By Michelle Tucker ©2010 Michelle Tucker
Remember back when we were in school, when we would start sweating just if a teacher mentioned word problems. Actually, the hardest part was not having a plan or knowing where to start. I have some suggestions that you can take and use with your child.
Here is a 5 Step Problem Solving Plan that I've used as a teacher and parent:
1. Facts - We carefully read the problem to find out what facts are given to us.
2. Spot the Question - Read and highlight the question that is being asked.
3. Plan - Then, we plan how to use the facts to answer the question. First, choose a strategy:draw/sketch,
identify a pattern, graph, chart, make a logic table, guess and check, write an equation or make a
chart (2 dimensional or 3 dimensional that looks at three categories). Second, look to see what, if
any, operation(s) we plan to use (addition, subtraction, multiplication or division).
4. Solve - Do the computation to solve the problem. Sometimes, there is one step. Often there are multiple
steps.
5. Look back and Recheck - After solving, look back at the question. Did you answer it? Recheck.
Something that works well with training a student/child is to use this as a check list. The child applies this plan to a given word problem by following it step by step. After each step is applied to the word problem, the child should check that step off his/her 5 step list.
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