Math Stories (Word Problems)

After reading The Napping House by Audrey Wood, I posed the question: How many feet are in the cozy bed.  We worked in groups to draw out the pictures and count up all the feet.  Group work is hard; taking turns and making sure we all get a chance to share our ideas. I was super impressed how every group worked together!  We didn’t all get the right answer on our first try because it was hard to draw and count and keep track of all those feet on our fingers.

The next day we talked about different strategies we can use to answer math problems.  We decided we liked:

1.     Using our fingers

2.     Counting with numbers

3.     Drawing a picture

4.     Using learning tools

We discussed different ways to use learning tools to represent things in our problems, such as two quidget blocks pretending to be Granny’s feet.  We then practiced using manipulatives to find solutions to other math stories.

When Rosie woke up this morning, she had to get her snow boots out of the closet to walk to school.  Shayan and Jason also wore their boots.  How many snow boots were in the coatroom?

Spider had to get out her boots because of the snow.  Worm and Flea also wore their boots to school.  How many boots are in the coatroom?

(And the afternoon class was having so much fun, they wanted an extra question.)

Beddington Heights School is breaking the rules and having a snowball fight.  Mr. Hebert said that everybody had to wear mitts.  Tina and her bunny need to borrow mittens.  Nando and his octopus also need some.  Landon and his snake need mitts as well.  How many mittens do they need?