Word Problems

Not only do word problems provide higher level thinking for young children, but they bring meaning to real life situations. Children learn quickly why it is important to learn how to add and subtract because they need to in order to solve problems that they may face in the everyday world. It is important to create word problems or number stories that students can easily relate to. Students should begin solving simple number stories with tangible items found in the classroom. Once the students have lots of experience with adding and subtracting with manipulatives, they can move on to picture representations to assist them in solving problems. I have created a few number story booklets that will motivate students as they practice solving word problems. These booklets have both addition and subtraction number stories within ten. Students will be able to solve the problems by drawing pictures to show their work. Next, students will write an equation to go along with the number story .I have found that by teaching students to look for key words such as {in all, all together, are left}and highlighting them with a yellow crayon or circling them can be very helpful when deciding which operation to choose as they write their equations. When students are solving subtraction problems, I often teach them to X out the ones that leave with a red crayon. They can then easily count the X's because they are distinguished easier with the red crayon and they don't get lost in their drawings. Below is an example of one of my number story booklets that I created. It is currently my top selling item. I just created a new number story booklet with a fall theme for back to school. These activities align nicely with the Common Core for both the end of the year in kindergarten and the for the beginning of the year in first grade.
Common Core: K.OA.2  &  Common Core: 1.OA.1

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Ocean-Theme-Number-Stories-Addition-Subtraction-Word-Problems-CC-KOA2-607945