FANTASTIC 5-STEP PROCESS FOR WORD PROBLEMS

WE ARE WORKING ON A CONSISTENT PROCESS TO HELP STUDENTS ATTACK AND SOLVE WORD PROBLEMS IN CLASS.

5-STEP PROCESS


STEP 1
WHAT ARE THE FACTS JACK??

WRITE DOWN ALL THE IMPORTANT FACTS FROM THE PROBLEM--KEEP IT SIMPLE, USE ABBREVIATIONS, WRITE DOWN THE NUMBERS

STEP 2

WHAT IS THE QUESTION??

SOMETIMES WORD PROBLEMS ARE TRICKY--MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT THEY ARE ASKING YOU TO DO. RE-WRITE THE QUESTION IN YOUR WORDS TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND IT.

STEP 3

WHAT CAN WE ELIMINATE?

ONCE YOU WRITE DOWN THE FACTS AND THE QUESTION--EVERYTHING ELSE CAN BE ELIMINATED. THIS HELP YOU SEE WHAT'S IMPORTANT AND WHAT IS THERE TO CONFUSE YOU

STEP 4

CHOOSE ONE OF OUR SUPER 7 PROBLEM SOLVING STRATEGIES.

THE STUDENTS ARE USING A VARIETY OF STRATEGIES TO FOCUS THEIR WORK. FOR EXAMPLE:

DRAW A PICTURE

GUESS AND CHECK

MAKE A LIST

WORK BACKWARDS

MAKE A DIAGRAM OR CHART

USE LOGICAL REASONING

LOOK FOR A PATTERN

STEP 5

DOES THE ANSWER MAKE SENSE?

GO OVER YOUR WORK TO MAKE SURE IT MAKES SENSE!! IF IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE IT'S CLOSE TO WHAT YOU THOUGHT OR ESTIMATED---THEN IT'S PROBABLY NOT CORRECT.

IF IT IS CORRECT--THEN WRITE A STATEMENT SENTENCE THAT EXPLAINS YOUR ANSWER.