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

Figure 2.5

Multiplication Problems

Problem Types

Equal Groups

Arrays

Area

Rate

Price

Multipli- cation

Maribel has 4 purses. In each purse she has 5 rings. How many rings does she have altogether?

Farmer Mike had 4 rows of peach trees. He had 9 trees in each row. How many peach trees did he have altogether?

Ms.

Betty had a

garden that was 5 feet by 6 feet long. What was the area of her gar

den?

Trish runs 2 miles an hour. How many miles does she run in 4

hours?

A toy car costs $3.50. If Jamal buys 2 toy cars, how much will he spend?

Bar DiagramModelingProblem

?

6ft.

5ft.

?

?

9

9

9

9

2

2

2

2

$3.50

$3.50

5

5

5

5

What are we

looking for?

Where is

X

?

In this type of story, we are looking for the total amount.

In this type of story, we are looking for the total amount.

In this type of story, we are looking for the area.

In this type of problem, we are looking for the rate.

In this type of problem, we are looking for the total price.

Algebraic

Sentence

5 + 5 + 5 + 54 × 5

=

20

9 + 9 + 9 + 94 × 9

=

36

5 × 6

=

30

2 + 2 + 2 + 24 × 2

3.50 + 3.50

=

7.00

3.50 × 2

=

7.00

Strategies to

Solve

Repeated Addition Multiply

Repeated Addition Multiply

Multiply

Repeated Addition Multiply

Repeated Addition Multiply

Answer

Maribel had 20 rings.

Farmer Mike had 36 peach tr

ees.

The garden is 30 square feet.

Trish runs 8 miles in 4

hours.

Jamal spent $7.