Problem Types Across the Curriculum ◆ 59- Measurement problems focus on a variety of topics including
money, time, area and perimeter, mass, capacity, conversions,
angle and volume. - Fraction problems should be acted out.
- Decimal problems should use wheels, grids and bars.
Summary
There are many different types of word problems. Most states teach similar
topics in similar grades. It is important to know the word problem land-
scape for the current grade that you teach as well as the other grades—partly,
because word problem knowledge is cumulative. It is important at the
beginning of the year to assess the word problem knowledge from the
prior year to ensure that everybody is ready for the grade-level problems.
Think about the many different scaffolds that can be used to help students
access the problems. Also, think about the importance of students being
able to understand the types of problems—across the domains. Make sure
that there are posters and anchor charts up so that students can refer to
them and use them to analyze the problems they are working on.
Reflection Questions
- How do you organize the teaching of word problems? Do you
frame them in any kind of way currently? - When teaching elapsed time, do you frame the types of problems
and get students to focus on what they are looking for and the model
that they want to use before just jumping in to find the solution? - When teaching word problems, do you scaffold understanding
through picture prompts? - What are two or three big takeaways from this chapter? What will
you do tomorrow?
References
Bennett, A. (2009). Decimal Squares. Retrieved from http://www.
decimalsquares.com/.
Map. https://www.dollarphotoclub.com/Search?k=map+of+us&filters%5
Bcontent_type%3Aphoto%5D=1&filters%5Bcontent_type%3Aillustrat
ion%5D=1&filters%5Bcontent_type%3Avector%5D=1&search=Search.
NAEP. Retrieved February 7, 2016 from https://nces.ed.gov/
nationsreportcard/pdf/demo_booklet/2013_SQ_M_R_g4.pdf.
Van de Walle, J. (2007). Elementary and middle school mathematics (6th
ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.