The Teacher As Encourager of Logic
(See students’ reflections and the transcript of the episode below.)
After completing many logic puzzles, the students were ready to create their own. A few students are attempting to create them digitally!
Links:
TPT: Winter Logic Puzzles Freebie
TPT: Logic Puzzle: Who Adopted Who?
Students’ Reflections about Logic Puzzles
“I think logic puzzles are really fun but I find them pretty easy. When I started them I thought they were really complicated but Mrs. Milner taught me how to use them and I got the hang of it. I have not completed my logic puzzle with Em yet but it will be out soon.” - E
“Logic puzzles are amazing. (See what I did there? A-maze-ing. Mazes are puzzles!) Logic puzzles were easy once I got the hang of them. Yeah, I got better the more I did logic puzzles, at least I think so. No, I did not enjoy creating a logic puzzle; I loved it! Yes it was hard, but it was worth it!” - JD
“I think that logic puzzles are a lot of fun to try to solve because of the clues and their arrangement. I also love logic puzzles because they come in different sizes, difficulties and topics so if you don't like the first logic puzzle you try there is a different logic puzzle that can remove the part you don’t like and after that it becomes a whole lot more fun. There is a very high chance that there is a logic puzzle out there for everyone because there are lots of different logic puzzles out in the world. One of the most common logic puzzles are riddles, there are lots of different riddles like “Who am I” riddles, “How is This Possible” riddles, etc. In my opinion, logic puzzles should be introduced to everyone in the world because of their entertainment to me and most of the class. That is my opinion on logic puzzles.” - C
“Logic puzzles are fun because you have to think a lot like a mathematician and when you find your mistake you go oh that's a silly mistake. They are hard and easy because some have less clues when they have more boxes and some have a lot of clues for smaller ones. Sometimes they can be very stressful and frustrating because you think too hard. So then just take a deep breath and try it again and most of the time you go oh that's where you mark it. I did get better at them with practice. At the beginning of the school year I didn’t even know that was a thing.” - Em
”What I liked about logic puzzles is using your brain to solve a puzzle/brain teaser. I find them easy because I have done so many throughout my life, but when I started I found them hard to do. I got better when I did more puzzles because I got used to them. I did create my own logic puzzle, but it did not print yet. When I did the answer key, it was really fun because it was hard to do and it kept my brain growing. So that's what I like about logic puzzles/brain teasers.” -H
“I think logic puzzles are fun but it can be hard to find one at a good level for you. Even though it can be hard to find one for you, if you find one it is really fun. There are a lot of logic puzzles, some are a lot harder than others so it is important to find one that is good for you. There are so many different difficulties when it comes to logic puzzles and you probably should start on the easier side and the more you solve the better you get and the harder puzzles you’ll be able to do. If you decide to make a logic puzzle you should:
● Step 1: Look at other logic puzzles for inspiration.
● Step 2: Make the answer key.
● Step 3: Create clues.
● Step 4: Make a finalized puzzle and grid.
Overall, creating logic puzzles is a fun experience.” - JB
”I loved logic puzzles. They were very fun, because they were very creative and there were so many situations to try. Also my friends and I did it together. That also was fun. They are pretty easy for me. I got a lot better as I practiced. I didn't even understand until people helped me until eventually I was able to create my own. I made two: one about soccer and one about football. JB helped with the football one and I did the soccer one by myself. I really enjoyed making them. It required strategy and making up the hints was very tough. Finally, logic puzzles can be easy or very challenging between the levels. Logic puzzles are overall very fun for me.
How do you do a logic puzzle? So there are square boxes and each box has 16 tiny squares for each box. 1 box let's say we are matching hats to owners so four across first hint “Timmy had the blue hat.” So in the Timmy row above it is the hat row you go where Timmy and the blue hat intersect you put a circle there and you put Xs all the way left and right and up and down and do that for each box. Use the hints to help you.
