Author

Linda Gojak, [Link].

Foreword
Laney Sammons
Publishing Credits
Dona Herweck Rice, Editor-in-Chief; Lee Aucoin, Creative Director; Don Tran,
Print Production Manager; Sara Johnson, [Link]., Senior Editor; Hillary Wolfe, Editor;
Juan Chavolla, Cover/Interior Layout Designer; Corinne Burton, M.A. Ed., Publisher

Shell Education
5301 Oceanus Drive
Huntington Beach, CA 92649-1030
[Link]
ISBN 978-1-4258-0788-7
© 2011 Shell Educational Publishing, Inc.
Reprinted 2013

The classroom teacher may reproduce copies of materials in this book for
classroom use only. The reproduction of any part for an entire school or school
system is strictly prohibited. No part of this publication may be transmitted,
stored, or recorded in any form without written permission from the publisher.

2
Table of Contents
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Chapter 1: The 5 Ws and an H of Problem Solving . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
What Is Problem Solving? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Why Teach Problem Solving? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
Representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Reasoning and Proof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Mathematics Is Everywhere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Who Should Solve Problems? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
When Should We Solve Problems? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
How Should We Teach Problem Solving? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Where Can You Find Good Problems? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Reflect and Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Chapter 2: Planning for Problem Solving
in the Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Finding a Good Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
A Problem-Solving Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Principle One: Understand the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42
Principle Two: Devise a Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
Principle Three: Carry out the Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
Principle Four: Look Back . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
Launch, Explore, Summarize Instructional Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Launch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48
Explore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58
Summarize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63
Some Final Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67
Effective Questioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Reflect and Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

3
Chapter 3: Getting Started Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Restate the Problem in Your Own Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Understanding the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
Using the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75
Ready, Set, Solve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76
Identify Wanted, Given, and Needed Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Understanding the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77
Using the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78
Ready, Set, Solve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78
Identify a Subgoal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Understanding the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80
Using the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80
Ready, Set, Solve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81
Select Appropriate Notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Understanding the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .82
Using the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83
Ready, Set, Solve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83
Reflect and Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Chapter 4: Getting Organized Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Look for a Pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Understanding the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88
Using the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88
Ready, Set, Solve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89
Create a Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Understanding the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91
Using the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91
Ready, Set, Solve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93
Create an Organized List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Understanding the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95
Using the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97
Ready, Set, Solve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98

4
 Guess and Check. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Understanding the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100
Using the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .100
Ready, Set, Solve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101
Reflect and Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Chapter 5: Visualizing Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Make a Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Understanding the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106
Using the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106
Ready, Set, Solve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .108
Draw a Picture or Diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Understanding the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .110
Using the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111
Ready, Set, Solve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112
Act It Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Understanding the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114
Using the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114
Ready, Set, Solve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115
Create or Use a Graph. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Understanding the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117
Using the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118
Ready, Set, Solve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118
Reflect and Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Chapter 6: Advanced Thinking Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Solve a Simpler Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Understanding the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122
Using the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .122
Ready, Set, Solve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126
Account for All Possibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Understanding the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128
Using the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128
Ready, Set, Solve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129

5
 Work Backwards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Understanding the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131
Using the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131
Ready, Set, Solve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .133
Change Your Point of View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Understanding the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135
Using the Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135
Ready, Set, Solve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137
Reflect and Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Chapter 7: Assessing Problem Solving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Formative Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Formative Assessment Using the Launch, Explore,
Summarize Instructional Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .143
Using Notes and Observations to Assess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .145
A Closer Look at Student Thinking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146
How to Handle Student Frustration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147
Student Self-Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149
Summative Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Using Rubrics to Assess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150
Final Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Reflect and Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Chapter 8: Questions from the Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Questions About Choosing and Solving Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Questions About Confidence and Perseverance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Questions About Differentiation and Problem Solving . . . . . . . . 160
Questions About Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Appendix A: Student Journal Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Appendix B: Assessment Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Appendix C: Additional Problems for Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Appendix D: Answer Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Appendix E: References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

6
Foreword
In 2001, the National Research Council (NRC) in its report
Adding It Up: Helping Children Learn Mathematics warned
that “too few students in our elementary and middle schools are
successfully acquiring the mathematical knowledge, the skill,
and the confidence they need to use the mathematics they have
learned.” The NRC deemed this fact to be a cause of great concern
since “citizens who cannot reason mathematically are cut off from
whole realms of human endeavor. Innumeracy deprives them not
only of opportunity but also of competence in everyday tasks.”
Our own mathematical educations too often focused on
memorization, learning procedures, and computation, rather than
on developing a deep conceptual understanding. Our instruction
usually came from a textbook. The teacher taught procedures
and students completed practice problems. Rich problem-solving
experiences were the exceptions, not the rule.
The NRC’s concerns led educators to examine the quality of current
mathematics instruction. They found that what was missing was
ample opportunities for rich, multi-layered problem-solving.
Building conceptual understanding starts with engagement.
Research shows “both the curriculum and instruction should
begin with problems, dilemmas, and questions for students”
(Hiebert et al. 1997). When students are challenged to roll up
their sleeves and delve into the messy world of mathematics, they
gain mathematical perspective and understanding to be confident
“everyday mathematicians.”
Many teachers are searching for resources to help them effectively
integrate rich problems into their mathematics lessons. This
book involves students in challenges, gives strategies for
solving problems, and guides teachers as they assess students’
problem-solving abilities.

7
Include problem solving in all of the mathematical domains to
teach specific content and to access the process standards set
forth by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2000)
and the standards for mathematical practice in the Common Core
State Standards for Mathematics (2010). The problem-solving
framework and the Launch, Explore, Summarize Instructional
Model that Gojak presents gives teachers specific structures for
integrating problem-based learning in the classroom.
Novice and experienced teachers will appreciate the descriptions of
the strategies. Gojak helps readers understand each strategy, shows
how to use it effectively, and then gives examples of problems for
application.
Use this book for professional study! Solve problems in your own
journals and reflect on the experience. Use it in a study group
where the conversations will provide valuable perspectives about
scenarios that may arise in the classroom. As Gojak advises, “don’t
be surprised if some of the best ideas come from your students!”
Finally, a chapter is devoted to formative and summative
assessments. Advising teachers to throw away their preconceived
notions of assessment, Gojak offers specific suggestions and
provides ways to effectively use the data from these assessments.
Sample problems for each strategy, sorted by grade level bands,
are provided in the appendices along with templates for student
problem-solving journals, rubrics, and teacher recording sheets.
What’s Your Math Problem!?! Getting to the Heart of Teaching
Problem Solving is a practical, teacher-friendly guide. With these
strategies and resources, teachers can confidently incorporate
challenging, rich problems into their mathematics lessons.
—Laney Sammons
Mathematics Consultant and
author of the best-selling book,
Guided Math

8
Acknowledgements
Thank you to those who have influenced my work, my teaching,
and my belief that mathematics is so much more than learning to
compute. Thank you to Johnny Hill, Jim Heddens, Dick Davies,
Peggy Kasten, Steve Meiring, and Dick Little. Also, thanks to
“Stash” and the thousands of students who have successfully
learned that problem solving is much more rewarding than a page
of long division problems!

9
10
Introduction
The purpose of this book is to help you help students be successful
mathematical problem solvers. To do this, we must become
more comfortable with problem solving ourselves. We need to
examine our own beliefs about problem solving, how we can
more effectively incorporate rich problems into our mathematics
instruction, and we need to solve problems! This book presents a
strategy-based approach to problem solving and models how to use
the strategies effectively with students. The following strategies
are discussed throughout the book:

• Restate the Problem in • Guess and Check

Your Own Words
• Make a Model
• Identify Wanted, Given,
and Needed Information • Draw a Picture or Diagram

• Identify a Subgoal • Act It Out

• Select Appropriate • Create or Use a Graph

Notation • Solve a Simpler Problem
• Look for a Pattern • Account for All Possibilities
• Create a Table • Work Backwards
• Create an Organized List • Change Your Point of View

Chapter 1 addresses general beliefs about problem solving for

students in kindergarten through grade 8. It helps present the
“5 Ws and an H” behind problem solving.
Management and organizational strategies and suggestions
to successfully implement problem solving into mathematics
instruction appear in Chapter 2, along with ideas for differentiation
and grouping students to best meet their needs.

11
Chapters 3 through 6 present an extensive—but not exhaustive—
list of problem-solving strategies. Each section begins with
a description of the strategy and offers suggestions for its
introduction to students, followed by several sample problems.
Problems are assigned a grade-level range to give you an idea of the
type of task to use to help students become comfortable using the
strategy. Also included are rich mathematical problems that can be
solved using the strategies suggested. Work these problems in your
problem-solving journal. You will become a better problem solver
by solving problems! In addition you will grow professionally and
become familiar with how to use each strategy. Here are a few
suggestions for ways to work these problems:
• Alone: Spend as much time as you need. The solutions
shown are only suggestions. Rich problems often have
several solution methods.
• As part of a professional study group: Work your way
through the book with your colleagues. Solve the problems
and discuss your thinking. Or, assign problems to your
students and use the study group to review and discuss
student work.
• As professional development: The strategies and
problems in this book can be used in a class or professional
development workshop.
Although suggestions are included with the strategies, explanations,
and solutions, the best way you can learn and grow from this work
is to make it your own. Compare your solution process with mine.
Compare your students’ work with your work.
In Chapter 7, assessment is addressed with suggestions for how
to informally and formally assess students’ mathematical reasoning
and understanding.
Chapter 8 includes answers to the most frequently asked questions
about problem solving from teachers around the world that I have
met over the years in professional development settings.

12
Reflection questions are included in every chapter to encourage you
to think about your own beliefs about problem solving. Include
your reflections in your problem-solving journal as you journey
through this book and answer them as you read. As you implement
some of these ideas with your students, reread your reflections.
Are you thinking differently about any of these ideas, or are your
beliefs reinforced? Most of all, enjoy your problem-solving
journal. Use drawings, markers, tables, and charts! Organize it in
a way that is most useful to you. Refer back to it often and extend
it beyond the problems in this book. As you continue on the road
to professional growth, you will find new ideas and more problems
to solve. And, don’t be surprised if some of the best ideas come
from your students!
Happy problem solving!
—Linda Gojak

13
14
 1
CHAPTER

The 5 Ws and an H of
Problem Solving
“Problem solving develops the belief in students
that they are capable of doing mathematics and
that mathematics makes sense.”
Van de Walle et al. 2009

k
Stop and Thin
Respond to the questions below in your
problem-solving journal.
• Think back to your own experience as a
student. What do you recall about solving
problems?
• What is your definition of a good problem?

What Is Problem Solving?

Do you recall “doing story problems” in mathematics? They
usually applied the computation and skill practice from the text
book. There was little critical thinking involved to determine
what you were supposed to do with the numbers contained in
the problem. Not much has changed in today’s mathematics
textbooks. For example, after the lesson on multiplication,
there might be 15 multiplication exercises for practice, followed
by three or four word problems, at least one of which is an
application of multiplication.

15
These “problems” serve the purpose of giving students practice
using computational skills in a context or a situation. However,
they do not help students to develop a deeper understanding of
the concept behind the skill. This deeper understanding, referred
to as conceptual understanding, involves more than applying
isolated facts or procedures. Research on learning mathematics
suggests that we learn new ideas in mathematics by making
connections to ideas we already understand and extending the new
ideas to novel situations. This is the development of conceptual
understanding. For example, what is really happening when
you multiply 9 by 28? You demonstrate procedural knowledge
when you can go through the steps of multiplying and reaching
a product of 216. Conceptual knowledge involves understanding
that 9 × 28 means you have “nine groups with 28 items in each
group.” You can demonstrate conceptual knowledge using
words, pictures, models, or numbers. When students repeat the
procedure demonstrated by the teacher, they develop the skill of
multiplication. When students develop an understanding of what
multiplication means beyond the procedure, they can apply that
understanding to a variety of situations that call for multiplication.
Routine problems, or traditional “story problems” involve situations
in which the learner knows how to solve the problem based on past
experiences. In solving routine problems, the learner reproduces
and applies a known procedure. Problem solved!
Non-routine problems and rich mathematical tasks involve
situations in which the learner does not immediately know how
to reach a solution. The learner must draw upon his or her
comprehension of a variety of mathematical concepts and then
select and extend that understanding to develop an approach that
leads to a reasonable solution. The level of rigor in non-routine
problems is much greater than in traditional problems. Students
must grapple with the mathematics they know, extending and
applying it in a new context.
Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM 2000)
defines problem solving as “engaging in a task for which the

16
solution method is not known in advance. In order to find a
solution, students must draw on their knowledge, and through
this process, they will develop new mathematical understandings.
Solving problems is both a goal of learning mathematics and a
major means of doing so. Students need frequent opportunities to
formulate, grapple with, and solve complex problems that require
a significant amount of effort and should then be encouraged to
reflect on their thinking.”
Here are examples of a routine and a non-routine problem.
Example 1
Marsha wants to fill a rectangular box with
centimeter cubes. The box is 8 cm high, 4 cm wide
and 6 cm deep. How many cubes will fit in the box?
Example 2
You have taken a job at the “We Box It” company,
which makes cardboard boxes of different shapes
and sizes for packaging and shipping products. You
and your partner are in charge of boxing “fidgets,”
which are cube-shaped filters that are placed inside
aquariums to filter the water. Fidgets are packed
into larger boxes for shipping to pet stores. Here are
some of the shipping boxes:

fidget

You need to pack 36 fidgets into a box. What size

boxes could you use? Which box would be the best
to use? Why?
Take some time to solve each of these problems. As you work on
them, think about which requires procedural knowledge and which
develops conceptual knowledge.

