Help! What do I do for a kid who can't get word problems???

[hlee]

Hello to the Hive---I have a DS10 who started in public school for K and 1st grade, and I feel like we've been catching up on math ever since. He is great at the algorithms of math, but just awful at word problems. We use Singapore math and we're towards the end of 3A right now. I just graded one of his cumulative tests and he is having such a hard time figuring out word problems. We've tried focusing on them this summer, practicing more of them, but that doesn't seem to be helping him "get" how to do them. He is definitely not a naturally "mathy" child, he is my avid reader and writer. He's bright but math doesn't come naturally to him, and he's getting frustrated and his confidence is falling. Any suggestions welcome. Should we try a new curriculum? Should we just keeping practicing word problems? Help!! Any and all suggestions welcome!!! Thanks so much, I'm at my wit's end and it's only the beginning of the 2nd week of school!

Edited August 28, 2012 by hlee

[fraidycat]

I have a DD10 who is the same way. She loves math, but word problems = tears and frustration.

 

I really like this book:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Word-Problems-Made-Easy-Making/dp/0766025128/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346128219&sr=8-1&keywords=word+problems+made+easy

 

It's a whole book about how to do word problems step by step. How to figure out what they're asking and figure out which information in relevant vs. the extraneous info.

 

I had originally checked it out from the library and really liked it but we didn't get to work with it much before it had to be returned. This year, I bought it. My plan is for every time we come across word problems in her MM book, we will get out the book. A lot of the time, we will spend evaluating the word problem and probably mostly forget about the actual math part of it until we get the reading comprehension of the problem down.

 

ETA: I am also hoping that remediation in phonics and reading comprehension will help, too. This is what our focus will mostly be on this year. Undoing the public school damage.

Edited August 28, 2012 by fraidycat

[ZooRho]

Singapore teaches how to do word problems with rods, I think it isn't until the 3b book though.

 

I loved that way of doing it.

[hlee]

Thanks for the quick response! Part of the reason we are only in Singapore 3A is because every time we hit word problems, I have to slow everything down and spend so much time trying to help him understand them. Do I just keep progressing if he seems to understand the general math algorithm? And maybe do a book like this on the side? Feeling totally inept right now as a teacher. =(

[happycc]

teacher guides of singapore math are even hard for me as an adult to draw and figure out. If there is any consolation, my 10yrs old twins struggle with the word problems as well and they were also in public school until two years ago.

 

Perhaps you can allow him to keep moving in the Singapore book so at least he is moving forward in other things and then have separate teaching time for the word problems.

 

Do you have him act out the word problems or try to envision it in his head (making pictures/videos in his mind)?

Is this the part that is stumping him?

What about even drawing pictures to the word problems? Or just give him pictures to make up story word problems himself to start with?

With my girls I have take it line by line, break it apart. I write the word problems on the whiteboard large and up high (looking up activates some part of brain I can;t remember -memory, problem solving skill, can't remember). So they have a few days to look at it before we actually tackle it.

Keep persevering---I think sooner or later it will click.

 

Is he using the Process skills books or the Challenging word problems book as well? What about the website Thinking Blocks or something like that?

 

I second the reading comprehension issues.

 

Public school kids are not taught phonics it is usually sight words reading as a result they struggle and struggle as they get older. They are so focused on trying to remember what that word says that comprehension takes second place.

Edited August 28, 2012 by happycc
added some other suggestion...that work for my girls as well

[hlee]

We are using the Standards version of Singapore and all the extras: the Extra Practice books, the Tests book, etc. I haven't done much with the Challenging Word Problems although I do have the U.S. versions of those books. Fearing that if he cannot always manage the regular word problems, he might REALLY struggle with the challenging ones!

[ZooRho]

Thanks for the quick response! Part of the reason we are only in Singapore 3A is because every time we hit word problems, I have to slow everything down and spend so much time trying to help him understand them. Do I just keep progressing if he seems to understand the general math algorithm? And maybe do a book like this on the side? Feeling totally inept right now as a teacher. =(

 

Don't stress, that will add to his.

 

here is a site I just googled and found that is similar to how Singapore teaches it. My boys loved doing it this way. and seriously I took math in college and doing Singapore 3b taught me How to do problems I never could really figure out how to work.

