How to solve word problems

1
How to solve word problems?
By Miss Martin
2
Why do we dislike Word Problems?

• Students do not like seeing a lot of words
• Some become nervous
• Some never learned the correct way to solve a
  problem

3
What is the correct way to do a word problem?

• Follow the correct order
• Notice important words to help you decide what to
  do
• Make sure you know what the problem is asking

4
Step 1

• READ THE PROBLEM

• Ask yourself Do I understand what the problem
  is asking?
• If not, go back and reread the problem again.
• How can you answer a problem that you do not know
  what it is asking?
• Remember Take your time! ?

5
Step 2

• HIGHLIGHT IMPORTANT INFORMATION

• Important information can be anything that you
  THINK you will need in order to get the correct
  answer.
• You may need to highlight number values, math
  magic words and/or names of people in the
  problem.
• NEVER ASSUME THAT EVERY NUMBER IS A PART OF THE
  PROBLEM. YOU MAY ONLY NEED TO USE SOME OF THEM
  NOT ALL OF THEM!

6
Step 3

• LOOK FOR KEY WORDS
• DECIDE WHICH OPERATION TO USE

• Math Magic Words ALWAYS SHOULD BE HIGHLIGHTED!
• Sum, Add, Together, Together
• Difference, How many more
• Multiply, Less Than, Greatest Value

7
Step 4

• PLAN HOW TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM

• Sometimes you may need to slow down and figure
  out what would make sense.
• Be sure to choose the best strategy.
• Many times you may be confused and simply need to
  look at your problem again and use your Math
  Magic Word as a clue.

8
Math Strategies
9
Step 5

• SOLVE THE PROBLEM

• Use your work space in a organized way so that
  you know which step you are doing.
• Do not rush through the work part.
• Remember you need to be able to defend why you
  did what you did.
• Very often, you will be using a T-Chart See
  Example!

10
T-Charts

• Work Station
• Includes all work being completed
• Is written neatly so ANYONE can understand what
  you are doing
• Is numbered by your steps
• Indicates an answer that is circled at the bottom

• Explanation
• Is the written portion of the problem
• Contains words like First, Then, Next and Last
• Explains HOW and WHY you knew what to do for the
  problem
• Indicates the answer in written form

11
Step 6

• ASK YOURSELF DOES THIS MAKE SENSE?

• Very often people make mistakes while completing
  a problem for a many different reasons.
• Some people make small errors by adding
  incorrectly, using the wrong operation or simply
  misreading the problem.

12
Step 7

• GO BACK AND CHECK YOUR WORK

• By going back and checking your work, you are
  checking to make sure that you understood what
  the problem is asking you to figure out.
• Being sure you are correct is GREAT!
• Just because you may not have finished first does
  not mean that you are wrong!

13
What are some things we can do to make word
problems easier?

• Practice
• Practice
• Practice
• And More PRACTICE!

14
Try This

• Ann and Michelle went to the grocery store with
  25.00. Ann bought bread for 1.49, eggs for
  0.79 cents and cheese for 4.45. Michelle bought
  cereal for 3.49, yogurt for 2.99 and bananas
  for 1.23. How much money did they spend
  together? How much change will they get back?