It is important to know the man behind the 3-Act Task. Formerly a high school math teacher and currently the Chief Academic Officer at Desmos, Dan Meyer is the original creator of the 3-Act Task. Back in March, 2010 at TEDxNYED, he gave a talk titled, Math Class Needs a Makeover, making a case about why math textbooks may actually be hurting students. Watch the following video and reflect upon your own experience of teaching and learning in the math classroom.

The 3-Act Task was originally created for secondary classrooms by Dan Meyer in 2011. In Dan Meyer's blog post The Three Acts of a Mathematical Story (PDF), he uses the opening scene of Jaws and scenes from Star Wars to describe the three acts as:

Act One

Introduce the central conflict of your story/task clearly, visually, viscerally, using as few words as possible.

Act Two

The protagonist/student overcomes obstacles, looks for resources, and develops new tools.

Act Three

Resolve the conflict and set up a sequel/extension.

As designed by Meyer, the 3 Acts are set up as in any epic story. It includes key pieces of a Hero's Journey: a call to action, challenges along the way, and a resolution with the reward of new knowledge and accomplishment. Through the 3-Act Task, Meyer proves that mathematical stories can be just as engaging and accessible to all students with the introduction of Act One as a Notice and Wonder activity. Once students have bought into the mathematical story through their observations and inquiry, Act Two is where it is possible to introduce some numbers and math strategies that could be helpful in solving the problem and coming to a final answer. The teacher's role is the wise mentor who helps navigate students through any obstacles that they may encounter. Act Three is the final reveal where students get to see if all of their hard work actually does match up with the task at hand. Even if answers do not exactly match up with the reveal, it is an opportunity for further exploration and discussion as to why there may be varying answers.

Graham Fletcher is an educator who has adapted the protocol for elementary classroom, sharing many of his lessons and resources through his G Fletchy blog.

In the National Council fo Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) October 2017 issue of Teaching Children Mathematics, an article Trying Three-Act Tasks with Primary Students was published by Kendra Lomax, Kristin Alfonzo, Sarah Dietz, Ellen Kleyman, and Elham Kazemi. The article summarizes a 3-Act Task as:

Act 1

• The teacher shares a compelling multimedia depiction of a situation through a video or photographs.
• Students discuss what they notice and wonder about the video, including mathematical features of the situations.
• Students decide on a mathematical question to answer about the situation.

Act 2

• The teacher provides information or resources that students think they need to work on the focal question.
• Students work to answer the question.

Act 3

• Students discuss their strategies and solutions.
• The teacher may compare and connect students’ ideas or “reveal the answer.”
• If relevant to the focal problem, students consider why their modeling was different from the real-world resolution.

For more information about 3-Act Tasks, take a look at the following Dan Meyer: 3-Act Tasks Livebinder. There you will find 3-Act lessons that were created for both primary and secondary students.