Comments on: Math Problem Solving Strategies

By: Christi

Christi — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 21:44:00 +0000

In reply to Wendi. I'm doing this one. Love it. Thank you!!

By: joan

joan — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 13:48:15 +0000

In reply to Chelsea Waldrews. I would love an anchor chart for RUBY

By: paula rager

paula rager — Tue, 17 Sep 2019 12:14:31 +0000

Hi,
I wanted to tell you how amazing and kind you are to share with all of us. I especially like your word problem graphic organizer that you created yourself! I am adopting it this week.
We have a meeting with all administrators to discuss algebra.
I am going to share with all the people at the meeting.

I had filled out the paperwork for the number line. Is it supposed to go to my email address?
Thank you again. I am going to read everything you ahve given to us.
Have a wonderful Tuesday!

By: Wendi

Wendi — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 16:18:28 +0000

Going off of your idea, Natalie, how about the following?

K now
N eed to find out
O rganize (a plan – may involve a picture, a graphic organizer…)
W ork
S ee if you’re right (does it make sense, is the math done correctly…)

I love the K & N steps…so much more tangible than just “Read” or even “Understand,” as I’ve been seeing is most common in the processes I’ve been researching.
I like separating the “Work” and “See” steps. I feel like just “Solve” May lead to forgetting the checking step.

By: Natalie Small

Natalie Small — Thu, 07 Mar 2019 12:59:34 +0000

Have you named your unnamed strategy yet? I’ve been using this strategy for years. I think you should call it K.N.O.W.S.
K – Know
N – Need
OW – (Organise) Plan and Work
S – Solution

By: Frye

Frye — Sun, 03 Feb 2019 21:56:11 +0000

This is a supportive and encouraging site. Several of the comments and post are spot on! Especially, the “What I like/don’t like” comparisons.

By: Ursula

Ursula — Sat, 28 Jul 2018 23:53:06 +0000

I used to teach elementary math and now I run my own learning center, and we teach a lot of middle school math. The strategy you outlined sounds a little like the strategy I use, called KFCS (like the fast-food restaurant). K stands for “What do I know,” F stands for “What do I need to Find,” C stands for “Come up with a plan” [which includes 2 parts: the operation (+, -, x, and /) and the problem-solving strategy], and lastly, the S stands for “solve the problem” (which includes all the work that is involved in solving the problem and the answer statement). I find the same struggles with being consistent with modeling clearly all of the parts of the strategy as well, but I’ve found that the more the student practices the strategy, the more intrinsic it becomes for them; of course, it takes a lot more for those students who struggle with understanding word problems. I did create a worksheet to make it easier for the students to follow the steps as well. If you’d like a copy, please let me know, and I will be glad to send it.

By: Tyne Brack

Tyne Brack — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 17:19:11 +0000

In reply to Jeff Lisciandrello. That's brilliant! Thank you for sharing!

By: Tyne Brack

Tyne Brack — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 15:46:06 +0000

In reply to Pat. Whoops! I guess the answer would not result in a whole number (133.333...) Thanks for catching that error.

By: Pat

Pat — Thu, 31 May 2018 17:15:36 +0000

Mrs. Brack is setting up her second Christmas tree. Her tree consists of 30% red and 70% gold ornaments. If there are 40 red ornaments, then how many ornaments are on the tree? What is the answer to this question?

By: Jeff Lisciandrello

Jeff Lisciandrello — Fri, 20 Apr 2018 12:36:33 +0000

I love the process you’ve come up with, and think it definitely balances the benefits of simplicity and thoroughness. At the risk of sounding nitpicky, I want to point out that the examples you provide are all ‘processes’ rather than strategies. For the most part, they are all based on the Polya’s, the Hungarian mathematician, 4-step approach to problem solving (Understand/Plan/Solve/Reflect). It’s a process because it defines the steps we take to approach any word problem without getting into the specific mathematical ‘strategy’ we will use to solve it. Step 2 of the process is where they choose the best strategy (guess and check, draw a picture, make a table, etc) for the given problem. We should start by teaching the strategies one at a time by choosing problems that fit that strategy. Eventually, once they have added multiple strategies to their toolkit, we can present them with problems and let them choose the right strategy.

