Apply Comprehension Strategies for Math Word Problems
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Skills
Apply Comprehension Strategies for Math Word Problems
If your student is more inclined towards reading comprehension than mathematical thinking
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Objective: Students will use familiar reading comprehension techniques to tackle math word problems. -
Instruction and Practice: Encourage students who prefer ELA to think of word problems the way they are often asked to think about a story or book. Help them tackle the problem in four steps (next slide): predicting, clarifying, solving and summarizing.
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Predict. Have students read the problem and, before picking up a pencil, predict what they think the answer will look like (e.g. a whole number, a fraction, a label) and the type of operation they will need to solve it (e.g. graphing, multiplication, simultaneous equations).
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Clarify. Have students write a list all the information they need to solve the problem, including a column for things they know/have and one for things they need or seem to be missing. This could include numbers, variables, formulas, vocabulary, etc. They can make a third column of extraneous information in the problem that they do not need.
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Solve. Students decide on a strategy and solve the problem. This phase will likely feel much more doable now that they have gone through predicting and clarifying.
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Summarize. Students summarize the problem and their answer. By making this a full step rather than just giving the answer, students reflect on whether the answer makes sense and if they need to revisit an earlier stage.