Launching a Problem

Word problems strike fear in many a child, not to mention some adults – like me, for instance. Whenever I hear a problem about one train leaving a train station at say - 4 pm, and another train leaving a different station at say - 5 pm, I cringe because I know I’m going to have to find out what time they will meet, and I can never remember how to figure that out. What would happen if I saw these kinds of problems differently? That’s the rationale behind launching a problem.

Interestingly enough, the goal of launching a problem is to inspire those creative juices – rather than finding a solution. Fortunately, I’m not teaching those train problems, but I did observe a group teaching third graders how to divide a “bunch” of lollipops. First lesson I learned is that third graders need to learn what a “bunch” means. If they don’t speak the language, it won’t work. After learning, or perhaps seeing what a bunch is, “a group,” we may begin. Note - when launching a problem, make sure they understand the terms being used.

Next, how do you keep the students attention? I think showing them bunches of lollipops would be a great way to begin personally. Then ask them how many bunches of five, in this problem anyway, they have to purchase in order for 27 students to each get one. It was amazing to see how complicated this was for the third graders. Knowing that five bunches would only feed 25, they understood. But they had 27! They knew six bunches would be too many, so they were confused. Can you blame them? What about those other three lollipops? They knew you don’t throw away lollipops, and it would be unfair for one to keep the extras. They have learned their lessons on ethics well.

I wonder, though, if the class had pretended to be at a store and given play money and told to actually buy enough real lollipops for 27 people if this would have been easier. I personally think it might have been, but it wasn’t the way we tried it that day to launch this word problem. If that doesn’t work, my other suggestion is to give them an example of a similar problem, perhaps an easier one like how many buses does it take to transport 40 students when one bus can only hold 30? I think modeling how one would do a similar problem is always a great beginning. I know I’m going to need another model before I get another train problem.