17
Solution to Example 1: You likely solved this problem by applying
the formula, length × width × height (or depth) to the numbers
given in the problem (8 × 4 × 6 = 192). Of course, the final solution
must be labeled cubic centimeters, although many students have no
idea of why that is the unit used to measure volume.
Solution to Example 2: One way to solve this problem is to count
36 cubes and build the boxes that could be used. Students may
draw pictures to represent their boxes. You could organize their
work in a table similar to the one shown below.

Length Width Height

1 1 36
1 2 18
1 3 12
1 4 9
1 6 6
2 2 9
2 3 6
3 3 4
However, the mathematics doesn’t stop when the table is complete.
Classroom discussion can focus on which box would be best to
use—and why.

18
 k
Stop and Thin

Respond to the question below in your

problem-solving journal.
• What mathematical concepts are developed in
the fidget problem?

Example 1 is a routine problem that uses a traditional

approach following a lesson on finding volume. It is expected
that students will practice using the formula they learned
(length × width × height) to find the volume. The task does
little to build on the concept of volume. Rather, it gives students
practice in calculating the volume of a rectangular solid.
Example 2 is a non-routine or “rich” problem developing the
concept of volume. In this problem students are given a situation
in which they need to build an understanding of volume in order
to complete the task. When solving this problem, students
develop an understanding of volume by determining which
three-dimensional boxes will hold 36 cubes. This is called the
volume of the box. They discuss the various ways they found the
dimensions and how they know they have all of the possibilities.
Notice that this problem is likely to include a conversation about
whether a box that has a length of 2, a width of 2 and a height of 9
(2 by 2 by 9) is the same as a box with the dimensions 9 × 2 × 2.
This idea connects to the concept of the commutative property
of multiplication. The discussion will eventually conclude with
students discovering that multiplying the length times the width
times the height will give the volume of a rectangular prism (box).
When first faced with a problem such as the fidget problem,
students may struggle because they are unfamiliar with how to

19
 approach such a task. That makes it a real problem. The role
of the teacher is to be aware of the mathematical understandings
developed in each problem we give our students as well as how
we can support their thinking without simply showing them what
to do.
In general, rich mathematical tasks or problems have the
following characteristics:
• involve substantial mathematics
• have multiple points of entry
• can be solved in a variety of ways
• can have multiple solutions
• promote discussion and communication
• involve students in interpreting, testing, proving, explaining,
and reflecting
• implicitly intrigue and motivate students
• can be scaffolded to meet the individual needs of students
• help to develop conceptual understanding of mathematical
ideas

k
Stop and Thin

Respond to the questions below in your

problem-solving journal.
• Why is problem solving an important part of
teaching and learning mathematics?
• How does problem solving support
mathematical reasoning?

20
Why Teach Problem Solving?
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics in Principles and
Standards for School Mathematics (2001) recognizes problem solving
to be “an integral part of all mathematics learning, and so it should
not be an isolated part of the mathematics program. Problem solving
in mathematics should involve all five content areas. The contexts of
the problems can vary from familiar experiences involving students’
lives or the school day to applications involving the sciences or
the world of work. Good problems will integrate multiple topics
and will involve significant mathematics.” Additionally, the other
process standards—communication, connections, reasoning and
proof, and representations—provide a platform for teaching problem
solving. It is through these process standards that students work to
make sense of and apply mathematical content.
In addition to problem solving, the process standards include
communication, connections, representation, reasoning, and proof.
Let’s take a look at each of these processes to illustrate how they
support problem solving in and out of the classroom.

Communication
The process standard of Communication involves reading, writing,
talking about, and listening to others’ ideas about mathematics. As
students approach rich tasks and good problems, they must be able
to read the problems and translate them into situations that make
sense to them. They need to share ideas and strategies with others by
explaining their thinking and conclusions both orally and in writing.
Through class discussions, students clarify their own thinking by
sharing their ideas and listening to the ideas of classmates.

Connections
The process standard for Connections includes recognizing and
developing relationships among mathematical ideas. Think about
the fidget problem you solved earlier. Connections between the
meanings of area and volume by finding the area of the base and
multiplying it by the height of the box help students use what

21
they know to develop a strategy for finding the volume. The
relationship between the commutative property and the factors of
each possibility narrowed the number of possible solutions. For
example, the volume of a box that is 9 × 2 × 2 is the same as the
volume of a box that is 2 × 9 × 2. Connections are made to the units
of measure used to find volume (cubic units) and why we need to
measure three-dimensional space with three-dimensional units.
Selecting and justifying the best box to use connects the problem
to a real-world situation and provides a purpose for learning and
doing mathematics.

Representation
“The ways in which mathematical ideas are represented is
fundamental to how students understand and use those ideas”
(NCTM 2001). There are a variety of ways students can represent
their thinking as they solve problems. Pictures, words, models,
tables, graphs, and numbers are among the representations used by
students at all levels. Students moving from the elementary to the
middle grades become more facile with symbolic representations
(numbers, variables, equations) as they begin to think and reason
more abstractly.

Reasoning and Proof

The process standard for Reasoning and Proof includes developing
mathematical ideas, exploring phenomena, justifying results, and
developing mathematical conjectures. As students solve problems,
they communicate and represent their thinking, using reasoning
and proof to develop and justify their thinking and solution process.
They use connections to draw conclusions.
Rigorous tasks give students the opportunity to develop a deeper
understanding of mathematical content through including all of the
process standards. It is not a matter of choosing between content and
process. Learning and doing mathematics involves both content and
process. Consider the two problems involving volume that you solved
earlier. Which one gives students better opportunities to reason and
draw conclusions about the volume of a rectangular solid?

22
 The NCTM Process Standards
Problem Solving
Students tackle rich tasks and problems that require
them to draw on prior knowledge, employ strategies, and
develop new mathematical understanding. Such tasks are
thoughtfully selected, presented, and summarized so that
students develop mathematical habits of mind such as
persistence, curiosity, and confidence.
Communication
Students share their mathematical thinking and learn
from the mathematical thinking of others; ideas are
communicated in various ways, including speaking, writing,
listening, drawing, and the use of manipulatives.
Connections
Students are encouraged and expected to recognize and
explore the interrelatedness of mathematical ideas; the
connections between mathematics and other subjects; and
the relevance of mathematics to their everyday lives.
Representation
Students explore and use various ways to represent their
mathematical thinking by using words, pictures, models,
graphical displays, symbols including numbers and variables,
expressions and equations.
Reasoning and Proof
Students make conjectures and develop ideas, including
encouraging students to explain, clarify, justify, defend, and
revise their thinking.

23
Mathematics Is Everywhere
The negative attitudes of many adults toward mathematics are
likely due to the fact that they were not very successful learning
mathematics. If the mathematics they did was based on drill and
practice with no connection to the importance of it in our daily
lives, it is no wonder that they are not excited about the possibilities
mathematics offers us. We use mathematical problem solving in
our daily lives. Determining the mileage my car gets is an example
of using mathematics. Looking at the finance rates and deciding
whether to refinance my house involves mathematics. Knowing
how much fabric to purchase for the seat cushions I want to
re-cover requires mathematics. In addition to the application of
mathematics in our daily lives, most careers involve mathematics
as well.
In the Common Core State Standards for mathematics (2010), the
standards for mathematical practice describe the expertise that all
mathematics educators should develop in their students. The first
of these standards is to “make sense of problems and persevere in
solving them.” Students need to explain the meaning of a problem
to themselves and look for entry points to its solution. Providing
students with experiences using a variety of strategies will help to
provide that entry. Thinking about the process and ideas that are
used to solve a problem are as important as the solution. Thinking
should not stop when the problem is solved. Looking for other
ways to solve the problem or other possible solutions often leads to
new discoveries and conjectures. With this approach, the students
take an active role in learning and applying mathematical ideas,
and the teacher orchestrates the process.
Problem solving is a key reason for learning mathematics. It is
through problem solving that we can look at a situation, analyze
it, and determine possible solution paths and reasonable solutions.
It is problem solving that makes mathematics meaningful in our
daily lives.

24
 k
Stop and Thin

Respond to the question below in your

problem-solving journal.
• Consider the work of an artist, a dentist, or
an airplane pilot. How is mathematics used in
each of those careers?

Who Should Solve Problems?

Problem solving is part of our everyday life. Consider these
common daily scenarios:
• Do I take this route to work or is traffic backed up? Should
I go a different way?
• Is the large box of soap a better deal than two smaller
boxes?
• Do I have enough gasoline in the car to get home, or should
I stop to fill up the tank?
• How do I adjust a recipe that serves 10 for my family of six?
Beyond our personal lives, we are often faced with decisions that
must be influenced by our ability to reason quantitatively. What
is the best site for the new community playground? How will our
school district convince voters to pass a new school issue on the
ballot this fall? With the advances in technology and the media,
now more than ever we will all need to be informed problem
solvers in order to make intelligent decisions that impact every
aspect of our lives. In short, everyone needs to be able to solve
problems every day.

25
Students should begin solving problems in preschool using
experiences such as how many blocks can I stack before my tower
falls over? By kindergarten, problem solving should be an integral
part of classroom activities. Primary level students become
interested in mathematics through solving interesting problems.
The use of concrete materials and methods for organizing ideas are
modeled by the teacher and eventually become part of the student’s
problem solving “toolbox.” With this solid foundation, students
in the upper elementary grades use more sophisticated approaches
to solving problems and, through a variety of experiences,
should represent their thinking in written and oral formats.
Middle-grade students build upon earlier experiences and make
connections to algebraic and geometric representations. Through
many opportunities to solve rich problems, students become adept
at determining how to get started with a problem and how to follow
through with a solution process that not only supplies a correct
answer but also enables students to draw upon that process when
solving similar problems.
Although all levels of students should be solving problems, not all
problem-solving strategies are developmentally appropriate for all
levels of students. The chart on the following page recommends
which strategy to use at each grade level. This can change based on
students’ readiness levels, but should be used as a guide.

26
 Strategy K–2 3–5 6–8
Restate the Problem in Your
X X X
Own Words
Identify Wanted, Given, and
X X
Needed Information
Identify a Subgoal X X
Select Appropriate Notation X X X
Look for a Pattern X X X
Create a Table X X X
Create an Organized List X X
Guess and Check X X X
Make a Model X X X
Draw a Picture or Diagram X X X
Act It Out X X X
Create or Use a Graph X X
Solve a Simpler Problem X X
Account for All Possibilities X X
Work Backwards X X
Change Your Point of View X X

Teachers also need to be purposeful about the problems and tasks

assigned to students. Much like the saying “a picture is worth a
thousand words,” with problem solving, one good problem is worth
a thousand division exercises!

27
 Appropriate content, possible strategies, reasonable solutions, and
the ability to tweak a problem to meet the needs of a variety of
students are all critical components of effective instruction. We
become better problem solvers by solving problems ourselves!
Many of us never learned to do mathematics in this way. It is
critical that students have many opportunities and a variety of
problems to solve to learn mathematics in a way that is meaningful
and sensible.

k
Stop and Thin

Respond to the question below in your

problem-solving journal.
• How often do your students solve problems?

When Should We Solve Problems?

Problem solving should be a part of every mathematics class. If
students are to appreciate mathematics, they need to be involved
with doing mathematics and applying mathematics. Helping
students to understand a concept through problem solving also
helps them to develop number sense. Consider this problem:
Patty answered the following test item as shown
below. Is she correct? If so, explain how you know
that her answer is correct. If not, convince her why
her answer is incorrect.

½+⅔=⅗

28
There are many ways you can include more problem solving in
your instruction. Some suggestions with examples are shown in
the charts on the following pages. Keep in mind that a problem
does not have to include words if you frame a rich classroom
conversation around the mathematics. This list will get you started
thinking about how you can include more problem solving in your
classroom everyday.
Here are some suggestions for the times when problem solving
could occur throughout the day.

Time to Use Focus Examples

Morning • Discussions about • Calendar Math

Meeting mathematics in a • Number of the Day
(K–2) variety of situations.

Learning • Games, activities, • How many ways can

Centers and problems that you make change for a
students can do quarter?
independently or in • How many ways can
small groups with you make change for a
minimal teacher dollar?
involvement.

Warm-up/ • Problems on the • Sara wrote the

Review board for students to following on her
solve at the beginning mathematics test:
of class, including
some discussion of ½ + ¾ = 46
the problems so Convince her that her
students can use response is correct or
this as a learning incorrect.
experience if they are
still struggling with
the concept.

