Word problems have always been challenging for me as a teacher and as a coach supporting teachers. I think part of the reason is that you can’t really teach word problems in the traditional sense. Solving them depends on students making sense of a situation and the question they are being asked to answer, and there are many factors that influence that sensemaking.
One factor is the context itself. I know how important it is for students to apply their understanding in both familiar and novel situations; however, every context will be a mirror for some students and a window for others, and when a situation is completely unfamiliar, I have seen it significantly impact how students approach the problem. Another major factor is the language of the problem itself. Many word problems incl…
Word problems have always been challenging for me as a teacher and as a coach supporting teachers. I think part of the reason is that you can’t really teach word problems in the traditional sense. Solving them depends on students making sense of a situation and the question they are being asked to answer, and there are many factors that influence that sensemaking.
One factor is the context itself. I know how important it is for students to apply their understanding in both familiar and novel situations; however, every context will be a mirror for some students and a window for others, and when a situation is completely unfamiliar, I have seen it significantly impact how students approach the problem. Another major factor is the language of the problem itself. Many word problems include vocabulary, sentence structures, verb tenses, and multiple steps that shape how students make sense of the situation. These features require them to draw on things like reading comprehension, syntax, semantics, and sequential thinking, not just mathematical understanding and procedural skill. All of these elements influence the mental model students build based on the context and ultimately affect how they attempt to solve the problem.
Because of these complexities, it is not surprising that many students quickly grab numbers from a word problem and compute or search for key words. These strategies often worked for them in earlier grades, with one-step problems, or within curriculum units focused on particular operations. As a result, they do not always read the context as something that should make sense. Instead, they read while thinking, “Which operation do I need to use to solve this problem?” This reminds me of times when I am reading a book with something else on my mind. Even though I am technically reading the words, I can finish an entire page, or even a chapter, and realize I cannot remember anything I just read. I think this is similar to what happens when students read a word problem while also trying to figure out how they are supposed to solve it.
Understanding these challenges gives us important insight into the kinds of instructional adaptations that best support students in sensemaking. When we pause and give students an opportunity to make sense of a context before jumping in to solve, we set them up for more productive problem solving. And, the more we provide these opportunities, the more metacognitive those ‘sense-making structures’ become for students. There are some great math language routines out there, such as Three Reads and Co-Craft Questions, that are productive in a whole-group setting, but can take a lot of class time, require preparation, and may not transfer easily to a new problem for students. Because we sometimes can’t predict the problems that will be most challenging, I also like to have a few back-pocket, in-the-moment adaptations that promote the same type of reasoning and sensemaking.
These adaptations are all about helping students make sense of a word problem before they jump into solving. By giving them time to notice, wonder, visualize, and pose questions, we make the problem more accessible and give students the chance to build a strong mental model. This approach draws on both math and language skills, helping students focus on understanding rather than just grabbing numbers or looking for key words. When we use these adaptations in the classroom, students are more likely to engage in deeper, more productive mathematical thinking and problem solving.
For more ideas and examples, you can check out some related blog posts:
- Brian’s Numberless Word Problems: https://numberlesswp.com/
- My blogs on Numberless Word Problems: https://kgmathminds.com/category/numberless-story-problems/
- My blogs on Problem Posing: https://kgmathminds.com/category/problem-posing/
And of course, if you missed the first two posts in this series, you can find them here:
I look forward to hearing about what you might try! You can share here in the comments or over on IG: https://www.instagram.com/kgraymath/