During conferences, I talked to many of you about working with you child to help them improve their ability to solve math word problems. I have included the problem solving worksheet that we use in class. This worksheet requires students to do a close read (multiple reading of the text) to identify essential information. It is a great resource to use if your child seems to be struggling on any type of word problem!
You will notice that this problem solving worksheet asks student so identify “magic math words” and the operation that goes with it. We want students to look for this vocabulary to help them understand what they are trying to do. Below, you will find a list of many of these words. Please notice that the multiplication and division words are often the same. In this case, it’s important for students to ask should my answer be bigger (multiply) or smaller (divide) than the number I already know.
At this point, reading comprehension becomes just as important to math as the actual computation. Students need to understand what is happening within the word problem before they are able to begin the calculation process. If you are looking for addition resources to help you child at home, this is a fantastic article:
Miss J 