Worded problems are hard because they have numbers, words, information that we need, information we don't need, steps to follow, equations to answer, checking to done and then some of them are open ended and have more than one answer.
No wonder our students need lots of support to work through them.
Something we do that does not help - is give them a task that is titled 'Addition Problems'.
This means they don't need to read them, just get all the numbers and add them all up.
The tasks that say "Subtraction Problems' means take the smallest number away from the big one and again no reading - no sorting out information, no checking strategies, no steps to decide on...
Mix them up and make our kids work for the answer, give them opportunities to make mistakes and estimate and check.
This Worded Problem Poster Pack has the four steps you need to use to work through any problem, ten strategies that help to solve problems. This pack will get you and your kids talking and working through problems together.
The Four Steps are
Understanding the Problem
Decide on a Strategy
Solve the Problem
Reflect and make Changes
Strategies included are
Draw a sketch, table or graph
Act it out
Look for a pattern
Make a list
Guess and check
Work backward
Use simpler numbers
Write a number sentence
Use logic or clues
Break the problem into smaller parts
There are four recording templates to use too!
