Crafting Word Problems (Day 4)
Lesson 5 of 6
Objective: SWABT solve word problems for each operation by identifying key words and important information.
I can’t believe it, but we have almost solved each and every problem our classmates designed for us! Today is the last day to rotate, so make sure that you are really pushing yourself to try a new way or think about a problem a little differently.
We stop and discuss reading, re-reading, pulling out important information, re-stating the question and creating steps for ourselves when we come to a difficult task. I cover all of these skills because not each skill works for each student but I want to ensure they have plenty to choose from to be successful.
I have all of the students word problems from the previous day cut up into individual problems in plastic bags. Each table will have a separate plastic bag for students to work from. I will rotate students from table to table every 20 minutes so they see a variety of questions. We will work on this all week so that students rotate to all 6 tables.
I post one problem on the white board for students to solve on a note card at the end of the math block today. Students will need to show all of the steps they used to solve it and I will use this information to pull a small group tomorrow before we begin a performance assessment. There are less students each day who are requiring my small group time or 1 on 1 attention, which shows me that with enough practice students can develop both confidence and increased fluency.