By: Victoria

Victoria — Fri, 15 Dec 2017 13:57:02 +0000

In reply to Nora.

Hi! I am a middle school teacher in New York state and my district is “gung ho” on CUBES. I completely agree with you that kids are not really reading the problem when using CUBES and only circling and boxing stuff then “doing something” with it without regard for whether or not they are doing the right thing (just a shot in the dark!). I have adopted what I call a “no fear word problems” procedure because several of my students told me they are scared of word problems and I thought, “let’s take the scary out of it then by figuring out how to dissect it and attack it!
Our class strategy is nearly identical to your strategy:

1. Pre-Read the problem (do so at your normal reading speed just so you basically know what it says)
2. Active Read: Make a short list of: DK (what I Definitely Know), TK (what I Think I Know and should do), and WK (what I Want to Know– what is the question?)
3. Draw and Solve
4. State the answer in a complete sentence.

This procedure keep kids for “surfacely” reading and just trying something that doesn’t make sense with the context and implications of the word problem. I adapted some of it from Harvey Silver strategies (from Strategic Teacher) and incorporated the “Read-Draw-Write” component of the Eureka Math program. One thing that Harvey Silver says is, “Unlike other problems in math, word problems combine quantitative problem solving with inferential reading, and this combination can bring out the impulsive side in students.” (The Strategic Teacher, page 90, Silver, et al.; 2007). I found that CUBES perpetuates the impulsive side of middle school students, especially when the math seems particularly difficult. Math word problems are packed full of words and every word means something to about the intent and the mathematics in the problem, especially in middle school and high school. Reading has to be done both at the literal and inferential levels to actually correctly determine what needs to be done and execute the proper mathematics. So far this method is going really well with my students and they are experiencing higher levels of confidence and greater success in solving.

By: Angela Wilson

Angela Wilson — Sun, 15 Oct 2017 16:05:49 +0000

I will definitely use this concept in my Pre-Algebra classes this year; I especially like the graphic organizer to help students organize their thought process in solving the problems too.

By: tehila

tehila — Sun, 08 Oct 2017 23:51:27 +0000

In reply to Chelsea Waldrews. LOVE this idea! Will definitely use it this year! Thank you!

By: Noelle Pickering

Noelle Pickering — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 14:46:21 +0000

In reply to Chelsea Waldrews. Great idea! Thanks so much for sharing with our readers!

By: Chelsea Waldrews

Chelsea Waldrews — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 11:27:03 +0000

Hi! Another teacher and I came up with a strategy we call RUBY a few years ago. We modeled this very closely after close reading strategies that are language arts department was using, but tailored it to math.
R-Read the problem (I tell kids to do this without a pencil in hand otherwise they are tempted to start underlining and circling before they read)
U-Underline key words and circle important numbers
B-Box the questions (I always have student’s box their answer so we figured this was a way for them to relate the question and answer)
Y-You ask yourself: Did you answer the question? Does your answer make sense (mathematically)

I have anchor charts that we have made for classrooms and interactive notebooks if you would like them let me me know….

By: Noelle Pickering

Noelle Pickering — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 01:59:26 +0000

In reply to Nora. Hi Nora! I have never thought about this as a reading strategy, genius! Please let me know how it goes. I would love to hear more!

By: Nora

Nora — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 00:55:01 +0000

As a reading specialist, I love your strategy. It’s flexible, “portable” for any problem, and DOES get kids to read and understand the problem by 1) summarizing what they know and 2) asking a question for what they don’t yet know — two key comprehension strategies! How about: “Make a Plan for the Problem”? That’s the core of your rationale for using it, and I bet you’re already saying this all the time in class. Kids will get it even more because it’s a statement, not an acronym to remember. This is coming to my reading class tomorrow with word problems — thank you!