Grades 3-5 Math Problem Solving in Action_ Getting Students to Love Word Problems

Reasoning About Problems ◆ 101

Version 2:

The third-graders are going on a field trip. They ordered 5 vans. If

each van can seat 15 people, did they order enough vans so that

everyone has a ride?

Yes or No?

Explain your thinking.

Other Type of Remainder Questions

Look at these different remainder problems and think about the different
levels of cognitive demand of each of the problems. Some are straightfor-
ward, while others involve multiple steps. It is important to expose your
students to a variety of remainder problems that ask them to do different
things so that they become flexible thinkers.

Grandma made 72 cupcakes for the birthday party. She divided them

equally into 10 boxes. Does she have any left over?

Adapted from NAEP 1996 Grade 8

At the birthday party, Tim’s mom made 30 hotdogs for 17 children.

If each child is to have at least one hotdog, how many children can

have more than one?

Adapted from National Assessment of Educational Progress, 1992, Grade 4 and Grade 8 Math-

ematics Assessments

The bakery must buy sugar flowers to go on top of the cupcakes.

There are 12 cupcakes in a box. They need to decorate 15 filled boxes.

Sugar flowers are sold in packages of 30. How many packages of 30

does the bakery need to buy to have enough sugar flowers?

Luke and Mattie bought a video game. They each saved $26.85. The

game cost $50. If they split the left over money evenly, how much did

they each get back?