Word problems are challenging. Most adults admit to struggling with word problems as kids, and many will tell you they still struggle. That’s why it is so tempting to reduce word problem instruction down to keyword strategies to solve. In math, we are looking for the quick fix. Because so many of our students struggle with math, our math time is reduced to learning procedures and cute tips, tricks and rhymes. But what if I told you that those keyword strategies to solve word problems ARE causing your students’ math struggles?
That’s right. I pointed the finger at you, AND at me!
Why? Because we are trying to boil math down to the simplest it can possibly be. We think that in simplifying it and making it cute with a little rhyme or jingle that our students remember, then they learned it. Right? WRONG!
I am guilty of the same practices!
Did you know I have a product in my Teachers Pay Teachers store that is about keyword identification in word problems? When I first made it, I used it much like you might be using your cute keyword bulletin board in class. Like you, I was looking for a way to help my students tackle word problems, so looking for keyword strategies to solve seemed like a great idea.
I even used that lesson for a formal observation. The scary thing was my administrator thought the lesson was fantastic and gave me high praise in my evaluation. However, through my research, I have reformed my ways. While I allow my students to look for CONTEXT CLUES within a word problem to support their claim about an operation, I require them to CITE more than one piece of TEXT EVIDENCE. This could be the situation of the problem, number relationships within it, and schematic drawings to help us visualize how they reached their conclusion.
If you are ready to ditch keyword strategies to solve word problems and are interested in knowing more about my method for word problem instruction, you should check out this post. It’s a great beginner post for understanding word problem types and how to support your students.
So, what can you do instead?
First, let’s start by taking down that bulletin board and throwing keyword strategies to solve word problems out the window. They aren’t serving our students and they are actually hindering their understanding about word problems.
I also found in my research that students benefit from a heuristic. A heuristic is a set of steps or prompts to help students think through the problem solving process. CUBES is a heuristic, but it isn’t a good one because again, it focuses on KEYWORD strategies to solve word problems.
The heuristic I use in class is called CLICKS.
The steps are as follows:
C – check your understanding. Who are the characters in the problem? What is the plot? What is the problem that needs to be solved?
L – look for context clues. What is happening in this problem? What do you know? What do these numbers represent? What is their relationship to one another?
I – Imagine the problem. Visualize the situation and use a schematic drawing (diagram) to think through number relationships and gain confidence in what operation you think you should use to solve
C – Choose an operation and state a claim using multiple pieces of evidence to support your claim.
K – Know how to write the equation to solve. Translate the situation and represent it algebraically.
S – Solve the problem using your plan and evaluate your solution. Does it make sense? Think back to the situation of the problem and what the numbers represented. Does the answer fit the situation?
You can grab your own FREE word problem thinking sheets and a CLICKS strategy bookmark by clicking here.
What’s the benefit of ditching keyword strategies to solve word problems?
As you are modeling to students and scaffolding with this heuristic, you are also developing math discussion. Discussion is an important part of the learning process. Not all students like to talk during math, and many don’t know what to say, which is why I use these MATH discussion cards to help my reluctant students.
As students walk through the door in the morning, I hand them each a discussion card. Then, we start our day with a national word problem a day. They work in groups to model the problem and think through how to solve it. When groups present, each student has a question that they can ask a group of how they arrived at their answer. Finally, I collect these cards as students ask them. This helps me know which students asked questions and who did not.
We all know that teaching math is a challenge. I know you want your students to be successful and to enjoy math because they are confident in their abilities. That’s why ditching keyword strategies to solve word problems is a step in the right direction to growing that confidence.
Word problem instruction should not be held off until your students have mastered a skill in isolation. Story problems should be taught everyday and give you valuable opportunities to differentiate instruction in both whole group and small group settings. They require higher level thinking that ALL students deserve access to. Join me this year in saying no to instructional practices that hinder student learning.
About that blank space on your wall…
Now that you have cleared the bulletin board, you are probably looking for something to replace it. How about focusing on building a math mindset this year? Word problems are tricky, and many students find math the least enjoyable subject. By focusing on cultivating growth mindsets in math, you and your students can turn struggles into learning opportunities.
Disagree with anything above? Leave a connect below or let’s connect on Instagram to start the dialogue about growing student understanding in math.