MATH STRATEGIES

STEP 1: READ THE PROBLEM 3 TIMES

1. Read for BASIC understanding ègather general information
2. Read for FACTS èwrite the facts and details in an organize way
3. Read for CLARIFICATION (Explains what is going on) èLook for Details of the word problem.

a.       Read each sentence

b.      Analyze each word

c.       Understand the Vocabulary

STEP 2: UNDERSTAND WHAT THE PROBLEM IS ASKING YOU TO SOLVE

1. Usually what you are looking for is in a form of a Question or Statement
2. Usually the question or statement is found at the end of the word problem or in the beginning.

STEP 3: PULL OUT AND LABEL THE FACTS

1. Go sentence by sentence
2. Organize the facts
   1. Graph
   2. Chart
   3. Picture
   4. Tally Marks

STEP 4: PLAN A STRATEGY TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM

1. Look for Key action phrases or words

~        ADDITION: more, sum, greater than, total, combine, put together, addition, in all, all together

~        SUBTRACTION: less than, take away, what is left, subtract, minus, difference, delete, less

~        DIVISION: divide, half, each group/person, equal amount/part, split

~        MULTIPLICATION: times, multiply, product, skip count

STEP 5: SOLVE THE PROBLEM

1. Work backwards
2. Look for patterns
3. Make the problem simpler
4. Label the word problem

STEP 6: CHECK OVER THE ANSWER

1. Add è Subtract
2. Multiply èDivide
3. Reasonable?  If so, why does it make sense?
4. Grid the answsers