29
 The chart on the following pages offers some examples of the times
in a lesson where problem solving could be used:

Time to Use Focus Examples

Introduce a • Help students to • Build all the rectangular

Concept make sense out of a puppy pens that you can,
concept that the class using 16 feet of fencing.
is preparing to study.

Introduce • Provide formal • Introduce making an

Strategies modeling and organized list:
instruction in Martina has three shirts, two
order to use pairs of shorts, and three pairs
problem-solving of shoes. How many different
strategies. outfits can she wear?

Group Work • Allow students to • Work together to solve a

work together to problem and share your
complete a task by solutions with the class using
sharing ideas and poster paper or a document
understandings. camera.

Assessment • Use a rich • Assess student understanding

problem that of subtraction from 100:
focuses on student You have a bag with 100
understanding of pennies. Reach in and
a concept. This remove a handful of pennies.
can be formative Determine how many pennies
or summative are left in the bag.
assessment.

30
Time to Use Focus Examples

Connect to • Use mathematics • Collect and organize

Other explicitly in other data in science:
Subjects subjects. Given a list of the
areas of 10 states,
place those states in
order from largest to
smallest.

Homework • Assign one rich • Following a class task

problem rather than on division of whole
a set of exercises. numbers, assign the
following problem:
Find the missing digits:
,5 1
8) 1 ,5 8

Problem of • Use learned • Following some work

the Week strategies to solve with the Make a Table
rich problems, strategy, students
with adequate work in groups:
time to explore Find all the ways to
possible solution make change for a
strategies and to quarter.
represent work in an
organized way.

31
 Time to Use Focus Examples

Interactive • Get students • Manipulate “outfits”:

Whiteboard motivated and You have one yellow,
Technology engaged with one red, and one blue
this technology. shirt. How many
different outfits can you
make if you have one
pair each of blue pants
and black pants?
• Discuss using
patterns and other
methods of solving
the problem.

Developing • Encourage the • Which of the

Number development of following numbers
Sense number sense as does not belong in
a concept is being this list?
taught or reviewed;
include discussions 9, 16, 36, 48, 64, 81
about an answer’s • Explain your thinking.
reasonableness.

Differentiation • Adjust problems for • You have nickels,

students who need dimes and quarters.
extra support or
How many nickels
extra challenge.
make change for a
quarter?
Find three ways to
make change for 50¢.
Find four ways to make
change for $1.00.

32
 Time to Use Focus Examples

Connect to • Introduce a problem • After reading Equal

Children’s as a follow‑up activity Shmequal by Virginia
Literature to a story or book Kroll (2005):
that students have Solve the following and
read. explain your thinking.
3 + 7 = ___+ 3
___ = 7 + 8
5 + 7 = ___ + 7

Bulletin Board • Display a problem • Complete the

Activity or activity on the patterns.
bulletin board with
1, 3, 5, ___, ___, ___, 13
an envelope for
student solutions; 3, 6, 9, ___, ___, ___
post some responses. 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, ___, ___, ___
Change the bulletin
board regularly.

33
 k
Stop and Thin

Respond to the question below in your

problem-solving journal.
• What are some ways that you can incorporate
more problem solving into your mathematics
lessons?

How Should We Teach

Problem Solving?
There are many ways that problem solving can be incorporated into
mathematics instruction. Envision students using a rich problem as
a way to apply the mathematical concept that was just taught in a
lesson and solving a related problem in small groups. This enables
these students to understand the real-world connection to that
mathematical concept and find a practical solution that is relevant
and important to them. Consider using a problem as a vehicle
through which to demonstrate a mathematical concept to the entire
class. While grappling with the problem as a class, students are
presented with the lesson’s main objective.
Finally, with NCTM’s description in mind, consider another
approach to incorporating problem solving into mathematics
instruction. Imagine a lesson that begins with a problem as a
context to help students uncover the mathematics for that day.
Students work together in small groups to explore, trying a variety
of strategies and approaches to reach a reasonable solution. More
importantly, as the class comes together to share and discuss their
approaches, they solidify their understanding of the mathematics
in the problem. The teacher becomes the one who orchestrates the
discussion through thoughtful questioning.

34
Where Can You Find Good Problems?
There are many resources for good problems in a variety of formats.
You can find traditional problems and turn them into rich problems.
Playing a game that requires the use of mathematical reasoning is
problem solving. Analyzing a mathematical situation to determine
what is a reasonable solution is also problem solving.
• If you have an opportunity to attend a professional meeting
such as a National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
national or regional meeting or your state mathematics
council meeting, check the exhibit hall for good
problem-solving resources.
• Visit your local library. The games section usually includes
problems, often described as games or puzzles, that you
can easily adjust for use with your students. Picture books
and other examples of children’s literature also make good
topics for writing your own problems. There are also many
books available that include using children’s literature in
the classroom. One such source is NCTM’s publications.
Another online source is the Ohio Resource Center
([Link]
Online resources can vary in quality. Some excellent resources
include:
• Illuminations ([Link]
site includes lessons, activities, and other links that are
sorted by grade level and mathematical concept. Some of
the activities are applets that can be done at home or over
the summer.
• PBS Mathline ([Link]
prek/math/resources/)—This site is for pre-K teachers, but
the menu at the top of the page allows access to other grade
levels. This site includes problems, problem-based lessons,
and even some classroom video of the lessons being taught.
It is a great place to get started!

35
• Annenberg Media ([Link]
This site offers a variety of rich mathematical tasks by grade
band. There are also some online courses that you can take
to become more familiar with the process standards for each
grade level band (K–2, 3–5, 6–8).
• Calculation Nation ([Link]
Calculation Nation® uses the power of the Internet to let
students challenge opponents from anywhere in the world.
At the same time, students are able to challenge themselves
by investigating significant mathematical content and
practicing fundamental skills. The element of competition
adds an extra layer of excitement.

36
 t
Reflect and Ac

Respond to the questions below in your

problem-solving journal.
1. How is problem solving an important part of your
professional growth as a mathematics educator?
2. How can you convince your students of the
importance of problem solving when learning
mathematics?
3. Think about problems you solved in this chapter
that involved quantitative reasoning. Write a
description of how you went about approaching
and determining a reasonable solution.
4. How has your perspective of problem solving
changed after reading this chapter?

37
38
 2
CHAPTER

Planning for Problem

Solving in the Classroom
“A teacher’s goal must be to help students
understand mathematics; yet understanding is not
something that one can teach directly. No matter
how kindly, clearly, patiently, or slowly teachers
explain, they cannot make students understand.
Understanding takes place in students’ minds as
they connect new information with previously
developed ideas, and teaching through problem
solving is a powerful way to promote this kind of
thinking.”
Lester 2003

As you think about planning a rich problem-solving lesson, think

about why so many students struggle with problem solving. What
is different about the thinking that goes into the typical mathematics
task such as 28 × 32 and solving a problem involving finding the
possible dimensions of a playground that covers 896 square yards?
As we plan for teaching students how to solve rich problems, it is
important for us to understand the different kind of learning that
is required to approach each of these tasks and how we can help
students to be successful beyond developing computational skills.
Students often struggle with problems because they do not
have a framework for approaching these tasks. For many
students, experience in mathematics consists of doing numerical
computations. They learn a procedure, apply it to calculate the
answer, and the work is complete.

39
Solving problems involves more than following a procedure.
The student must attach meaning to the problem, decide on steps
that will help lead to a solution, follow those steps—possibly
revising them along the way—and finally determine if the solution
is reasonable. This is certainly much more complicated than
calculating the product of 28 × 32!
Setting up a positive problem-solving classroom requires planning
for successful instruction, which leads to positive experiences for
your students.

Finding a Good Problem

It is important to start by finding a good problem for your students
to solve. Look back at the characteristics of rich mathematical
problems in the chart in Chapter 1. Keep these characteristics in
mind as you consider which problems to use with your students.
Find a problem that has the mathematical concepts you want to
teach embedded in the solution process. For example, if today’s
lesson is on equivalent fractions, look for a problem that helps
students construct the meaning of equivalent fractions as part of
the solution process.
If your students have not had much experience with solving
rich problems, you also need to consider the difficulty level of
the problem you select. The problem must be “doable” for the
students. At the same time, it should offer rich mathematics for
the students to grapple with. If it is too simple, students will not
get the value of learning new mathematics. If it is too difficult,
students will become frustrated and give up. Either way, you have
not accomplished your goal of building students’ problem-solving
abilities.
There are many websites with rich problems (see pages 35–36)
as well as other professional resources that include various
problems at different grade levels. Start slowly. Choose a few
good problems that align with your curriculum and begin to build
a problem-solving library. Share problems with your colleagues.

40
Each of the next chapters includes problems to help you get
started. There are also additional practice problems provided in
Appendix C.
As you build your problem-solving library, you will also become
more comfortable modifying problems. Something as simple
as using the names of students in your class will increase the
motivation to solve the problem. Putting the situation in a context
that is of interest to your students such as sports, humor, or games
also adds to the motivational element. Consider the following
problem, which falls into the category of “fractured fairy tales.”
Students love it. It is intrinsically interesting and motivational—
not to mention just plain silly!
Pinocchio had a habit of telling lies. Each time
he told a lie, his nose would grow. One morning
while working at his father’s clock shop, Pinocchio
decided to see just how long he could make his
nose. He measured his nose at its original length
and found it was 2 inches long. Then he yelled out,
“Dogs make the best brain surgeons!” His nose
grew 3 inches! He shouted, “Chocolate is the best
toothpaste!” Again, his nose grew 3 inches longer.
He stood on the table and hollered, “Going to school
makes you dumb!” Out went his nose…another 3
inches! After Pinocchio had told 15 lies, how long
was his nose?
Keep in mind that a good task takes time to solve. In fact, it is
not unusual for a good problem to take several days/class periods.
Remember, students are not just doing an exercise in mathematics
or practicing a skill. Rich problems give students opportunities
to learn new mathematics or to deepen their current knowledge of
mathematical ideas. This takes time. However, you will see that
the learning that takes place is well worth the time investment.
As we look at the following instructional model that is helpful in
planning, we will consider how the issue of time can be addressed.

41
 Choosing a Good Problem to Use With Your Students
• Consider the mathematics you want students to learn.
• Find or modify a problem that will be of interest to the
students.
• Consider the difficulty level of the problem.
• Consider how you will introduce the problem to the class:
• To make it understandable.
• To make it interesting and motivating.
• Consider what is involved in the solution process and how
much time it will take students to solve it.

A Problem-Solving Framework
George Polya, a 20th century mathematician, was a great advocate
for the use of problem-solving techniques in learning mathematics.
His most famous book, How To Solve It, was first published in
1945. Since then it has sold over a million copies and is still in
publication today.
In How To Solve It, Polya identifies four principles of problem
solving. These principles provide a framework to help students
approach any type of problem. Interestingly, Polya’s principles can
also be applied to problems outside of mathematics and are often
applied in doing science-related activities.

Principle One: Understand the Problem

Too often students jump into solving a problem without considering
all of the details and any special situations. What does understanding
a problem entail? How do you know when you understand the
problem? More importantly, how do we ensure that a student
knows when he understands the problem he is trying to solve?

42
This principle includes several of the problem-solving strategies
from the later chapters of this book. They are as follows:
• Restate the Problem in Your Own Words
• Identify Wanted, Given, and Needed Information
• Identify a Subgoal
• Draw a Picture or Diagram
• Select Appropriate Notation
Although there is no particular order to the strategies used to
recognize all of the essential details in a problem, each is an
important step in comprehending the problem. Students should
begin by reading the problem and restating it in their own words.
Visualizing the problem will help to focus on the important details.
Make students aware that it often takes more than one reading to
identify the critical details. Identifying the wanted, given, and
needed information includes focusing on the question asked to
begin to consider how to get started and what to do. What data
do I have? What is unknown? What am I looking for to reach
a solution? Students also must understand whether the problem
involves multiple steps and if a subgoal must be identified. Drawing
a picture or diagram can add to the understanding of what is given
and, at the same time, can help to focus on what is needed to solve
the problem. Also consider the type of notation to use, which
may be modeling with concrete materials to using mathematical
symbols that will be helpful in getting started on the problem.

43
 k
Stop and Thin

Respond to the questions below in your

problem-solving journal.
• Choose a rich problem that you have used with
students in the past or that you would like to
use with them. Think about how you developed
an understanding of the problem.
• What steps did you take to make sense of the
situation to help you get started?

Principle Two: Devise a Plan

Now that you have a clearer understanding of the problem situation,
it is time to consider how you will go about solving it. It may be
simple calculations that will enable you to reach a solution. For
many students, determining which mathematical operation to use
presents a challenge. This is often because they have not associated
meaning with the facts of the problem and the question being
asked, or they do not have a deep understanding of the meaning of
the operation and depend on “key words” (which don’t work!) to
tell them what to do.
Rigorous problems often involve more than one or two
computational steps. You have to determine how to get started,
what approach may lead to a successful solution, and how you
will represent your thinking in order to carry out your plan. This
is where the problem-solving strategies come in. It is a good idea
to have a list of the strategies available for students to consider
every time they solve a problem. Think about which of the
strategies may be helpful. Too often, students do not take the time
to think about appropriate strategies before they begin to attempt
a solution.