How do you make a logic puzzle? First, make a four by four box on grid paper. Then make up your topic. Let's say Pets and Owners. You make your answer key and then copy your topic and boxes on a separate paper. You make up hints like “Either Jeff or Ben had the butterfly” or “Connor had the dog.” Then you write the hints, make copies, and boom you made a logic puzzle. The more boxes the harder it is and you can make subtle hints.” - JH
“I think logic puzzles are very fun and challenging and I like working on them with my friends because then we can try to figure out the questions together. They were fun for me because I like guessing things and in logic puzzles you get to guess a lot! Logic puzzles were in between hard and easy for me, more like medium. The challenging part of logic puzzles was mostly when I read all of the questions and thought I crossed out everything possible but there were still spaces left! The more that I did logic puzzles the better I got at logic puzzles. At first it was kind of confusing but once I did more and got more help I got better. One time I made a logic puzzle with my friend about pets going to a halloween dress-up party. It was fun making a logic puzzle but It was a little bit challenging figuring out how you get to cross something out or circle something. In conclusion, I think logic puzzles are very fun and I like how they are challenging.” - M
“Some of the logic puzzles were hard to do but others were easy to complete. The hardest two I did were Conspicuous Consumption and If You Truly Love a Butterfly. I thought that the logic puzzles were really fun. Some were a challenge and some weren’t very hard to complete but they always were fun. I did get better the more I did them and now I beat quite a bit of them fast because I have done a lot of them and now I’m a lot better at logic puzzles.” -R
”Logic puzzles can be hard or easy. If you're going to start doing logic puzzles for your first time I suggest doing an easy one or one that is recommended for you. I only say this because everyone has different math skills and when you're doing logic puzzles you have to do it a specific way. For example… 1. You read the paragraph above all of the clues. This helps you know what the theme of the logic puzzle is. 2. Read the clues. One of the clues might say, “Annie has the color yellow.” Then you find Annie’s row and find the yellow row and do a circle for Annie in the yellow box that lines up with her name. Then you cross out the ones next to yellow or on top or on the bottom of the yellow box. 3. Next, you fill out and cross out the boxes depending on the rest of the clues. 4. Lastly, you check with the answer key to see if you got it correct. This is how you do a logic puzzle depending on the theme, boxes, rows, etc. If you understand how to do a logic puzzle, it is very entertaining and fun. I actually created two logic puzzles and I'm still working on one right now. They are very hard to make depending on the graph you choose to do, but they also can be super fun when you're making your own theme/clues. Something I struggle with when making a logic puzzle is how to organize the graph in a way that looks natural. Different things come hard for some people but one thing I learned when making a logic puzzle is that you can't give up if it's too hard because it will come out amazing in the end. In conclusion, I love making and doing logic puzzles. They are such a creative way to do math. -S
Transcript
Melissa Milner 0:09
So I had to skip the minisode, two weeks ago. And my voice is not 100% yet. I am just coming on to say go to the episode page. It's episode 112 on theteacheras.com. I have students' reflections about their work with logic puzzles. We started with a logic puzzle book that I had. And it was, you know, for adults, and it was very, very difficult. They'd said they wanted to try it. And then I pulled, you know, some easy and some medium ones from Teachers Pay Teachers, and just by doing a random Google search, so I'm going to pull as many links as I can, put them on the episode page, but then also definitely go to the episode page, check out what the students said about how it started out hard, and it got easier as they practiced. How they created their own logic puzzles. So I hope you enjoy it. And I'm on vacation this coming week, which is great. And I'm hoping that that will give some rest to my voice, and I'll be able to come back strong with some minisodes soon. Thanks for listening.
For my blog, transcripts of this episode, and links to any resources mentioned, visit my website at www.theteacheras.com. You can reach me on Twitter and Instagram @melissabmilner and I hope you check out The Teacher As... Facebook page for episode updates. Thanks for listening. And that's a wrap.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai