As the saying goes, there are many ways to kill a cat. Somewhat of an awkward saying but something that I constantly use in class. Especially when we do word problems. Over time I have noticed that kids read the actual word sum and then they give me an answer with the correct calculations, but THEY DO NOT ANSWER THE QUESTION!
No one can answer correctly if they don't read the question properly, and kids get scared when they don't work with numbers, but instead with words in Mathematics. This is the same reason why some kids struggle with Algebra.
Some kids just find it difficult to understand the concept in a word sum but with a lot of practice, this can be overcome easily.
Before I start with ANY sum, I ask my kids what they must do to get to the answer. Once they are sure of what they must do, it goes quickly and easily. The main trick is just to get them to understand what they must do first. It doesn't matter what the topic of the day is, I always give my students a word sum related to this topic. With practice, they get better at figuring something out and that is my goal.
I also give them the freedom to work out the sum like they want to, and not in a prescribed way. Who cares about how they get to the answer if they get there right?
We usually break the sums up in the following steps.
Make an organized list of what exactly you are supposed to do in the sum.
If you have no clue what to do, then you guess, do a few calculations and TEST your answer. If your answer is correct, then you have successfully solved the problem.
If you have no clue, draw a picture. Most kids are visual learners and if they see something, they understand better and can figure out something on their own.
Find a pattern in the type of sums you do. Whether they use big numbers or small numbers it doesn't matter, the calculations will stay the same.
Replace values in the sum with smaller numbers. This makes them understand the question better for some reason and they find it easier to then solve the difficult sum.
Work backward. This is the most crucial step in doing a word sum. Once they have the answer, they must test their answer by doing the opposite calculation to see if they are correct.
After my lesson, I will usually give them a few word problems with the same pattern so that they can practice and as we all know, practice makes perfect!
I hope that you will follow us for more tips on word problems. See you next time!
