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When planning a math intervention lesson I work backward. I start with the skill or standard, what I want the students to know. Then, I “think CRA” and determine the models and links that might best support a students’ understanding. Once I know the aim of my lesson and the tools and models I want to be sure they are using, I need to find a hook or lead-in to the topic. Word problems are one of my favorite lesson hooks!
Why Word Problems?
The question is bigger than word problems! When we are looking at a math skill or standard, we want to be sure that we are teaching more than just procedures. Lessons need a lead-in that will allow students to think and explore the concept.
Some of my favorite hooks or lead-ins come straight from the Standards for Mathematical Practice! Students might be asked to model a concept with a specific hands-on tool, solve a number of problems and look for patterns, notice relationships between math concepts or Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.
When students start with a story problem, they are starting from a place of meaning and application. The math they are learning is immediately applicable to real life! A good story problem can promote curiosity and breed engagement in the lesson.
How To Start With a Story Problem
Starting with a story problem is as simple as lending context to the math skill you are targeting.
In a first-grade counting on lesson, a story might sound like this:
I have 6 dollars in my wallet back in my bedroom and I just found 4 more dollars. I want to know how much money I have in all. Is there a way we can find the total without being able to count each dollar individually?
I then show my students a picture of a wallet with a $6 and give them 4 more dollars. We then figure out together how we might find the total of the play money.
Once students think they have found the total we “open” the wallet” and go back to the more familiar “count all” strategy to confirm their thinking. Students then complete a number of additional examples to see if their new “counting on” strategy continues to work!
This strategy is useful well beyond first grade. In third grade, students learning about the distributive property can also start with a story problem:
I am laying square crackers out on a tray. I made 2 rows with 5 crackers in each row. It didn’t look like quite enough crackers so I added two more rows of crackers. How many crackers are on the tray in all?
Guide your students as they solve this problem asking them to model the original tray of crackers with hands-on tools like square tiles. Stop and notice, how many crackers do we have right now? Can we write an equation to match the crackers? Continue to use hands-on tools as you add additional rows of crackers and solve for this additional piece.
Are your students able to find the total? What do they notice about the arrays they put together?
Starting With an Open-Ended Problem
Another type of word problem you can begin with is the open-ended word problem.
In this type of word problem, there is more than one correct answer. A problem with two missing addends fits neatly into this category and can be very supportive of your students!
Kindergarteners and first graders are working to internalize the partners of 10. An open-ended problem can lend context and meaning to partners of 10 in a meaningful way!
I was walking by the pet shop and noticed they had 10 windows. There were puppies in some windows and kittens in other windows. What different arrangements of puppies and kittens could fill the 10 windows?
This type of problem is even great in a full group setting because there is room to meet each student where they are. Some students might use manipulatives and find only one way to fill the windows while other students might find every single possible combination, look for patterns in the equations and extend their thinking!
