your original “big question.” Have students get into groups to solve it. Make sure they label their units. Students who were counting the wheel turns will have trouble once the problem becomes bigger. This is the perfect time to push them to do embrace a more efficient mathematical strategy. Once students get answers discuss if their answers are reasonable or not. Also discuss how they know their answers are correct. This is a great way to incorporate SMP.3: Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.
Post-Reflection
Don’t forget to do a post-reflection. Review with students how breaking down the original problem helped them persevere in solving it. Then use a similar rubric that you started the lesson with, but have students assess themselves just for today’s task. Follow-up the assessment with a group discussion where you explicitly talk about perseverance. You may want to share examples of how you saw students persevering. You may also want to give students a chance to comment on positive perseverance examples from their peers.
Subscribe now to get access to this Post-assessment Rubric for Grades K-8 and other documents that are exclusively available to subscribers. The grades 3-8 version is shown above, but subscribers will also have access to the K-2 version along with corresponding post-assessment rubrics.
Promoting Perseverance throughout the Year
Reinforce through Reading
When do problem solving, integrate more picture books about perseverance and gumption throughout the year. Elbow Grease vs Motozilla by John Cena is a great follow-up to this lesson.
Make a Perseverance Board
Continually reinforce perseverance throughout the week, quarter, or year. After all, it’s a life skill that can predict success greater than students ‘arithmetic skills. Put all your students names on a chart. Walk around and note persevering behavior. For every instance of perseverance, put a sticker on the chart. As an exit ticket on some days, allow students to nominate others for perseverance. You can choose to give a prize or not. Just quantifying it in some way is enough to show that you value perseverance in math and promote it in problem solving.
Christian School Connection: Persevering in your Faith (for Parochial School Teachers or Homeschooling Parents)
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” ~Hebrews 12: 1-2
You can talk about how just as Elbow Grease has to persevere through trials and storms to finish his race, we as Christians have to persevere to finish our race towards heaven and Jesus. Like Elbow Grease we will face trials, get tired, and want to give up. But we need to keep our eye on the goal and keep going until we win the prize. There are many other Bible verses about perseverance such as Romans 5:3-4, James 1:12, Galatians 6:9, Matthew 24: 13, 2 Thessalonians 3:13 that you can connect to as well.
Summary
Here is the lesson summary:
- Read and discuss Elbow Grease by John Cena.
- Define gumption and perseverance.
- Have students do a self-reflection on perseverance and gumption (general and math versions).
- Brainstorm perseverance strategies as a class.
- Implement Wheel Turn Monster Truck Task (Big Question, Smaller Question, Medium Question, Big Question)
- Have students do a post-reflection on perseverance and gumption.
- Follow-up: Read more books on perseverance and gumption. Make a Perseverance Chart.
Conclusion
“It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” ~Albert Einstein
Perseverance is a life skill! It is important in a variety of areas—not just mathematics. But math is a great place to strengthen perseverance in children. Life is full of problems that need to be solved. Some are easier then others, but most of life’s problems take a significant amount of perseverance. Even simple tasks like cleaning the house require perseverance.
For more ideas on how to teach problem solving see my blog post Learn How to Overcome the Top 5 Problems in Problem Solving. Don’t forget to subscribe to get my free Student-Facing Rubric on Problem Solving for Grades 3-8. The first page of that rubric is shown below.
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Great insights Annie. Who would have thought that you could use Monster trucks to teach perseverance and gumption? Keep up the good work.