44
 Once you have determined which strategies will help you to get
started, think about how you will relate the information in the
problem to using the strategies. If you decide that making a table
will help you use the information in the problem, you need to
consider what information should be used in the table. If you
choose to solve a simpler problem first, how will you modify the
problem so you can get started? How will you use the information
to determine if there is a pattern you can complete to reach the
original solution?

k
Stop and Thin

Respond to the questions below in your

problem-solving journal.
Look back at the problem you selected on page 44.
• What strategies did you decide to use?
• How did you choose those strategies?

Principle Three: Carry out the Plan

Once you have decided which strategies to use, it is time to
implement the plan. An important part of this principle is to check
each step as you proceed. Asking yourself questions throughout
the solution process will help you to know if you are headed in a
direction that is leading towards an acceptable solution or if you
must change your course. Sometimes you will get started and find
you need to change your approach by adjusting a strategy, adding
more strategies, or selecting an entirely different approach. This
is all part of learning to be a problem solver. Although this can be
frustrating for students, it is also what provides the satisfaction of
reaching the solution and understanding the steps and effort it took
to get there!

45
 An important part of learning and doing mathematics is making
sense out of the work that you have done. Keeping an accurate
representation of your work is fundamental to making sense out
of the mathematical ideas that have developed from the solution
process. Representation and communication help you to clarify
your thinking and identify connections to other mathematical
ideas and to real-life applications. The solution process, which
is the way you carry out your plan, leads to a deeper level of
understanding and enables you to apply that knowledge to new and
different situations.

k
Stop and Thin

Respond to the questions below in your

problem-solving journal.
Look back at the problem you selected on page 44.
• How did you carry out your plan?
• Did you need to adapt, add, or change
strategies?
• Is your written work (representation) an
accurate record of what you did?
• How does it help you to develop a deeper
understanding of the mathematical ideas that
emerged from the problem?

46
Principle Four: Look Back
It is not uncommon for students to solve a problem, close their
book, and be finished. This stage involves several steps. Consider
your results in light of the data in the original problem and ask
yourself the following questions:
• Does my solution make sense?
• Is my solution reasonable?
• Does my solution fit all of the conditions of the problem?
However, looking back involves more than just checking to see if
the solution is reasonable. Polya (1945) states, “A good teacher
should understand and impress on his students the view that no
problem whatever is completely exhausted. There remains always
something to do; . . . we could improve any solution, and, in any
case, we can always improve our understanding of the solution.”
As you plan problem-solving experiences for your students,
consider possible connections that students will make by solving
and sharing their solution processes. Recognizing relationships
among the mathematics in problems helps students to develop
mathematical understandings. It is Polya’s Look Back principle
that provides students with the opportunity to dig deeper by taking
the time to ask themselves if there are other possible solutions to
the problem and if there are other approaches to reaching a solution.

Launch, Explore, Summarize

Instructional Model
Putting this all together for students can be quite overwhelming.
Developing lessons that incorporate problem solving to teach a
new concept or to supplement your current instruction requires a
different mindset for planning. The Launch, Explore, Summarize
Instructional Model incorporates rich problems, Polya’s principles,
and effective student learning.

47
The Launch, Explore, Summarize Instructional Model was first
developed and used in the research of William Fitzgerald and Jan
Schroyer (1986). It has become very helpful language in which
to organize a discussion around teaching a lesson, investigation,
and unit.
Teaching through problem solving does not mean giving students
a rich problem or task and waiting for them to come up with a
solution. The teacher is the key to providing the students with
the information, techniques, questions, and ultimately habits of
mind that lead to successful mathematics experiences both within
and outside the classroom. The Launch, Explore, Summarize
Instructional Model defines a lesson in three parts. Read on for a
closer look at what each part entails and how the model can be used
to plan a successful problem-solving lesson.

Launch
Launching the lesson engages the students in the problem they are
to solve. In the Launch phase, the teacher prepares the class for
the problem by reviewing any previously learned concepts that
may be connected to the mathematics in the problem. In order
for students to have an entry into a problem, they must understand
the context of the problem. It is also during this part of the lesson
that students complete the first of Polya’s principles by making
sense of the problem situation and the facts in the problem. By
the end of the Launch, students should be well into Polya’s second
principle, with a plan for getting started. The length of the Launch
should be relatively short (up to 10 minutes). If it is too long, there
will not be enough time for the Explore and Summarize phases of
the lesson.

Questions to Consider when Planning the Launch

The following questions will help you think about what you need to
consider as you plan how you will launch the problem:

48
 • What prior knowledge do students need to solve
this problem?
• How will I review these concepts and help students to
connect them to the problem?
• Have students had prior experience with the context of the
problem? If not, how will I present this context?
• How can I make the problem personal and motivating for
students? How can I introduce the problem without giving
away too much information?
• What student misconceptions may arise in understanding
and solving the problem? How will I deal with students’
misconceptions without telling them what to do?
• How long do I anticipate it will take students to solve
the problem?
• What scaffolding will help struggling students? What
extensions will challenge students who are able to solve
the problem?
The order of the questions is not important. In fact, you may find
that they are closely connected, so while considering one planning
question, you are addressing other questions as well. For example,
as you consider whether students understand the context of the
problem, you may also be thinking about how you can tweak it to
make it more interesting and motivating.
Take a look at the problem on the following page that could be
used with second graders. As you read through the list of questions
following the problem, think about each question in terms of using
this with a second-grade class. Remember, the more experiences
you have selecting and planning to launch a problem with your
students, the better you (and your students) will get. It can be
time consuming at first, but before long this kind of planning will
become inherent in all of your problem-solving lessons.

49
 What prior knowledge do students need to solve this problem?
Moira bought a pencil for 29¢. She gave the clerk a
dollar bill and received five coins in change. What
coins did she receive?

Consider the mathematics you want students to do as you select the

problem. Think about how students will get started. Sometimes
the problem is so straightforward that they can jump right in.
Other problems require prerequisite knowledge in order to reach a
solution.

k
Stop and Thin
Respond to the questions below in your
problem-solving journal.
• What prerequisite knowledge would a student
need in order to solve this problem?
• Make a list in your journal. Talk with your
colleagues about the problem and the lists you
each developed.

How will I review these concepts and help students to connect

them to the problem?
Now that you have the list of prerequisite concepts and knowledge
the students need, you should consider how to provide a quick
review so that students have entry into the problem. Consider the
experience level of your students as you decide what you need to
review before starting the problem.
Using the problem above in a second-grade class, consider
students’ experience with subtraction and recognizing coins. These
concepts will also help you to determine differentiation needs of the
students. Students who cannot subtract will need more scaffolding
than those who can.

50
 k
Stop and Thin

Respond to the question below in your

problem-solving journal.
• How would you review the prerequisite skills
needed to solve the problem above with a class
of second‑graders?

Have students had prior experience with the context of the

problem? If not, how will I present this context?
Consider the previous experiences of your students prior to
presenting a problem to them. If they have little or no experience
with the situation presented in the problem, think about ways that
you can expose them to it. For example, if urban students have had
little or no experience gardening, a problem in which they must
find the perimeter of a fence that is to go around a garden will have
little meaning to them. You might introduce the problem above by
talking about going to the store and getting change and simulating
the exchange using yourself and student volunteers. Some
suggestions include showing a short video clip, reading a book,
showing some pictures, or creating the situation in the classroom.
Your introduction should be broad enough to help students picture
the context of the problem without giving too much information.

51
 k
Stop and Thin

Respond to the questions below in your

problem-solving journal.
• Think about how students might visualize the
context of a problem. What questions would
you ask? Would you tell a short story? Is
there a book that you could use to set the
stage for your students?

How can I make the problem personal and motivating for

students? How can I introduce the problem without giving
away too much information?
This question relates to the previous question in that setting the
context can also get the students excited about solving the problem.
Using student names in the problem, setting it up in the context of
a game that the students like to play, a television show, a cartoon
character, or a rock band will spark student interest.
Be careful when you introduce the problem not to give the students
so much information that they do not have to think about how to
solve the problem on their own.

52
 k
Stop and Thin

Respond to the direction below in your

problem-solving journal.
• How could your rewrite the problem to present
a situation that would motivate a class of second
graders to work on finding a solution?

What student misconceptions may arise in understanding

and solving the problem? How will I deal with students’
misconceptions without telling them what to do?
As you think of the mathematics in the problem, be aware of
areas that might be difficult for students. Consider if it is the
mathematics that might trip them up or if an issue could arise from
not being able to understand the problem. If it is the mathematics,
you will need to be ready to scaffold the problem. If it is
comprehension, anticipate questions that you might ask to clarify
student understanding.

53
 k
Stop and Thin

Respond to the questions below in your

problem-solving journal.
• Which mathematical ideas in the problem
might students struggle with? What questions
can you ask to address those misconceptions?
What comprehension difficulties might
students have? How will you help students to
deal with those misunderstandings?

How long do I anticipate it will take students to solve the

problem?
Ideally students should be able to complete all three parts of
the lesson (Launch, Explore, Summarize) in one class period.
However, not all rich problems are designed to be solved in a
given amount of time. You need to consider this as you select
problems to use with your students. Do you need to finish the
entire lesson in one day? Can you launch the problem and allow
students to get started on it and come back to it tomorrow (or even
in a few days)? For students who are just starting with problem
solving and using strategies, consider problems that will take a
class period. Once they become comfortable with the strategies
and have developed the tenacity to stick with a problem—even
when they are stuck—you will want to add more challenging
problems that will take several days to solve.
What scaffolding will help struggling students? What extensions
will challenge students who are able to solve the problem?
As you put all of the pieces together for the launch part of the
lesson, you need to consider differentiating for various student
levels. After you have considered the mathematics in the problem

54
 you have selected and anticipated possible misconceptions, begin
to think about how you can adjust the lesson for the students
who are struggling with the problem, who have the right idea but
have some computational errors, who can do the mathematics
but struggle with reading comprehension, and who can solve the
problem with little difficulty and are ready for more!
It is important to consider this question in advance. At first, it will
take some time to think about the problem in terms of all of your
students’ needs. After some practice, it does become much easier
and you will find that problem-based lessons are an excellent way
to meet individual needs in the classroom.

k
Stop and Thin

Respond to the questions below in your

problem-solving journal.
• As you present the problem (described on
page 50) to students, you find three who are
unable to subtract 29¢ from $1.00 accurately:
they change the dollar to 99¢ to subtract.
Besides simply showing them how to do the
subtraction, what else can you do to help these
students?
• Five students solve the problem with no
difficulty at all. How can you make the
problem more challenging to develop the
mathematical ideas more deeply, or offer
different solutions?

55
Once you have introduced the problem to your students, they
need to make sense of what it is about for themselves. This is
where Polya’s first principle comes into play. Of course, you have
incorporated some of the ideas as you introduced the problem.
However, you also need to think about the importance of students
becoming independent problem solvers. Begin with modeling and
discussing the questions and answers. Students in grades 3 and up
should record the answers to each question. Primary students can
talk about the information as a class or in small groups. The goal
here is to develop a habit of mind so that, after many experiences,
these questions will be automatic to students when they are
approaching a problem for the first time. At this point, you want
students to explicitly answer each of the following questions.
What do I want to find out?
Begin by focusing on the question or task. Not only does it give
the student a mind set on what they will be doing, but it also helps
them to identify the important information in the problem and
any unnecessary information. If students don’t understand what
it is they are trying to find out, how can they get started solving
the problem?
What do I know?
Listing the pertinent information in the problem helps students to
focus on important information that is connected to the question or
task. Students should summarize this in their own words. Younger
students can underline the important details in the problem. Older
students can paraphrase and write the important information.
Do I need more information? If so, what additional information
do I need?
This is a tough question for many students. It is difficult to identify
what you don’t know. Be prepared to support this step by modeling
and asking questions that will help students to identify missing
information.

56
There are three types of information students may need to help
them solve a problem. In multi-step problems, students need to
be aware that there are other questions that must be answered
before they have the information to solve the problem. These
problems are the most common in our mathematics classes. In
some problems, students may need to use an outside source to find
information before the problem can be solved. These are the types
of problems we solve every day. It is important to include some
problems in this category so that students do not expect all of the
information they need to be in the problem itself. Using an outside
source is important in all subjects and is something students should
recognize. Finally, there are some problems that cannot be solved
because the information needed is not available. Students should
have some experience with all three types of problems.
Is there any extra information that I do not need?
A good problem should be motivating. That means it will probably
include interesting information that is not necessary to reach a
solution. Just as students should be able to identify the important
information in the problem, eliminating extraneous information
helps to hone in on the essential details.
What estimate or prediction can I make for the solution?
Asking students to make a prediction serves several purposes.
First, it helps them to focus on the question being asked. Often,
students will work to solve a problem and never answer the
question! If they make a prediction and compare their solution
to their prediction, it reminds them to be sure they answered the
question. Second, making an estimate or prediction helps to build
number sense and mathematical confidence. Too often, students
think that the only correct answer in mathematics must be exact.
Yet in many situations, an estimate will often suffice. Getting
students to think about the size of an answer, the shape of a figure,
or the number of possibilities will help them to see if they are in the
right ballpark. This can be frustrating to students at first because
they tend to focus on wanting to get the precise answer. Providing

57
experiences with making and adjusting estimates will not only help
students to see the value of estimation but will also help them to
become good estimators.

