Extra word problem practice

[Vintage81]

My daughter is currently going through MM3. She's doing well, but I'd like to give her some extra practice with word problems. She often rushes through the problems because she thinks she knows what's being asked, but instead skips over important information and ends up with the wrong answer.

 

I looked on MM's website, but I couldn't find extra word problem practices.

 

Can anyone recommend a workbook of some sort, where she can work through a few problems each day?

 

I was looking at Primary Mathematics Challenging Word Problems, but I'm concerned they might be too challenging for her. Eventually I'd like her to take on more challenging problems, but I'd like to see more consistency from her on the easier ones first. Maybe using level 2, instead of 3 would be a good start? Or is there something else out there that might be helpful?

[Farrar]

We found the Challenging Word Problems to be awkwardly worded. I know they're the gold standard and most people love them, but they weren't for us.

 

I like the FAN Math Process Skills in Problem Solving books better. They have better solutions as well. They're also Singapore style problems, just with more explicit teaching of strategies.

 

Another direction might be to do Primary Challenge Math.

[Syllieann]

Remember that you can edit the reviews and tests if you have the download. You could just change a few details and reprint if you want.

[mom2bee]

My daughter is currently going through MM3. She's doing well, but I'd like to give her some extra practice with word problems. She often rushes through the problems because she thinks she knows what's being asked, but instead skips over important information and ends up with the wrong answer.

Does she get the calculations for the question that she thinks is being asked correct?

[wendyroo]

We like these slightly more than the Challenging Word Problems.  I thought they were worded more clearly, and did a better job building skills gradually as the difficulty ramped up over the course of the book.

 

Note, though, that the "level" number is different than the grade.  The one I linked is Level 2 intended for 3rd grade.

 

Wendy

[PeterPan]

I have the book Wendyroo linked, and indeed it's easy to add onto any other approach. :)

 

You could look at the various options at Teacher Created Resources. We use some of their Daily Warm-ups series and really, really like them. They have brain teasers with math, etc. too. 

 

Daily Warm-Ups: Problem Solving Math Grade 3

 

Challenging Graph Art

 

Coordinate Graphing: Creating Geometry Quilts Grade 4 & Up

 

Mind Twisters Grade 4

 

Puzzles and Games that Make Kids Think Grade 3

 

You'll find more as you search through the site. Those are things like we've been using. Usually there's a series, so when you find something you like it will have more levels.

 

Fwiw, one way to help with the rushing is to do it collaboratively and share your diagrams before you actually write equations or solve. You can each have a whiteboard or manipulatives and do your representations of the data and problem first, THEN write equations and solve.

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Edited February 4, 2017 by OhElizabeth

[Vintage81]

Does she get the calculations for the question that she thinks is being asked correct?

Yes, she does.

 

For instance, one of the problems she recently missed was where she had a diagram of three cities, each city being a point in a triangle. She was given the distances between each city and was asked this....How many more meters is a round trip from City A to City B and back, than from City C to City A and back?

 

She thought they were asking only for the round trip distances, which she calculated correctly. She missed the part about finding the difference between the two round trips.

Edited February 4, 2017 by Vintage81

[mom2bee]

Yes, she does.

 

For instance, one of the problems she recently missed was where she had a diagram of three cities, each city being a point in a triangle. She was given the distances between each city and was asked this....How many more meters is a round trip from City A to City B and back, than from City C to City A and back?

 

She thought they were asking only for the round trip distances, which she calculated correctly. She missed the part about finding the difference between the two round trips.

 

Then it would seem like your daughter doesn't know how to approach word problems. Unless you can stop her and teach her, then giving her more word problems will not help.

It's like a child who doesn't know how to do long-division, being given a few long division problems each day to work on. Giving her  more work that she has demonstrated that she doesn't know how to do, will only guarantee that she has MORE opportunities to get  them wrong.

The way that I teach kids, the first steps to solving a word problem is

01) Put your pencil down.

02) READ the entire problem carefully. Once you have read it entirely and carefully. Some kids read without regard to punctuation and it messes with their comprehension, so I make them tap the page each time that they see a punctuation mark as they read, and they double back and read that part according to the punctuation.

03) Read the problem again, to find your Information, Clue, Question (the 3 things every elementary word problem has).

04) Pick up your pencil and UNDERline the question. Read the problem again and OVERline the information. Read the problem again BRACKET your clue.

05) Put the pencil down.

06) Read the QUESTION (it's underlined)

07) Check that your clue and information are relevant to THAT question.

08) Decide what you need to do and tell me, first, so that we can talk about it. If they realize that first I have to add up this, and then I have to multiply that, sometimes I have them draw a line to divide the work space into 2 parts so that they realize/remember that they need to do 2 steps, and the work is seperated and legible

09) Pick up your pencil and set up your calculation(s) needed.

10) Write the units and box your final answer.

 

Practically every student that I've ever taught has benefited from the "1st step: Put DOWN your pencil" rule.

 

Sometimes the speedier a kid is at calculations, the more they want to rush through word problems and the more you have to force them to slow it down a bit. Some kids, more than others, need to be forced to explicitly slow down and actually listen to (read) the problem and think through the information given, the questions asked and how that information relates to the question being asked.

 

Only you will know whether or not your daughter needs to be made to adhere religiously to every step, and for how long, but I find that a few weeks of going through word problems (both with and without numbers) VERY explicitly with students almost always works out the rushing through word problems kink.

 

After those kinks are worked out, SOME kids can be allowed to 'slack off' on some of the steps, by maybe just reading it twice, then marking the ICQ, and setting up the calculations. But almost every student that I have worked with over 1st grade has benefited from a thorough word problem workshop.

 

I also require that my students write out the calculation that they are going to perform, so even if it's 2+2 as a word problem, I want to see 2 + 2 = 4, and I make them fix it if they just write 4.

[Syllieann]

I have ds underline the question. When he gets what he believes to be his answer, he is supposed to circle it and draw an arrow pointing back to the actual question. This prevents sloppiness and didn't take long to become habit, so I don't have to sit elbow to elbow to make it happen. I also require labels. If those are missed, I write something ridiculous next to his answer like "487 jumbo jets?" for a question about a grocery bill.

[wendyroo]

Like the others, I explicitly teach a problem solving procedure.  

I made a reference sheet showing my kids the steps I want them to follow.

 

Wendy