Word problems tell a short story about adding or taking away objects. Students learn to listen for clues that signal whether to combine numbers (addition) or remove numbers (subtraction) to find the answer.
Encourage students to identify the action in the story first—“put together” or “take away”—before solving. This helps them choose the correct operation.
Drawing pictures or using counters helps make the story problem easier to understand. Students can see the action happen and count what is left or combined to find the answer.
Have students act out problems using real objects or drawings to connect the numbers to real-life actions.
Counting forward helps with addition, and counting backward helps with subtraction. This skill becomes faster with practice and can be done using fingers or a number line.
Use a large class number line and have students physically hop forward or backward to show their counting steps.
The missing number can be the first number, the second number, or the result. Understanding this helps students solve more flexible and challenging problems.
Have students restate the number sentence in their own words to reinforce both math vocabulary and comprehension.
Always check the answer by placing it back into the problem to see if it works. This helps students catch mistakes and understand the relationship between numbers.
Model how to re-read the problem after solving and check with the original numbers to confirm the solution.
Relating problems to familiar activities helps students remember what they learn. Everyday experiences, like sharing snacks or playing games, can become simple addition or subtraction problems.
Encourage students to create their own word problems from daily activities to make math more meaningful and fun.