Explore
In this phase, students work as a class, in small groups, with a
partner, or individually to solve the problem. Students gather
data, share ideas, look for patterns, make conjectures, and choose
appropriate strategies. The role of the teacher is to monitor student
progress by moving around the classroom and observing individual
and group progress. During this phase, the teacher also asks
questions to encourage student thinking. Attending to the work of
each group also helps the teacher to plan the Summarize phase of
the lesson by determining how to orchestrate the class discussion
and sharing that will take place to conclude the lesson.
In order to be an effective facilitator of this process, consider
several questions as you are planning the lesson.

Questions to Consider when Planning the Explore Phase

As you read these questions and the suggestions that follow, think
about additional ideas to consider as you plan and implement the
Explore phase of the lesson. Revisit these questions following your
problem-solving classes. You will find you have many additional
ideas as you experience and implement problem solving in your
classroom!
• How will I organize the class for the Explore phase?
• What materials might students need to solve the problem?
• How will students represent and record their ideas?
• What strategies are appropriate to help students reach a
solution?
• What questions can I ask to encourage more discussion and
sharing among students?

58
 • What questions can I ask to scaffold thinking if they are
struggling and reaching a level of high frustration?
• What questions can I ask to help students who have reached
a solution to delve more deeply into the problem?
The Explore phase is when students finalize and carry out their
problem-solving plan. This begins with selecting and employing
one or more of the problem-solving strategies. It is not unusual for
students to select a strategy, try it out, and find it doesn’t get them
where they want to go. At that point, they need to rethink their
approach and try another path. During the Explore phase, students
move in and out of using Polya’s second and third principles of
Devise and Carry Out a Plan.
How will I organize the class for the Explore phase?
Classes may be organized so that students work individually, in
pairs, as a group, or as a whole class. In your planning, you want
to consider how you will pair or group students. Do you want
students grouped homogeneously or heterogeneously? Be sure you
use different grouping structures so that your stronger students do
not feel that they are always “tutoring” those who don’t get it. It
is also important to not always group students by ability so groups
get labeled. (Do you remember the “Robins,” the “Canaries,”
and the “Pigeons”?) In some classes, students can pick their own
groups and work together very well. In other classes, there is no
way this could happen. A good teacher can recognize each type of
class. Students should not always be in the same group. Allowing
students to work with a variety of partners and groups brings out
the best thinking in all of them.
It is important to realize that one structure is not always best. It is
not unusual for Explore time to begin with having students work
individually following the launch to clarify their thinking and start
to plan their solution process. After a few minutes, have students
come together with a partner or in a group to share their thinking.
This gives each student time to have something ready to offer the
group. No one gets to sit back and watch the others work. You

59
may want to bring the class back together at some point if you see
that all of the students are really struggling to get started. You may
notice that there are a variety of strategies being used and may
want to point that out to students so they can think about various
approaches to the problem. The point here is that there is no firm
recipe for how to set up the Explore part of the lesson. Student
experience, difficulty of the problem, and the success of the launch
all contribute to the structure of the Explore time. Flexibility is
the key!
What materials might students need to solve the problem?
Think about the materials you want to have available for students
to use. Will manipulatives such as tiles, linking cubes, dice, or
counters be helpful? Will students need tools like calculators,
rulers, or protractors? Will students need supplies such as grid
paper, scissors, string, glue, markers, or chart paper? Early in
problem-solving experiences, you may want to have the materials
ready for students to use. However, remember that eventually you
want them to be able to select the materials they need. Having a
variety of materials available allows students to decide and gather
those they think will be most useful to them as they work on
the problem.
How will students represent and record their ideas?
There are a variety of ways students can record their problem-solving
work. Remember that the process used to reach a solution is just
as important as the solution itself. You want to help your students
get into the habit of clearly showing and explaining the entire
process they used to reach a solution. The representation of their
thinking enables you to “crawl around in their head” to know and
better understand what they went through to solve the problem.
Encourage students to include roadblocks they met and shifts in
thinking. Too often, students think that only the correct work is
what is important. Valuing all of their thinking helps them to see
that sometimes the best mathematical thinking and the road to a
correct solution evolves from making mistakes.

60
A problem-solving journal is an excellent place for students to
record their work. Keeping all of their solutions in one place
helps to showcase their growth over time. As students increase
their repertoire of problems, they will begin to recognize similar
problems and want to refer back to work on a previously solved
problem. This is also a place where students can reflect on their
thinking, including analyzing their approach to solving a problem
and how successful they were, as well as taking additional notes
on strategies and ideas shared by others in the class. Many
students save their problem-solving journals from year to year and
treasure them. You may want to start with a template for students
to use in setting up their work. There are two models included in
Appendix A.
You also need to consider how students will share work during
the Summarize phase of the lesson. They can share the work in
their journals if you have access to a document camera. Using
chart paper and markers has several advantages such as displaying
student work for a period of time and encouraging class discussions
around solutions. Using chart paper also allows you to revisit a
solution as you continue to develop the mathematical concepts that
were used in the problem.
What strategies are appropriate to help students reach a
solution?
This is a loaded question! You want to have an idea of how students
might approach this problem and what strategies they might use.
On the other hand, except when you are introducing a strategy, it is
important to allow students to choose the strategies they think will
work best. Students may not select the most efficient strategies.
But with practice, they will not only improve in selecting a strategy
but also in combining strategies that work together. Very few rich
problems are solved with a single strategy. Don’t be surprised if
students come up with ways to solve a problem or use strategies
that never crossed your mind! It is helpful to provide a list of
strategies for students to consider. This can take the form of a
bulletin board display or a list that students have embedded in

61
their journals. Becoming familiar with the vocabulary of the
strategies makes them more accessible to students as they begin
their problem-solving attempts.
What questions can I ask to encourage more discussion and
sharing among students?
If your students have not had many opportunities to work with
partners or in small groups, they may need some help getting
discussions started as they begin to share ideas. Modeling this as
a whole class is one way to introduce students to rich discussions.
Developing group norms with the class is very helpful. As you
walk around and drop in on group conversations, you also want to
be ready to encourage good conversations in groups. One way to
do this is to make everyone in the group responsible for the work.
That means that you can ask anyone in the group a question about
the work they are doing, and he or she should be able to answer. It
also encourages students to help one another with the mathematical
thinking that is happening in the group.
What questions can I ask to scaffold thinking if they are
struggling and reaching a level of high frustration?
The answer to this question varies with the mathematics in the
problem that students are solving. Remember to consider the
mathematics when you first select a problem, and at the same
time, how you can scaffold that mathematics when students are
struggling. The questions you ask should be supportive and lead to
divergent thinking rather than point to the solution process.
What questions can I ask to help students who have reached a
solution to delve more deeply into the problem?
There are always students who seem to have the answer to the
problem before you even finish asking it! What do you do with
them? Here are a few suggestions. It is important that these
students completely represent their thinking in their journals
or in some other way. The answer alone does not give you
the information you need to analyze and follow their thinking.

62
Recording the solution process enables students to think about
their thinking (metacognition) and make connections to other
mathematical ideas—both previously learned and new. It also
encourages students to extend their thinking beyond the limitations
of the problem.
Once the work is clearly represented, students may look for another
way to solve the problem. You should be ready with a question
to help them get started. For example, ask if they could solve the
problem with another strategy or if they can describe and generalize
the pattern they found in their solution process.
One other way to stretch student thinking is to have an extension
problem ready for them to solve. It can be directly connected to
the problem that the class is working on, or it can be an entirely
different problem that is quite challenging.

Summarize
This part of the lesson is often overlooked, and yet it is where the
main teaching occurs. It is important that ample time is reserved
for summarizing the problem. Ideally, the Launch, Explore,
Summarize phases should take place in one class period. However,
it is also important to consider the amount of time each phase
should take. Here is a good rule of thumb:
• Launch = about 10 minutes
• Explore = about 20 minutes
• Summarize = about 20 minutes
These times are not carved in stone. If students need more time to
work on the problem, then the Summarize phase might have to take
place on the following day. But do not skip this part of the lesson!
Once students have solved the problem, or made sufficient progress
toward reaching a solution, it is time to bring them together for
class discussion and sharing. Although the students do most of
the talking during this phase, you need to be prepared to guide

63
students to the important mathematical ideas and enhance their
understanding of the mathematics in the problem. This is also the
time that students should consider how they could refine or revise
strategies they used to be effective and efficient problem-solving
techniques.
The Summarize phase of the lesson incorporates the fourth of
Polya’s principles: Look Back. Students reflect on their own
thinking and the thinking of others. They put together the
pieces of the mathematics puzzle to make sense of the concept’s
meaning. This is achieved by sharing ideas, determining other
solutions or strategies, making conjectures, generalizing patterns,
and considering other ways to solve the problem. A great deal is
happening during this part of the lesson!

Questions to Consider when Planning to Summarize

As you develop the practice of facilitating the Summarize phase
of the lesson, you will have many ideas to add. Plan on revisiting
these questions following your problem-solving lessons.
How will I help students make sense of the variety of methods
that can be used to solve this problem?
The planning for this phase not only takes place before the lesson
but also during the Explore phase. As you are working with groups
and observing various approaches to the problem, you need to be
thinking of which groups to have share their thinking with the
entire class. Select several approaches to the problem. Begin with
a workable approach that is perhaps not the most efficient, yet leads
to a solution. If you start with the slickest solution, no one else in
the class is going to want to share. You can think of it as building
anticipation. You might even try to find two groups that have used
the same strategy in two very different ways. Have both groups
present and have the class talk about the differences.

64
How will I orchestrate the sharing and discussion of student
work so that all students can reach a level of understanding of
the important mathematics embedded in the problem?
As students present their work, your role is to be sure that the ideas
are clear and that others in the class understand. Having students
pose conjectures, ask clarifying questions, justify their reasoning,
and refine their work gets everyone involved in thinking about
the mathematical ideas you want to emphasize. You will need to
model and encourage this type of discussion at first. The questions
you ask both the presenting group and members of the class are
what lead to building the mathematical understanding that should
emerge from the problem.
What strategies should be shared?
It is good to have an idea of the key strategies that are effective
and efficient in solving the problem. Since most problems can be
solved by a variety of strategies, it is likely that you will find many
approaches used by your students. So, it is important to consider
whether there is a particular strategy that develops the mathematical
concepts you want your students to understand. Try to decide on a
good starter strategy. It may not be the most efficient, but it should
be helpful to students who are struggling with the problem. It may
also be helpful to find two groups that used the same strategies in
very different ways. If you found a strategy that surprised you and
turned out to be a very good way to solve the problem, share that
as well. All of these things need to be considered as you select the
groups of students who will share their thinking during this part of
the lesson.
What ideas do not need to be emphasized at this time?
New ideas often come up with rich problems. There is a danger
here of going off in a direction that was not your original intention.
This would be a very exciting opportunity if you had an unrestricted
amount of time for your mathematics lessons. However, in reality,
you have limited time and specific content for your mathematics
instruction. A clear focus on the goals of the lesson will help you to

65
avoid topics and ideas that arise that are not part of the mathematics
you are teaching. If students are interested in pursuing these ideas,
a good classroom reference library or the Internet are wonderful
places for students to explore new ideas and enrich the lesson.
What connections do I want students to make as a result of
this lesson?
One of the most important aspects of planning the Summarize
section in advance of the lesson is to know exactly what you want
to accomplish with the problem you have selected, including the
mathematical goals, the integration of the process standards, and
any connections students will make from solving and discussing
the problem. As you determine the mathematical goals of the
lesson, you should bear in mind connections to previously learned
concepts, assignments that will reinforce what students learn from
solving the problem, and upcoming mathematical concepts that will
be developed from this concept. This process uses the foundations
of Backwards Planning and is much like concept mapping. What
previous understandings and skills are needed to solve the problem?
What mathematics will students take away from the problem?
What future concepts and understandings will be developed from
the mathematics learned from solving the problem?
Think about connections to the students’ lives that might also be
brought out in the Summarize section of the lesson. Connecting
percents and discount prices to buying an iPod® provides a
motivating example of the use and importance of mathematics in
the real world and not just in mathematics class.
What will I use for follow-up practice or additional work after
the lesson is complete?
Once the problem has been solved, the mathematical thinking
should not end. Think about what students will need to reinforce
the mathematics they have just uncovered. Do not discount the
importance of practicing the skill, but select and assign practice
exercises wisely. If students have explored the concepts of area
and perimeter in the problem they have just solved, presenting

66
them with 20 exercises on area and perimeter serves little purpose.
Having a few exercises on area and perimeter and a similar problem
may be sufficient. Remember, the purposes of follow-up practice
either in class or as homework is to provide some additional
reinforcement for students and as an informal assessment for you
to use in determining whether students understand the concepts.
Your mathematics textbook is a resource for follow-up practice
and additional work. Interesting problems can be found in a
variety of resources and by searching the Internet. Appendix C
(pages 172–182) can help you get started.

Some Final Thoughts

The Launch, Explore, Summarize Instructional Model is a
framework for planning a rich mathematics lesson. It is important
to blend it to the lesson so that students move through the phases
fluidly. Like any other approach, this model can become boring
and obsolete if it is presented in exactly the same manner in each
lesson. Think about various ways to launch the problem or task
that students will complete. Group students in a variety of ways to
explore the problem. Orchestrate the summary using various media
including charts, the overhead projector, an interactive whiteboard,
a document camera, or even the blackboard.
As you teach the lesson, you will find that you move in and out of
the phases based on student needs. Some students will be ready to
begin exploring during the Launch phase. In the Explore phase, you
may find that you need to bring the class back together to clarify
some of the students’ misconceptions. As you observe students
exploring, your questions should lead them to prepare for what
will happen during the Summarize phase. Extension problems will
have students ready to do more exploration even as they are still
putting together the mathematical ideas from the lesson. As you
can see, this instructional model is quite exhilarating!

67
Effective Questioning
An important part of helping students become effective problem
solvers is to be ready with good questions. Questions that require
students to think more deeply are likely to produce better learning
outcomes than questions for which pupils only need to remember
a fact or a routine. Too often, we tend to show students how to do
something when they get stuck rather than to help them uncover the
mathematics by asking the right question.
Developing good questioning skills takes purposeful practice. The
following examples will help to get you started. Although these
questions are organized by lesson phases, you will find that many
of them can be used throughout the problem-solving lesson and as
follow-up questions to encourage student reflection.

Questions to Help Launch the Problem

• Can you describe the problem in your own words?
• What do you want to find out?
• What are the important facts in the problem?
• Is there anything in the problem you do not understand?
• What questions do you still have?
• Is there anything else you need to know?
• What materials can you use to get started?
• Which strategies will you use?
• How will you record your work?

68
 Questions to Differentiate Instruction
While Students Explore the Problem
To assess student progress, ask:
• What have you done so far?
• Explain how you are organizing your work.
• What strategies have you used? Explain how you have
used them.
• Does your answer seem reasonable?
• Do you see a pattern? Can you describe the pattern?
• Have you accounted for all possibilities? How can you
be sure?
• Can anyone explain it another way?
To help students who are struggling:
• Describe the problem to me in your own words.
• Are there any words you don’t understand?
• What question are you trying to answer?
• What strategies have you tried so far?
• Can you make a table? Draw a picture? Act it out?
• Have you solved a similar problem?
• Can you make the numbers easier?
• Are there other materials you can use to help you?
• What ideas have we learned that may be helpful to you?
To help students identify any important information
they may have overlooked, ask questions that are
specific to the problem:
• Is there another step you may need to start with?
• Does your solution make sense? How can you convince me?

69
 Questions to Differentiate Instruction While
Students Explore the Problem (cont.)
To challenge students who have successfully solved the
problem, ask:
• Will your strategy always work?
• Can you find other solutions?
• Is there another way to solve the problem?
• What would happen if . . . ?
• What patterns did you see? Can you extend the pattern
for x cases?
• What if you started with a different number?
• What other problems have we solved that are like this one?
• Can you explain your work to the class?

Questions to Ask During the

Summarize Phase of the Lesson
• Why did you decide to do that step? What did you learn
from it?
• Do you agree with what _______ did? Why or why not?
• Did anyone get a different answer? If so, who is correct?
Can you justify your reasoning?
• Did anyone solve the problem a different way? Can you
describe your work?
• Who can restate what _______ just said?
• Will this method always work? Can you find a situation
where it will not work?
• What did you learn from doing this problem?

70
 t
Reflect and Ac

Respond to the questions below in your

problem-solving journal.
1. What does problem solving in the classroom look
like? What does it sound like? What is the teacher
doing? What are the students doing?
2. How can Polya’s four‑principle process help you and
your students become better problem solvers?
3. What steps can you take to implement the Launch,
Explore, Summarize Instructional Model in your
classroom?

71
72
 3
CHAPTER

Getting Started Strategies

“Students use many strategies intuitively when
they solve problems. However, gaining familiarity
with a collection of strategies by seeing them
modeled, and then trying to apply them, provides
students with useful tools for tackling problems
and broadens their problem-solving abilities.”

Burns 2007

Many people struggle with how to approach a problem. The

strategies in this chapter can be used in a variety of settings and
include the following:
• Restate the Problem in Your Own Words
• Identify Wanted, Given, and Needed information
• Identify a Subgoal
• Select Appropriate Notation
These strategies can help you to solve both routine problems as well
as non-routine problems like the ones that were introduced in the
previous chapter. What is important about these strategies is that
they can help anyone become more comfortable with approaching
a problem. Each of them will help you get started or help you to
reexamine the problem if you hit a roadblock. They are often used
together with the strategies we will examine in the next chapters.
Time to get started on your problem-solving journey!
After initially reading a problem, it is helpful to restate the problem
in your own words to be sure you understand the problem situation.
Identifying wanted and given information will help you to
determine any additional information needed to solve the problem.

73
Often, once the wanted, given, and needed information have been
identified, an equation can be written to help determine what
to do to solve the problem. Since multistep problems are more
complicated, identifying intermediate steps required to answer
the question will help you to reach a solution. Once you have an
understanding of the problem situation, determining what type of
notation to use—tables, drawings, diagrams, lists, or graphs—will
help you to get started as well as to represent your thinking in a
concrete way. Let’s take a look at each of these strategies.
Unlike the problems in the next chapters, the problems in this
chapter do not have grade levels assigned. The intention is to start
thinking about each of these strategies as you develop your own
expertise in approaching a problem. Keep in mind, however, that
you should also share these strategies with your students.

Restate the Problem in

Your Own Words
Understanding the Strategy
In order to solve a problem, you need to make it your own. This
entails focusing on the details presented and your interpretation
of that information. Part of this strategy involves focusing on the
details of the problem and what it is you are trying to find out.
Once you do this, you should be able to put the problem in your
own words. Restating the problem without looking at the original
problem is a good way to eliminate extraneous information. Many
unsuccessful problem-solving attempts stem from too little time
spent defining and understanding the problem.
It is not uncommon to have to read the problem several times
in order to be able to restate it so that you can include all of the
important information. The goal is to get to the point where you have
truly focused in on the important information. A good guideline to
use with students is to do three readings of the problem.

74
 • The first reading provides a general familiarity with the
information in the problem. In this stage, you begin to
visualize the objects and activities in the problem. You may
also begin to eliminate details of the problem that are not
important to the solution process.
• The second reading helps you to put the problem into your
own terminology. At this point, you begin to focus on the
specifics of the problem.
• The third reading helps you reduce the problem to only the
relevant ideas involved, and the problem begins to take on a
workable reform.

Using the Strategy

Although these strategies vary in the level of sophistication with
each grade level band, it is important to get yourself (and your
students) into the habit of mind that you always need to make
sense of what is happening in the problem. Too often, we rush into
trying to solve the problem when we have not taken the time to
comprehend what the problem is about.
Here are the steps to follow in order to restate the problem in your
own words:

1. Start by visualizing the objects and activities.

2. Eliminate the unnecessary information.

3. Once you have focused on the specifics of the problem, put

the problem in your own words.

4. Go back once more and record the relevant ideas of

the problem.

75
Ready, Set, Solve
We should be striving to become good problem solvers and sharing
this experience with our students. So, what other way to begin but
by making sense of what we are expected to do, other than to make
some sense out of the problem we are attempting to solve?
Begin to solve each of the following problems by stating the
problem in your own words. Think about each of the stages you
need to go through. Once you have read the problem and you are
confident you know the important information, rewrite it in your
journal using your own words.

A pen, a pencil, and an eraser cost $2.70

total. The pencil was $1.00 more than the
eraser. The pen was $0.30 more than the
pencil and eraser together. How much was
the pen?

While counting her money, Beth noticed

that she had the same number of dimes as
nickels and the same number of quarters as
nickels. How many nickels did she have if
her coins were worth $2.00?

One year, one-fifth of the children in

Miss Baker’s class had perfect attendance
records. But 28 children did not have perfect
attendance records. How many children
were in the class?

76
Identify Wanted, Given,
and Needed Information
Understanding the Strategy
When you restate the problem, you should be thinking about the
information that is presented in the problem. In order to focus on
what information is relevant, you also need to think about what is
being asked. The question or task will help you to determine which
details in the problem are critical and which are unnecessary.
In some problems, you may also need some additional information.
Needed information can take on different forms. One type of
additional information requires that you go to an outside resource
to find facts or data that may not be present in the problem. Many
problems require you to take several steps, each of which provides
the information you need to continue. Some problems cannot
be solved because the required information is not available or is
not known.
Some examples of problems that require more information are
on the following page. Read each problem below and determine
which of the following is true about each problem:
• The problem needs information that I can find through
another source before I solve it.
• The problem needs information that requires that I do
something with the facts given before I can finally get its
solution.
• The problem needs information which is not known or
available to me, and therefore, I cannot solve it.
Problem 1: At the big holiday sale, every item at
Hardware Heaven was marked down an additional
25%. The electric drill I bought was originally
$68.00 and had already been marked down 15%.
How much did the drill cost?

77
 Problem 2: George Washington died on December
14, 1799. How old was he when he died?
Problem 3: How many children under the age of
12 visited the observation deck of the Empire State
Building last month?

Using the Strategy

When students begin to work on problem solving, it is important to
model this strategy. Be explicit by having students identify what
the problem is asking, which details in the problem will help to
answer that question, and what, if any, additional information is
needed to solve the problem. Get students in the habit of recording
wanted, needed, and given information so they will focus on
looking for this information as they prepare to solve the problem.
Used with the Restate the Problem strategy, this strategy will aid
students in comprehending the problem as well.
It is sometimes difficult to identify needed information because it
isn’t explicit in the problem. Experience with problems that need
additional information will help you and your students get more
proficient in recognizing when more information is needed and
how they will (or if they can) obtain this information. Problems in
real life do not come wrapped up neatly with everything we need
to solve them. Often we have to think creatively to satisfactorily
reach a conclusion that will work. Mathematical problem solving
should also give us the opportunity to think creatively.

Ready, Set, Solve

As you work on the following problems, first restate each in your
own words. Then make a concerted effort to identify what is
wanted, given, and needed for each problem. If you need more
information, think about how you can get it. When you finish,

78
go back and reread the problem. Consider these questions after
rereading the problem:
• Did this strategy help to make it clearer?
• Do you have an idea of how to get started?
• Do you notice anything that you didn’t notice on your
first read?
When using this strategy, you can show your thinking using
pictures, numbers, or words. Thinking about how you solved the
problem and describing your thinking through representations
and communication helps to develop a deeper understanding of
the process you used to reach a solution. When we focus on the
process we used to solve a problem, we can use that process to
solve similar problems.

One pipe can fill a tank in three hours, and

another pipe can fill the tank in six hours.
How long will it take to fill the tank if both
pipes are used at the same time?

Susan, her brother, her daughter, and her

son all went bike riding. The fastest and
slowest riders were the same age, while
the slowest rider’s twin was slower than
the fastest. If Susan rode faster than her
children, who rode the fastest?

There are 7 girls (including Ling) living on

Ling’s street. The average of their ages is
13. One of the girls is 16 years old, and four
of the girls are two years under the average.
What is Ling’s age if the other girl is 13?

79
Identify a Subgoal
Understanding the Strategy
One of the more difficult aspects of problem solving is problems
that require more than one step. Reaching an acceptable solution
for some problems requires a series of steps or actions, each
depending on the information gathered from the previous step or
action. What makes this tricky is it may not be obvious that other
steps are needed or what those steps might be. Referring back to
the previous strategies of Restate the Problem in Your Own Words
and Identify Wanted, Needed, and Given Information will help you
to get started with breaking the problem into smaller steps in order
to successfully answer the question.

Using the Strategy

This strategy is closely connected to the last part of the Identify
Wanted, Needed, and Given Information strategy. If the information
provided in the problem is not enough for you to get directly to a
solution, you may need to complete some actions that will give you
the data you need to solve the problem. These steps are not always
obvious but getting started with a plan will help you to reach an
approach that will provide the information.
As you introduce this strategy to students, build on the two
previous strategies. Ask students questions, or better yet, give
them opportunities to ask questions that will help them to identify
the steps they need to take to reach a solution. It is important to
have students show each step of their work clearly—using pictures,
numbers, or words so that they can follow their thinking and share
it with others.

80
Ready, Set, Solve
Take time to solve the following problems in your journal. Each of
these problems requires one or more subgoals in order to reach a
final solution. Think about how you are using the three strategies
we have discussed. What helped you to identify the subgoals?
How did they help you to reach a final solution? For both you and
your students, it is important for you to show your work completely
so that anyone who looks at it can understand what you did and
find the answer to the question. Thinking about how you solved
the problem and describing your thinking through representations
and communication helps to develop a deeper understanding of
the process you used to reach a solution. When we focus on the
process we used to solve a problem, we can use that process to
solve similar problems.