 

http://www.mathplayground.com/thinkingblocks.html

[Hunter]

I've been looking all day at the problem solving strengths of many curricula. I haven't seen Singapore, sorry.

 

I've been looking at Saxon 54 and Ray's mostly. Saxon is so formulatic and names each technique. Ray's is just a very verbal program, so verbal that it looks like there is no need to name techniques.

 

I just want to narrow in on the student knowing how to problem solve using the 4 processes, for now.

 

Unfortunately, all the early level free versions of Ray's don't have answer keys. I already have Saxon 54, but after reading How to Tutor, I'm thinking of buying Ray's Primary and the key. :tongue_smilie:

 

Thanks for starting this thread. I'm all :bigear:

[Alte Veste Academy]

Singapore's Process Skills in Problem Solving books spell out how to solve word problems, step-by-step. I would start with the first book and go through the word problems to build confidence and instill good technique with math that he already knows because that will make it easier to focus on the skills themselves. I would remediate him on word problems while still working through the main curriculum, but I would spend as much time on them as possible before frustration sets in, working on them a bit each day.

Edited August 28, 2012 by Alte Veste Academy

[Lily_Grace]

I made flash cards of words he'd find in the paragraph: More, less, add, without, groups of....and wrote on the back the math sign. When we hit word problems he first circled or underlined the phrases with those words and then I had him go back through and slowly reread, building it with blocks if necessary.

[boscopup]

I would suggest going through CWP. You can skip the challenge sections and just do the regular problems. Each problem set starts out with an example or two that shows how to do a particular type of problem, then the problems after those examples usually use those techniques. Walk him through the problems and ask him questions to help guide him through the problems.

[tammieb]

I'm sure you're probably not interested in changing math curriculums if Singapore is working for everything other than the word problem issue. One thing you might consider, though, is Saxon -- if only for a supplement for awhile. I know there's alot of people who dislike the spiral method and feel Saxon is a little "behind" in the lower grades. I felt the same way when my daughter was coming up from Saxon 1 - 5/4. But WOW!!!!!!!! Once they hit about 6/5 there's NOTHING they can't handle! She used to have a MASSIVE mental block on word problems. We used another curriculum in Kidergarten and 1st grade and were in TEARS, EVERY DAY!!! because she just couldn't "get it." The way Saxon explains the word problems is so simple and understandable. Might be worth a shot if not just for a little while.

 

Good luck!

 

Tammie

[Dinsfamily]

I would try to go back a level in CWP. That way he can work on the word problems but not be challenged by the actual math. Maybe that will give him confidence in deciphering the problem and gradually improve with the problem solving. You can skip the challenging ones as the PP said if needed and maybe go back to them as he gets better. The practice problems are about workbook level or easier.

 

CWP also gives instruction on how to use the bar model for each type of problem in the example section. That's how ds8 and I learned it before getting to PM3B.

[fractalgal]

For help with learning the Singapore word problems, I'd take a look at the Singapore Primary Math Supplement page. There are several book series linked to on this page that would help explain the process. The IP and CWP give examples and draw diagrams to get you started on some problems. Also for a more step by step option you could try the Heuristic & Model Approach (Process Skills in Problem Solving) which walks a student through the underlying process, or Visual Thinking in Mathematics (which encourages 'thinking routines' and 'parallel questions'.)

 

Good luck. :)

[Hunter]

I'm sure you're probably not interested in changing math curriculums if Singapore is working for everything other than the word problem issue. One thing you might consider, though, is Saxon -- if only for a supplement for awhile. I know there's alot of people who dislike the spiral method and feel Saxon is a little "behind" in the lower grades. I felt the same way when my daughter was coming up from Saxon 1 - 5/4. But WOW!!!!!!!! Once they hit about 6/5 there's NOTHING they can't handle! She used to have a MASSIVE mental block on word problems. We used another curriculum in Kidergarten and 1st grade and were in TEARS, EVERY DAY!!! because she just couldn't "get it." The way Saxon explains the word problems is so simple and understandable. Might be worth a shot if not just for a little while.

 

Good luck!

