It is understandable when students say they dislike word problems, because they can be very tricky to decipher. However, I have created this page devoted to word problems to try to change students' view of word problems. After doing some research on word problems and how to teach them, one solution I suggest is to use visual aids and diagrams. One article I read was about a study on the use of diagrams when doing word problems, and the diagrams or representations that were done well were very valuable to the students' success. I believe that if students can draw their own diagrams, such as drawing a rectangle if they are using a rectangle in the problem, they can better understand what their task is and find an answer. For example, if you look below at my first sample word problem, the students can draw the number of each shape before they start. Then, as they draw their shape man or woman, they can cross off the shapes as they use them, to be sure that they used only the amounts provided. The students could also use objects as representations, so if they have tangrams or blocks, they would lay them out while doing the problem as well.
Another article I was reading really went into detail about why word problems are so intimidating for students. Students are supposed to “decode information about relationships and operations among known and unknown quantities" (Roche 2013). It is easy for all of the information to appear jumbled to a student, so we have been working on strategies to decode word problems. The first step we use is to determine what our task is, or what the problem is asking us to do. We look for key words (usually verbs) such as draw, find, determine, or list. Then we at how many objects we have, are supposed to use, or are supposed to find. We have also worked on drawing diagrams to help us solve the problem, so that would be our third step for solving the problem. Our vocabulary signposts, listed below, can be very helpful when going through these three steps.
Another article I was reading really went into detail about why word problems are so intimidating for students. Students are supposed to “decode information about relationships and operations among known and unknown quantities" (Roche 2013). It is easy for all of the information to appear jumbled to a student, so we have been working on strategies to decode word problems. The first step we use is to determine what our task is, or what the problem is asking us to do. We look for key words (usually verbs) such as draw, find, determine, or list. Then we at how many objects we have, are supposed to use, or are supposed to find. We have also worked on drawing diagrams to help us solve the problem, so that would be our third step for solving the problem. Our vocabulary signposts, listed below, can be very helpful when going through these three steps.
Vocabulary Signposts (for our three sample problems):
draw find at least list how many?
General Vocabulary Signposts:
more than added to taken away minus times divide doubled gives shares
larger more than less than combined in all total altogether in all left
draw find at least list how many?
General Vocabulary Signposts:
more than added to taken away minus times divide doubled gives shares
larger more than less than combined in all total altogether in all left
Sample Word Problems:
1. Draw a shape man using 5 circles, 3 triangles, 4 rectangles, and 2 octagons.
Hint 1 - A circle has 0 sides, a triangle has three sides, a rectangle has 4 sides, and an octagon has 8 sides.
Hint 2 - Click on the linked shapes above to see picture examples and review their definitions on the vocabulary page.
2. Find three rectangular objects in your house and list them below.
Hint 1 - What are you finding?
Hint 2 - How many objects are you finding?
Hint 3 - Where are you finding the objects?
3. Find at least one line of symmetry in the following shapes.
Hint 1 - What does symmetry mean? (Click on the word to review in your vocabulary list).
Hint 2 - Click this link to see examples of lines of symmetry.
1. Draw a shape man using 5 circles, 3 triangles, 4 rectangles, and 2 octagons.
Hint 1 - A circle has 0 sides, a triangle has three sides, a rectangle has 4 sides, and an octagon has 8 sides.
Hint 2 - Click on the linked shapes above to see picture examples and review their definitions on the vocabulary page.
2. Find three rectangular objects in your house and list them below.
Hint 1 - What are you finding?
Hint 2 - How many objects are you finding?
Hint 3 - Where are you finding the objects?
3. Find at least one line of symmetry in the following shapes.
Hint 1 - What does symmetry mean? (Click on the word to review in your vocabulary list).
Hint 2 - Click this link to see examples of lines of symmetry.