Mr. and Mrs. Jogger like to run. From past

experiences they know that Mr. Jogger can
run 6 km in the time it takes Mrs. Jogger to
cover 4 km. They have decided that they
would like to run the same distance, 9 km,
and finish together. How much of a head
start does Mrs. Jogger need for them to
finish together?

During one school year, Stella was given 25

cents for each math test she passed and was
fined 50 cents for each math test she failed.
By the end of the school year, Stella passed
seven times as many math tests as she failed
and she had a total of $3.75. How many
tests did she fail?

81
 Use the diagram to fill in the numbers using
these clues:

• Each digit 1–9 is Column Column Column

used once. 1 2 3

• Row 1 is half the Row

total of Column 1. 1

• Row 1 contains the Row

prime factorization 2
of 30.
Row
• There are no 3
composite numbers
in Column 3.
• The sums of Column 3 and Row 2 are
the same.
• Column 2 contains even and consecutive
numbers.
• All corner numbers are odd and consecutive.
• There is a square number in each column.

Select Appropriate Notation

Understanding the Strategy
Recall that problem solving is the first mathematical process standard
in NCTM’s Principles and Standards for School Mathematics
(2000) and the first standard of mathematical practice in the
Common Core Standards (2010). Problem solving is the reason
we do mathematics. What is intriguing about solving problems and
looking at student work is that there are many paths to a solution.
Most problems require a combination of strategies and can be

82
solved in multiple ways. The representations used in written work
enable us to think more deeply about the solution as well as share
our thinking with others.
The notation we use to represent our mathematical thinking
can range from concrete models to pictorial representations to
numerical notation to abstract symbols. The notation used to solve
the problem can help to build the mathematical ideas as well as show
how we solved the problem. Appropriate notation is an important
aspect of the representation process standard. Interestingly, young
children can solve rather complex problems using a notation that is
developmentally appropriate for them and helps them to hone in on
the information and actions of the problem.

Using the Strategy

Select Appropriate Notation is the culminating “getting started”
strategy. You have been using a combination of these strategies to
help you get started with each problem. The more experience you
have with representing your thinking using appropriate notation,
the more able problem solver you will become. Many of the
strategies we explore in the next three chapters will also involve
the notation you use to solve the problem, as well as how you use
various notations to show the process that you used to reach the
solution. For that reason, this strategy really has two purposes.
First, you use notation to help you to reach a solution. Second, you
use notation to show the process you followed to get to the solution
so others can understand your thinking.

Ready, Set, Solve

The following problems can be solved in a variety of ways. As you
solve each problem in your journal, think about the notation you
will use to reach a solution and to show your work. An important
part of a problem-solving lesson in the classroom is to give students
the opportunity to share how they solved a problem. It would be
more unusual to have all of the students solve a rich problem the

83
same way than to have them come up with a variety of methods and
notations. It is this divergent thinking that helps us all to become
stronger problem solvers. Your challenge with this set of problems
is to find more than one way to represent your thinking. If you are
sharing these problems with colleagues or with students, look at
how they represented their thinking. What have you learned from
sharing your thinking with others?

The students at Linda’s party are playing a

new game. They are seated around a circular
table, evenly spaced and consecutively
numbered. Linda is number 5. She is directly
opposite Kim who is number 16. How many
students are at the party?

In this tangram puzzle, you can make many

different shapes by putting the seven pieces
together in different ways.

c d

e
a f

g
b

If the area of the entire puzzle is one square

unit, find the area of each of the pieces.

84
 The Wright Brothers have a collection of
bicycle seats and wheels. They have a total
of 26 seats and 60 wheels. They decide to
make some bicycles, tricycles, and unicycles.
There are more bicycles than any other type
of cycles. The number of wheels they put
on bicycles is close to the number of wheels
they put on the tricycles. They do not use
very many wheels to make the unicycles.
How many of each type of cycle do they
make?

t
Reflect and Ac

Respond to the questions below in your

problem-solving journal.
1. How did these problem‑solving strategies help you
to solve the provided problems in this chapter?
2. How will these strategies help students with
comprehending the problem they are trying to
solve?
3. What steps can you take to teach your students
how to use these strategies when solving problems?

85
86
 CHAPTER
4
Getting Organized
Strategies
“Most, if not all, important mathematics concepts
and procedures can best be taught through
problem solving. That is, tasks or problems can and
should be posed that engage students in thinking
about developing the important mathematics
they need to learn.”
NCTM 2000

In this chapter we will examine the following strategies that form

the foundation for mathematical problem solving.
• Look for a Pattern
• Create a Table
• Create an Organized List
• Guess and Check
Students will begin to experience looking for a pattern within
mathematical situations to develop a habit of mind to seek and
build fundamental numerical relationships through identifying,
extending, and generalizing patterns. The strategies of Create a
Table and Create an Organized List help students to organize the
information given in a problem and then apply other strategies
to reach a solution. Although many students depend on Guess
and Check as a means to solving a problem, through refining this
strategy, students will become more efficient problem solvers.
You will find that as you become more proficient with each of the
strategies, they often are used together and with other strategies to

87
reach a solution. For example, you can organize your guesses and
checks through making a list. The list will often lead to a pattern
that leads to a solution much more efficiently than random guessing
and checking. Read on for a closer look at these four strategies.

Look for a Pattern

Understanding the Strategy
Patterns are fundamental to mathematics. Not only is our number
system based on patterns, but earlier number systems such as the
Mayan, Babylonian, and Roman systems were developed from
patterns. Students can learn to recognize and describe patterns as
early as the primary grades. The earlier patterns become part of
students’ mathematical experiences the more likely they are to see
the structure of mathematics and understand key concepts such as
place value, operations, and geometry.
Patterns come in all forms. They can begin with objects in the
environment, colors, shapes, and numbers. Students in kindergarten
through grade 2 begin to identify, extend, and describe repeating
patterns and then move on to growing patterns. As students enter
the elementary and middle grades, the patterns become more
sophisticated. Students should have many opportunities to build,
extend, and describe patterns. They should also create and share
their own patterns. Reasoning and communicating about patterns
helps students to connect patterns to problem situations and
eventually to generalize those patterns, a critical skill to success in
algebra, geometry, and statistics.

Using the Strategy

This strategy is often used in combination with other strategies,
including Create a Table, Create an Organized List, and Solve a
Simpler Problem.
In the early grades, your goal should be for students to identify

88
the pattern and continue with the next elements in the pattern. For
example, look at the following shapes:

Identifying the rectangle shape and then two oval shapes will help
the student to continue the pattern by adding another rectangle and
two ovals.
Extending this to a number situation, students in the early grades
should be able to identify the pattern for the following sequence:
0, 2, 4, 6, 8, ____
Note that these numbers differ by 2, or you add 2 to the current
number to get the next number, or that the numbers are the even
numbers. All of these are acceptable descriptions of the pattern.
By applying one of the “rules,” you can continue the sequence.
In the elementary and middle grades, the patterns become more
complex. Look at this pattern:
3, 7, 12, 18, ____
In this case we are adding consecutive numbers to each number
to get the next number in the sequence: 3 + 4 = 7; 7 + 5 = 12;
12 + 6 = 18. What is the next number in the sequence?
In the problems that follow, pay close attention to the use of
patterns. How can you encourage students to look for patterns
in the work they do in mathematics? Students’ experiences with
patterns should be an integral part of the curriculum at every
grade level.

Ready, Set, Solve

Use the Look for a Pattern strategy to solve these problems.
Take time to record your work in your journal. Make a note of
any patterns you find as you solve the problem, not as a passive
observation but so that you can work to extend those patterns for

89
a given situation. The ultimate goal is to generalize the pattern to
fit any situation. Show your thinking using pictures, numbers, or
words. Thinking about how you solved the problem and describing
your thinking through representations and writing helps to develop
a deeper understanding of your process. When you focus on the
process you used to solve a problem, you can use that process to
solve similar problems.

Grades K–2
Marta is reading a book for her summer
reading club. On the first day, she read two
pages. On the second day, she read five pages.
On the third day, she read eight pages. How
many pages did Marta read on the sixth day?

Grades 3–5
For recess time, our class would like one
minute on the first day of school, two minutes
on the second day, four minutes on the third
day, eight minutes on the fourth day, and so
on. If our teacher accepts the plan, how long
will recess be at the end of the second week
of school? Express your answer in more than
one way.

Grades 6–8
Larry is having a party. The first time the
doorbell rings, one person enters. Each time
the doorbell rings, a group enters that contains
two more than the previous group. What is
the total number of guests at the party after
the doorbell rings 10 times?

90
Create a Table
Understanding the Strategy
One way to help organize the information in a problem is to create
a table. Once the information is organized in a table, students
can look for relationships and extend the table to help solve the
problem. A table can be very helpful when used together with the
Find a Pattern or Guess and Check strategies. Tables not only help
students to organize data but also can assist them in recognizing
connections in the problem and communicating their thinking
about those connections.

Using the Strategy

In the early grades, teachers should model the Create a Table
strategy. Both vertical and horizontal table layouts should be used.
However, when one of the layouts is introduced, stay with that type
until students are comfortable with it. Label each column or row
in the table to help students know what information goes in each
column or row. When first using tables, the order of the items
is not critical. As students feel comfortable with making tables,
organizing the information should become part of the process.
This helps students to find patterns and to see if they have all
possible solutions.
By grade 3, students should begin to make their own tables with
little help from the teacher. If students have not had any previous
experience with creating tables, spend some time modeling and
talking about the process of creating a table before expecting
students to do it independently. In grades 3–5, creating tables
should become an important part of organizing ideas throughout
mathematics class and in other subjects as well.
With adequate experience in the elementary grades, middle school
students should continue to create tables. This is also a good
time to think about connections to algebraic concepts, including
graphing and making generalizations.

91
Here are two examples of tables that your students might use. As
students are beginning to work with tables, you may want to help
them to determine the headings. Remember that you should stick
with one type of table until students are comfortable with it. Once
students become proficient with using tables, they should begin
constructing their tables independently.

How many wheels on eight tricycles?

Tricycles Wheels

1 3

2 6
3 9

4 12
5 15
6 18
7 21

8 24

They say that each year of a human’s life is equivalent to

seven years in a dog’s life. If Fido has lived four human
years, what is his life in dog years?

Human
1 2 3 4
Years
Dog Years 7 14 21 28

92
 One kilometer (km) is about 0.62 of a mile. The speed
limit in Canada is 100 km per hour. How fast is that in
miles per hour?

Km
per 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
hour
Miles
per 6.2 12.4 18.6 24.8 31 37.2 43.4 49.6 55.8 62
hour

Ready, Set, Solve

Take time to solve the problems that follow in your journal.
Remember to think about using the strategy of creating a table.
Think about how you will set up a table to organize the information
you have been given and the information you will need to find.
Also think about how the table helps you to recognize and extend a
pattern. Reflect on how the table helps you to reach a solution and
determine if other solutions may be possible. Be sure to answer the
question in the problem. Once you have solved the problem, think
about how the table helped you to organize your work. Reflecting
on how you solved the problem and describing your thinking
through representations and communication helps to develop a
deeper understanding of the process you used to reach a solution.
When we focus on the process we used to solve a problem, we can
use that process to solve similar problems.
The more experience you and your students have with situations
that require a table, the better you will get at setting up tables to
organize you work and your thinking.

93
Grades K–2
Jonathan wants to buy a candy bar that costs
a quarter. He has pennies, nickels, and dimes,
but no quarters in his pocket. How can he
pay for the candy bar with exactly 25¢?

Grades 3–5
Suzanne and Jose work at the city garden in
the summer. Suzanne comes every third day
to water all of the plants. Jose comes every
fifth day to pull weeds. They never miss a
day—even on weekends! If they are both
working at the garden today, how many
times will they be working on the same day
in the next 6 weeks?

Grades 6–8
Iggy loves ice cream! His favorite flavor is
caramel pecan swirl. His little sister, Izzy
also loves ice cream. In fact, she loves every
flavor! Last week Iggy put a gallon of ice
cream in the freezer. That night, Izzy ate
half of the ice cream. The next night she
ate half of what was left. This continued
for a total of six nights. On the seventh day,
Iggy decided to have some of his ice cream.
Boy, was he surprised when he opened the
container! How much ice cream was left for
Iggy? How much ice cream did Izzy eat?

94
Create an Organized List
Understanding the Strategy
Making an organized list involves keeping track of possible
combinations and solutions in a systematic way. Once the
possibilities are listed, if any do not fit the conditions of the
problem, they can be eliminated.
There are different types of lists you can make in solving problems.
Some examples include tree diagrams, charts, and matrices.
Creating an organized list is helpful because it helps students
review what they have already done and identify other steps that
may be needed to solve the problem.
Here is a sample problem that utilizes a tree diagram:
Marco has 3 shirts, 2 pairs of pants, and 2 different
pairs of shoes. How many different outfits can
he wear?

