Any tricks for word problems?

[Indian summer]

I've got a kid that doesn't know how to approach word problems. They've always just made sense to me, so I'm not sure how to teach them because I don't understand why this kid doesn't see what I see, kwim?

 

We need a step by step method for extracting the right info. Any tips or tricks?

[Indian summer]

What is the age/level?

 

What are you using?

Grade four-ish, and khan academy.

[Indian summer]

The first step is understand the problem. Practice that. For many students, reading comprehension is the true issue.

This kid is an avid reader with awesome reading comprehension. It's a math issue, really.

[Cosmos]

Draw a picture, act it out, start with a simpler example, find a pattern. These are basic strategies but if you give an idea of the types of problems, we can give more specific advice.

[kitten18]

Teach him how to find the key words/phrases and what they mean: altogether, the difference between, etc.

[KSinNS]

Here's how I approach a tough problem:

Define my terms, in the elementary world-what I already know, what I need to find out

Look for keywords-watch for tricks here

Draw a picture 

Lay out the steps of the problem (so I know this and I need to x operation figure out that intermediate thing to do something to find my answer). 

If I'm still confused, rethink the problem with smaller numbers. 

Write the answer in sentence form and check that it makes sense

[duckens]

As others have said:

1) Reading Comprehension

 

2) Draw a picture.

 

-------------------------------------------

What made a difference for us:

 

3) Language.  I wrote on a post-it note (and posted on the wall by dd's workspace)

+  How many in all?

- How many more?

x skip counting

 

4) Lots and lots of practice.  We got lots of practice from the Evan Moor Workbook.

(Thank you to our home visiting teacher for recommending this to us!!!)

[Plink]

I have my kids highlight the key information.

 

First, what is the question asking you to find? Circle it.

Next, what information are you given? Underline it.

Finally, what process could you use to get to the answer? Write it down next to the end of the word problem (just the symbol(s))

 

We don't to any math until all of those pieces are discovered.

I don't accept any answers unless they have marked all of the key information in the problem and have the correct unit of measurement in the answer.

 

When all else fails I substitute my child's name and the word cookies in the problem. For some reason it always makes things clearer. LOL

[OneStepAtATime]

All of the above are good suggestions.  Another thing that helped was when I take a more complicated (Math-wise) problem and convert it to a more basic (math-wise) problem using a dry erase board.  We circle the key words together and work through what the word problem is asking.  DS isn't stressing about the solution since the math is basic.  He is focusing on breaking down the wording and understanding what is actually being asked.  Then he solves it, walking me through the steps verbally as he goes.  Then we reverse the process.  HE creates a word problem for ME, using the problem we just solved as a guide.  He writes it or dictates it himself on the dry erase board and I talk my way through solving it.  Having to create his own has really helped him to internalize a lot of the words used in word problems, as well as better understanding which information is necessary and which is just extra.  Then he tackles the original, more complex math problem and verbally walks me through what he is thinking while working it out on the dry erase.  Once he seems to really understand it, he tackles the other word problems himself and checks them himself.  If the solution ends up being wrong he first tries to figure out for himself if he made a computational error or misread the question or genuinely didn't understand the concept, then he determines if he can fix it on his own or needs additional help from me.

[bolt.]

Teach the student to focus first on what the actual question is (usually comes at the end). That's sometimes the confusing part because all the data comes before the point at which you are told what you are supposed to be doing with it. It's the reverse of the natural mystery-process.

 

It sometimes helps to write out the "answer sentence" before doing any calculations -- it provides focus. "Johnny sold (blank) pizzas on Tuesday."

This is one reason I like the Singapore Math bar diagrams.  When doing word problems, you know you are going to draw a bar diagram of some kind.  So, you read the problem, often outloud, two or three times, and then think about what kind of bar to draw.  It helps get past that "what do I do next" stage.

[kathkath]

TIPS:

 

Thought--identity the operation; putting together, taking away etc

 

Information-- what info is given? Numbers-- sometimes more is given than needed

 

Plan- write an equation with boxes for unknown. Eg: 4+ box=8 or 164-46=box

 

Solution-- write solution in sentence form.

[kathkath]

The TIPS method is taught using daily word problems in these: http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aarithmetic%20developed%20daily

[Indian summer]

This is one reason I like the Singapore Math bar diagrams. When doing word problems, you know you are going to draw a bar diagram of some kind. So, you read the problem, often outloud, two or three times, and then think about what kind of bar to draw. It helps get past that "what do I do next" stage.

We don't use Singapore, but I do have some of their workbooks around, where would I find the instructions for this method?

[sbgrace]

We don't use Singapore, but I do have some of their workbooks around, where would I find the instructions for this method?

 

FAN math Process Skills and Problem Solving. You would start with Level 1. It's a program that stands by itself. You don't need other Singapore instruction. It will step her through how to think about problems and set them up with Singapore bar models. This book has really helped my child who struggled. We would work through the problems on a white board. If he needed my help, we could do the problem together on the board. The next day, he could try it alone again. With that method, we work for mastery (defined as able to set up and complete on his own) through the book. I've seen great improvement. He has tools now to think his way through.