Strategy 1: Using Literacy- Organizing the Story
Teacher and researcher Linda Limond of Morrison Jr. High School in Morrison, Illinois used her class of 8th grade students to test the research question: "What happens when students use a graphic organizer to solve and explain mathematical problem-solving steps for story problems?" She believed that children would be more successful communicating and finding the correct answers to word problems if they had a more sufficient approach to understanding, planning, solving, and looking back. Limond used a four corners and a diamond organizer like this one:
The four corners and a diamond technique is based on the literacy four square writing method. This method was effective for Limond's students because it gave them a place to start and organized their solving processes, making it easier to peer conference and communicate their knowledge to the teacher.
HOW TO CREATE THE FOUR CORNERS AND A DIAMOND ORGANIZER:
1. Start by folding a piece of blank paper in half horizontallly and then folding it again vertically. Create a "diamond" in the middle by folding up the corners of the paper where all four corners intersect at the orginial center of the paper. (Note: If folding is too difficult, simply use a pen or pencil and draw the organizer. Follow the pattern in the above picture).
2. Layout the organizer. Divide the sections up like this:
1. Main idea (Diamond section)- Rewrite what you need to find out in your own words.
2. Connections (Top Left box)- List the important informatino from the story problem. Write connectionsto
real-life situations.
3. Brainstorm (Top Right box)- List problem-solving strategies or mathematcal operations that may be used
for solving.
4. Solve (Bottom Left box)- Work out the problem step-by-step. Be sure to label each part!
5. Write (Bottom Right box)- Summarize by using the steps to write about how you solved the problem.
HOW TO CREATE THE FOUR CORNERS AND A DIAMOND ORGANIZER:
1. Start by folding a piece of blank paper in half horizontallly and then folding it again vertically. Create a "diamond" in the middle by folding up the corners of the paper where all four corners intersect at the orginial center of the paper. (Note: If folding is too difficult, simply use a pen or pencil and draw the organizer. Follow the pattern in the above picture).
2. Layout the organizer. Divide the sections up like this:
1. Main idea (Diamond section)- Rewrite what you need to find out in your own words.
2. Connections (Top Left box)- List the important informatino from the story problem. Write connectionsto
real-life situations.
3. Brainstorm (Top Right box)- List problem-solving strategies or mathematcal operations that may be used
for solving.
4. Solve (Bottom Left box)- Work out the problem step-by-step. Be sure to label each part!
5. Write (Bottom Right box)- Summarize by using the steps to write about how you solved the problem.
Strategy 2: Solve A Simpler Problem
Inclusion teachers and researchers Cynthia C. Griffin, University of Florida, and Asha K. Jitendra, University of Minnesota, were unhappy with the way that their text books taught mathematical problem-solving. They believed that each chapter of a textbook laying out a new set of problems and a new way to solve for that particular set, was not a developmentally appropriate method. This method did not give their students the opportunity to apply their own thinking and reasoning to problem solving; instead, they were following established formulas. To combat this instructional problems, these teachers began to teach strategies in their classrooms that could be used in a flexible manner. Strategies that required students to apply and adapt a variety of strategies in order to find a solution to word problems.
One of the strategies that Griffin and Jitendra discussed in their article was Solving a Simpler Problem. For example, if a student needs to find "How many posts a fence needs that is 365 feet long with each post being 10 feet apart", the student might start by drawing a fence that has 2 or 3 posts and follow that pattern.
One of the strategies that Griffin and Jitendra discussed in their article was Solving a Simpler Problem. For example, if a student needs to find "How many posts a fence needs that is 365 feet long with each post being 10 feet apart", the student might start by drawing a fence that has 2 or 3 posts and follow that pattern.