 

Tammie

 

Last night as I had everything spread out in front of me comparing, I was wondering how easy it would be to apply the Saxon word problem techniques to other curricula. The word problems are very much cookbook math...but...I find cook books a good place to START before learning to cook without one. The word problem techniques in 54 are my favorite part of the book.

[letsplaymath]

Thanks for the quick response! Part of the reason we are only in Singapore 3A is because every time we hit word problems, I have to slow everything down and spend so much time trying to help him understand them. Do I just keep progressing if he seems to understand the general math algorithm? And maybe do a book like this on the side? Feeling totally inept right now as a teacher. =(

I don't know how you do math, but at this stage I like to sit right with my student and do everything together. We take turns on the problems: I will do one, while my daughter listens and checks me, and then it's her turn to do one. I describe the method in this blog post:

Buddy Math

As for the word problems, since they are always a struggle, I would not expect him to do a single one on his own. Make them a work-together project until he feels more comfortable.

 

In Singapore math 3A, you have two basic types of story problems, so the first thing to do is figure out which type you are dealing with:

(1) A whole is made up of parts.

There are two or more parts that make up a whole thing, or a whole set of things.

Food:

one part was eaten and the other was left.

Store:

some things were sold Saturday and the others were sold Sunday.

Money:

we have part and the other part we still need to earn.

People:

part are adults and the other part are children.

etc.

 

(2) One thing is compared to another.

One thing is bigger than, or smaller than, or heavier than the other thing.

One person has more money or fewer stickers or whatever than the other person.

etc.

Each of these basic problems has its own basic diagram. The whole-and-parts diagram is one long bar divided into pieces, with a bracket over the whole thing. The comparison diagram is two bars, one longer than the other, with the difference marked by a bracket. Draw the diagram that goes with the type of problem that you have. Later in the book, drawings get more complicated, with extra brackets or bars divided into special pieces. But you should start with the simple ones.

 

Next, start to label the things in your story where they fit on the diagram. If it's a whole-and-parts, then which thing is the whole and which are the parts? Which is the big set, and which are the sub-sets? If it's a comparison, which thing is bigger/smaller/more/less, and by how much? You may have to read the story several times to figure out where each name and number goes.

 

After you have labeled all the pieces of your diagram that you can, decide which piece represents what you are trying to find. (Ideally, it will be the only piece without a number attached. But in a more complicated problem, there may be other unknown parts that you have to figure out first.) Label it with a question mark.

 

It might pay for you and your son to go back through all the story problems in the 3A book and just practice this part: identify the type of problem, and draw & label the diagram. No calculations! When I do this with my kids, they like the feeling that they are "getting off easy", but I like the fact that they are doing all the thinking.

 

Finally, think about how you can use the things you know to figure out what you don't know. This is a basic, algebraic question. Don't let your son fall into the trap of thinking he's dumb because he doesn't instantly know how to figure this out, because it's an algebra question. It's not always obvious how to do it! That's what makes the bar diagram so powerful -- it is a pictorial type of algebra.

[sbgrace]

Don't stress, that will add to his.

 

here is a site I just googled and found that is similar to how Singapore teaches it. My boys loved doing it this way. and seriously I took math in college and doing Singapore 3b taught me How to do problems I never could really figure out how to work.

 

http://www.mathplayground.com/thinkingblocks.html

 

Wow. Thank you for sharing that. My son can't seem to get the bar model thing and I have struggled to make it clear to him. The visual here is going to really help I think.

 

 

I don't know how you do math, but at this stage I like to sit right with my student and do everything together. We take turns on the problems: I will do one, while my daughter listens and checks me, and then it's her turn to do one. I describe the method in this blog post:

Buddy Math

...........

Finally, think about how you can use the things you know to figure out what you don't know. This is a basic, algebraic question. Don't let your son fall into the trap of thinking he's dumb because he doesn't instantly know how to figure this out, because it's an algebra question. It's not always obvious how to do it! That's what makes the bar diagram so powerful -- it is a pictorial type of algebra.

 

And thank you as well. That's a fantastic description. I've not known how to present this in a way that makes sense to him.

 

Between the two of these I think we may make some progress!

Edited August 29, 2012 by sbgrace