Spooky Strategies

for Solving Word

Problems

In your group:

• Discuss the difficulties you have when you try to solve word problems?

• One person from each group list those difficulties on the board.

In your group:

Operation Words

These words can be helpful for you to determine what operation will be used in a problem.

However, you still need to understand what the word problem “means”.

The operation words sometimes can be mistaken for the wrong operation.

ExampleToby buys two books at Top‟s Bookstore. They cost $12.85

together. He pays with a $20 bill. How much change does Toby

receive?

Wrong solution: $12.85 + $20 = $32.85Correct solution: $20 -$12.85 = $ 7.15

Watch out for misreading the wrong key word!

Different Math Strategies

Make a ListUse Object/Act It OutMake a Drawing/Use a ModelMake a TableMake a GraphGuess and Check/ExperimentWork BackwardUse a PatternUse Logic

Make a Model ~ Not the only method to solve word problems, but it can be used to solve most word problems

(about 80%)

“A picture (or a diagram) is worth a thousand

words.”

The 8 Step Process

1.Read the entire problem.

Alicia had $6 more than Bobby. If Bobby had $10, how much did they have altogether?

2.Decide who is involved in the problem.

Alicia had $6 more than Bobby. If Bobby had $10, how much did they have altogether?

Alicia

Bobby

3.Decide what is involved in the problem.

Alicia had $6 more than Bobby. If Bobby had $10, how much did they have altogether?

Alicia’s money

Bobby’s money

4.Draw unit bars of equal length.

Alicia had $6 more than Bobby. If Bobby had $10, how much did they have altogether?

Alicia’s money

Bobby’s money

5.Read each sentence, one at a time.

Alicia had $6 more than Bobby. If Bobby had $10, how much did they have altogether?

Alicia’s money

Bobby’s money

$10

$10

$6

6.Put the question mark in place.

Alicia had $6 more than Bobby. If Bobby had $10, how much did they have altogether?

Alicia’s money

Bobby’s money

$10

$10

$6

?

7.Work the computation to the side or underneath.

$10 + $10 = $20

$20 + $6 = $26

OR

$10 + $6 = $16

$16 + $10 = $26+ $10 =

Alicia had $6 more than Bobby. If Bobby had $10, how much did they have altogether?

Alicia’s money

Bobby’s money

$10

$10

$6

8.Answer the question in a complete sentence.

Alicia had $6 more than Bobby. If Bobby had $10, how much did they have altogether?

Alicia and Bobby had $26 altogether.

Now…it’s your turn