Problems with Word Problems

This is worth the read if you are having issues with your students understanding the "how to" of solving word problems. In elementary school, our students first inclination is to add all of ... See More

This is worth the read if you are having issues with your students understanding the "how to" of solving word problems. In elementary school, our students first inclination is to add all of the numbers together in a word problem. I am sharing this article with the teachers I work with because it is important that we address this issue as early as possible so that students can have success in approaching word problems. The article states that: translating a word problem to a mathematical equation should be a methodical process rather than a quick, memorized process Developing a word equation is often an important step in the translation of a word problem into a math equation. When specifying variables to be used in a word problem, it helps to be precise about what the variables represent. You can use fractions to help estimate the numbers in a large population from a relatively small sample. We have to teach our students this process in order for them to be successful in math and feel confident as they move into middle and high school.

Decoding Word Problems

I teach mostly math, and find that translating word problems to the language of math can be quite intimidating for most students. I liked the approach of writing "word equations" to begin th... See More

I teach mostly math, and find that translating word problems to the language of math can be quite intimidating for most students. I liked the approach of writing "word equations" to begin the process, especially for younger students. Then by decomposing each of the components, we can arrive at a mathematical representation of the problem. I did find some of the examples a little confusing, but perhaps that is because I am working with this stuff every day, and the presentation is a bit overwhelmed with detail. Another improvement that might be made that I find myself stressing to kids are some of the key words, like "represents," "increased by," and "yields" as a few examples that we might find in science. Useful read for those of us trying to insert more quantitative methods into science.