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

Real Stories, Deep Understanding ◆ 11

Power Questions

Good questions are the building blocks of good problem solving. We
shouldn’t ever give answers. We should only scaffold thinking with good
questions (see Figure 1.8). When a child says they don’t know, always ask
them to look in their toolkit (an actual one with tools appropriate to the
grade) or use a template (an actual one that is part of their toolkits). Never
ask someone else to help because the minute you do this, you just taught
the child who had the question that they don’t have to persevere. You
have in essence said, “Don’t stick with it, I’ll send someone in to save
you.” You didn’t intentionally say it, but that is the message received. This
is how students learn helplessness. Instead, when a child says they are
stuck, say, “What could you use to help?” If you need to, suggest a start-
ing point. But never overscaffold. Sometimes teachers will say, “Take out
the fraction strips. Grab the red trapezoid for^1 ⁄ 2 and the 3 green triangles
for^3 ⁄ 6 and see how much those make together.” Okay, if you do that you

Figure 1.8 Problem-Solving Questions

Visualize If this were a commercial, what do you see?

Summarize What is this problem about? Do you understand the

problem?

Write the set-up

equation

What are we looking for? What is missing? How will

you write that equation?

Make a plan What type of problem is this? How many steps is it

going to take to solve this problem? What is your plan?

Solve one way How are you going to solve this problem? What models

will you use? What strategies will you use?

Check another How are you going to check this problem? Did you use

numbers, drawings, diagrams, tables or acting out to

solve this problem?

Double-double-

check

Did you check the math and the answer? Does the

answer make sense?

Explain your

thinking

Did you write down what you did?

Think about the

thinking of others

Who did it the way John did? Who did it a different

way? Who agrees with John? Does anybody disagree

with John?

Scaffolding

questions

What tool could you use to solve this problem? What

template could you use to help solve this problem?

What model could you use to solve this problem?

What strategy could you use to solve this problem?