Today is rung 4 of 10 on this topic
Word problems — deciding what to actually do
Can do: Reads a story problem and knows whether it's an addition or a subtraction, then solves it.
Why it matters
Almost every maths failure from Grade 3 onward is a word-problem failure. Children who can compute but can't choose the operation stall hard.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Grabs the two numbers in the problem and adds them, regardless of what was asked. Keyword tricks ("altogether means add") make this worse, not better.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"There were 12 birds. 5 flew away. How many now?" Then a harder shape: "I have 6. How many more do I need to have 14?"
Solid looks like: Both correct — especially the second, which is a subtraction hiding inside an addition sentence.
The full activity for this topic · 10 minutes
Draw the Story
- 1Read the problem twice. First time for the story, second time for the numbers.
- 2"Draw what's happening." Stick figures, boxes, dots — anything.
- 3Ask the only two questions that matter: "Are we getting more, or fewer?" and "What are we trying to find?"
- 4Write the number sentence, then solve it.
- 5Answer in a full sentence: "There are 7 birds left." The sentence forces a sanity check.
If it's too hard
Act it out with real objects before drawing anything.
If it's too easy
Two-step problems, or ones with a number in them that isn't needed.
Say this
"Draw the story first. Is the answer going to be bigger or smaller than what we started with?"