2018 AISD Science + Mathematics X Conference

Over the last 3 years, we have worked in 3rd-grade classrooms in AISD to investigate effective ways to teach word-problem solving to students. We will present our strategies for teaching word-problem solving effectively. Specifically, we will: (a) Help teachers understand why using key words or defining word problems by operation is not helpful to students, (b) Introduce different attack strategies (e.g., UPSCheck, CUBES) that are necessary in order for students to organize word-problem work, and (c) Explain how defining word problems by structure (e.g., combine, compare, change) is important. The intended audience is teachers who teach math to students in grades 1-4.