I love teaching math. From concepts of addition and subtraction to the linear equation and scatter plots. It is so fun! So visual! There are so many ways to break it down and teach it in another way.
However, for the longest time, I absolutely HATED teaching word problems. It was as though all of those concepts that we had spent so much time learning and understanding had suddenly poofed out of my students’ brains. They didn’t know what the problem was asking them – add? Multiply? Subtract, then multiply?
Many curriculums would have my students learn to identify keywords and then use the associated operation to solve. But this strategy tended to end up in more confusion for my students. For example: “Jack scored 90 points in the video game. He had 18 times the points as Jill. How many points did Jill have?”
My students would look at this problem, circle “times,” multiply 90 and 18, and end up with the wrong answer and no idea why it was wrong. They used the keyword! But they really did not understand the scenario or problem at all – so they were not really applying what they knew to real-world problems.
There has to be something else! And there is … schema-based problem solving instruction!
What is Schema-based Instruction?
Schema instruction explicitly teaches students to identify the scenario in a word problem. Once a student knows the type of problem, they can create a diagram with the important information and solve the problem. There are two categories of problems – additive and multiplicative – and three types of schema in each category.
I like to teach each of the schemas in units – first tackling the additive problem types and then the multiplicative. Throughout each unit, I have students keep a ‘note catcher’ with examples of all three types so they can reference it during the lessons (and for the rest of the year!)
While teaching the schema types, I also teach my students to use the strategy FOPS. This strategy helps students to follow the correct steps to solve problems using schema.
How does it work?
Let’s look at an example:
There are 6 soccer players on the field and some players on the bench. There are 14 players on the team. How many players are on the bench?
F (find the problem type)
This is a “combine” problem because we have two parts (players on the field and players on the bench) that make up a whole (the entire team).
O (organize using a visual diagram)
P (plan to solve the problem)
This is where all of that work on inverse operations comes into play! The students are not looking for the total, but a part. So they will need to set up their problem with subtraction.
S (solve the problem)
Once the plan is made, solving is usually the easy part!
More Resources
This instructional strategy is extensively research-based and is found to be very successful for students with learning disabilities in math and reading. I can attest! It has transformed the way I teach and approach word problems.
On my TPT store, I have pre-made lessons and worksheets available for each of the problem types as well as bundles for both additive problems and multiplicative problems. Each lesson comes with 4 problems for modeling, 4 problems for guided practice, and 4 problems for independent practice as well as a full answer key and a “How to Use Page.” If you just want to try it out – you can download my freebie on Combined Word Problems.
Subjects: Math, Applied Math, Word Problems
Embrace Your Exceptionality lesson plans are available for download on Teachers Pay Teachers, an online marketplace where teachers buy and sell original educational materia