Shirt 1 Shirt 2

Pants 1 Pants 2 Pants 1 Pants 2

Shoes 1 Shoes 2 Shoes 1 Shoes 2 Shoes 1 Shoes 2 Shoes 1 Shoes 2

Shirt 3

Pants 1 Pants 2

Shoes 1 Shoes 2 Shoes 1 Shoes 2

95
Here is a sample problem that utilizes a chart:
Harry can never remember the combination to his
locker. However, he does remember these clues:
The number is 3 digits.
The digit in the tens place is greater than 6.
The digit in the ones place is even.
The digit in the hundreds place is less than 4.
The number can be evenly divided by 4.
What could Harry’s locker number be?

174 274 374

184 284 384
194 294 394

The only numbers on the list that are evenly divisible by 4 are 184,
284 and 384, so one of them must be Harry’s locker number!

96
Here is a sample problem that utilizes a matrix:
Students Al Johnson, Bill Kilson, and Cathy Lamay
were born in Michigan, Nevada, and Ohio, but not
necessarily in that order. Each has a different type
of pet.
• Bill Kilson hates dogs.
• The student with the hamster was born in
Nevada.
• Al Johnson’s cat scratched the dog that
belongs to the person from Ohio.
Who is from Michigan?

Michigan Nevada Ohio dog cat hamster

Al
✓ x x x ✓ x
Johnson

Bill
x ✓ x x x ✓
Kilson

Cathy
x x ✓ ✓ x x
Lamay

Using the Strategy

When you are ready to introduce this strategy with your students,
work together with the class, asking for student input, to model
how to organize information. This will help students to develop
ways to organize their data or solutions. There are often several
ways to organize a list of information, so it is important to let
students work on their own and share their lists with the rest of the
class once they have the idea.

97
One type of problem that can be efficiently approached with an
organized list is a problem that requires you to find all of the
possible combinations. Practice with these types of problems will
help problem solvers gain skill in organizing their work and seeing
patterns. Questions to consider include:
• How did you organize the information in your list?
• Did anyone organize the information in a different way?
• How do you know you have found all of the possibilities?
• Did you recognize a pattern that can be extended?
It is also important to help students consider how they can keep
information organized in a way that ensures that they have not
repeated possibilities and that they have exhausted all of the
options in reaching a solution. Don’t worry about this at the
beginning. Once students become comfortable with making a list,
they can begin to analyze how to organize their work so they do not
miss or repeat a possible answer.

Ready, Set, Solve

Take time to solve the following problems in your journal.
Consider using the strategy of making an organized list. Think
about how the list helps you to gather the possible solutions and
determine which fit the conditions of the problem. Remember to
answer the question that is asked in the problem. Thinking about
how you solved the problem and describing your thinking through
representations and communication helps to develop a deeper
understanding of the process you used to reach a solution. When
we focus on the process we used to solve a problem, we can use
that process to solve similar problems.

98
Grades K–2
How many different ways can you make 10
using addition and using three addends?

(Note: The order of the numbers doesn’t

matter: 3 + 3 + 4 is the same as 4 + 3 + 3)

Grades 3–5
Mark and Sara love pizza. They both like the
following toppings on their pizza:

• pepperoni • sausage • mushrooms

• chicken • pineapple • extra cheese

They want to order a pizza to share, but

they only have enough money for three
toppings. How many different combinations
are possible?

Grades 6–8
Pat has a new bicycle lock. It’s the kind
that has a four-number combination. If the
combination has four different numbers
between 1 and 9 and all the numbers in the
combination are even numbers, how many
possible combinations would there be for
Pat’s lock?

99
Guess and Check
Understanding the Strategy
One of the most frequently discounted strategies is Guess and
Check. Guessing the solution of a problem is sometimes associated
with wild guessing. An important part of this strategy is making
an educated guess based on careful attention to the important
aspects of the problem. The key element in this strategy is the
checking process in which the student makes an educated guess
and then checks it against the problem conditions to improve his
or her next guess. The student repeats this process until he or she
has an acceptable answer. Students who can use guess and check
efficiently often have excellent reasoning ability and do not need to
wait to learn abstract processes to solve a problem.

Using the Strategy

Using estimation will help you and your students to hone in
on a reasonable guess with which to begin. Sometimes we are
uncomfortable with making an estimate or guess because we have
been taught that in mathematics, we should follow a particular rule
or algorithm. Guess and Check can be used with the Make a Table
strategy to keep track of each guess as well as to see how close it
is to the conditions presented in the problem. Keeping track of the
guesses and checks will help you and your students to adjust each
guess to get closer until the solution is reached.
Here is an example of a problem that can be efficiently solved using
the Guess and Check strategy. Note how each guess helps to get
closer to the actual solution.

100
 In the art classroom the tables each have four legs
and the stools each have three legs. If there are 68
legs altogether, how many tables and how many
stools are there?

Guess 1 2 3

Tables 3 4 5

Stools 10 10 16

Total
12 + 30 = 42 16 + 30 = 46 20 + 48 = 68
Legs

After the second guess, the solver realizes that four tables would
have 16 legs and that leaves an additional 52 legs. Since 52 cannot
be divided evenly by 3, there cannot be four tables. So she guesses
five tables. Five tables would have 20 legs, and that leaves 48 legs.
Sixteen stools with three legs each would give a total of 48 legs, so
that must be the correct answer. This solution shows the efficient
use of Guess and Check to reach a solution.

Ready, Set, Solve

Take time to solve the following problems in your journal. Consider
using the strategy of Guess and Check. After each check, think
about how you can adjust the next guess to fit the conditions in the
problem. How might you use a table to help keep track of your
guesses and checks? How does the table help you to revise your
guess to get closer to the solution? Thinking about how you solved
the problem and describing your thinking through representations
and communication helps to develop a deeper understanding of
the process you used to reach the solution. When we focus on the
process we used to solve a problem, we can use that process to
solve similar problems.

101
Grades K–2
When Matty emptied his piggy bank, he had
nine coins, including pennies, nickels, and
dimes. When he counted the value of the
coins, he had 58¢. What coins did Matty
have in his bank?

Grades 3–5
The animal shelter has 10 more cats than
dogs. They found homes for two cats and
took in two dogs. Now there are twice as
many cats as dogs. How many cats does the
animal shelter have now?

Grades 6–8
You have probably heard the tale of Ali Baba
and the 40 thieves. I’ll bet you never heard
the story about his brother Bubba. One
night, Bubba followed Ali and watched him
enter the cave where they had hidden the
stolen fortune. Later, Bubba returned to
the cave and spoke the magic words Open
Sesame. The cave opened, and Bubba went
inside. He was amazed to find 2,290 pounds
of rubies and emeralds. There were four
times as many 1-pound rubies as 3-pound
rubies. He found three times as many
3-pound emeralds as 6-pound emeralds.
How many rubies and how many emeralds
of each size did Bubba Baba find in the cave?

102
 t
Reflect and Ac

Respond to the questions below in your

problem-solving journal.
1. Which strategy did you find the most useful? Why?
2. Which strategy did you struggle with the most?
Why?
3. Think about how you will use these strategies with
your students. What do you want to be sure to
include as students become familiar with these
strategies?
4. Find a problem you can use with your students that
would use one of these strategies. Record it in
your journal. How will you introduce the problem
to your students?

103
104
 CHAPTER
5
Visualizing Strategies
“We believe that if we want students to understand
mathematics, it is more helpful to think of
understanding as something that results from
solving problems, rather than something we can
teach directly.”
Heibert et al. 1997

In this chapter, we will explore four strategies that help the problem
solver to visualize what is happening in a problem. They are:
• Make a Model
• Draw a Picture or Diagram
• Act It Out
• Make or Use a Graph
All of these strategies require you to get involved with the problem
in ways that require more than simply writing the information
or using an algorithm to solve the problem. The Make a Model
strategy encourages the use of manipulatives. Draw a Picture or
Diagram will help to make a visual representation of the problem.
With some problems, acting out the situation (Act It Out) helps
make sense of the information presented. Making a graph such as
a bar graph, line plot, or Venn diagram enables you to collect or
organize data to answer a specific question or to draw conclusions
about the data.
As you read the descriptions of each strategy and solve the
problems, the strategies from Chapter 2 will help to organize your
work and draw conclusions. A combination of strategies will help
you to reach a solution efficiently and with an understanding of a
process that can be used to solve a variety of problems.

105
Make a Model
Understanding the Strategy
Using a model to solve a problem offers several advantages. By
visualizing the elements in the problem, you can focus on the
relevant information and ignore the unessential details. In other
words, it helps you to simplify and make sense out of the problem
situation by using concrete materials. You can move the objects
around as you change your thinking throughout the problem-solving
process. This can become quite cumbersome if you are trying to
solve these problems with paper and pencil.
While the main focus of this strategy is to be able to manipulate the
materials, it is often used with the recording strategies you learned
in Chapter 2. Creating a table or organized list can help you to
keep track of your work so that you have a way to record the steps
you are taking to solve the problem. It is not unusual to also Find
a Pattern as you Make a Model. This will enable you to hone in
on the path to a solution without having to try every possibility.
This strategy is also very useful when used with Guess and Check
because it helps you to see relationships and refine your guesses
until you reach a successful solution.

Using the Strategy

As you solve the following problems, keep in mind the following
steps:

1. Decide which materials can be used to model the

information in the problem. You can use manipulatives such
as square tiles, linking cubes, measuring tools, coins, or
toothpicks to represent the materials in the problem.

2. Determine how to get started. Ask yourself what

information is given in the problem and how you can use the
materials to model that information.

106
 3. Think about how you will document your work so that
you have a written record of your solution process. This is
important for going back to review what you did to solve
the problem when you want to share your solution with
someone else or when you come upon a similar problem
that can be solved using the same or a similar process.
Here is a good example of a problem for which the Make a Model
strategy would be useful. Get some coins and try it!
Look at the triangle below. Move exactly three
pennies so that the triangle points down.

107
 k
Stop and Thin

Respond to the questions below in your

problem-solving journal.
• Why is Make a Model a good strategy for
this penny problem?
• What materials could you use to represent the
information if you do not have pennies?
• How can you keep track of your work so that
once the problem is solved, you have access to
your solution process?

Ready, Set, Solve

Take time to solve these problems in your journal. Use the Make
a Model strategy. Think about the materials you can use for your
model. Think about how you will represent the information in
the problem with the materials you have selected. Be sure to
document your solution process so that you can review or share
your work with others. Using pictures, numbers, or words will
help you to record your work. Thinking about how you solved
the problem and describing your thinking through representations
and communication helps to develop a deeper understanding of the
process you used. When we focus on the process we used to solve
a problem, we can use that process to solve similar problems.

108
Grades K–2
Tonight’s dinner includes peas and carrots. You
HATE peas and carrots! Rather than eat them,
you count them. You have 12 vegetables on
your plate. How many peas could you have?
How many carrots could you have?

Grades 3–5
How many ways can five squares be arranged
so that each square only touches a full side?

Okay Not okay

Be careful of shapes that are rotations or
reflections of pieces you have already found.

is the same as

Grades 6–8
You want to make a container to hold some
pebbles you have collected on the beach. All
you have is a piece of cardboard that is 8" × 11".
You decide to roll it into a cylinder. You can roll
it horizontally, which is 11" tall, or vertically,
which is 8" tall. If you want your container to
hold the maximum amount of pebbles, which
way should you roll the cardboard?

109
Draw a Picture or Diagram
Understanding the Strategy
When students get stuck on a problem, we often suggest they draw a
picture to show what they know. Drawing a picture or diagram is a
way to represent the information in the problem visually. “Seeing”
the information and actions in a problem helps you to understand
or clarify the facts so that you can begin to decide steps to take to
reach a solution. Keep in mind that drawing a picture is a more
abstract representation of the information than making a model,
and therefore, this is a strategy that may be more appropriate for
use with students who have had experiences with making a model.
In some situations, a model can be more efficient than a picture
(e.g., the problems in the previous section).
As with the Make a Model strategy, Draw a Picture or Diagram
is often used in combination with other strategies. While the
drawing provides a pictorial representation of the problem, it
may be necessary to create a table or list to keep track of your
numerical thinking. Some students prefer to begin with a model
and keep track of their work by drawing a picture. Others may
start with a model and, once they have a deeper understanding of
the problem, move to using a drawing or diagram to continue with
their solution process.
Students often ask about the difference between a picture and a
diagram. A picture is a representation that depicts the information
in the problem. A diagram can be a more abstract representation
of the problem. Consider these problems:
Each evening, Larry takes his dog, Archie, for a walk.
Archie is a very large dog. Every time they pass five
houses, Archie turns around and pulls Larry back two
houses. Then Larry pulls Archie forward five houses,
and—you guessed it—Archie pulls Larry back two
houses. If they need to walk past 20 houses in order to
make it around the block and back to Larry’s house, how
many times will Larry have to pull Archie forward?

110
 A 12-inch board was cut into two pieces so that the
shorter piece was half as long as the larger piece. How
long was the short piece?

k
Stop and Thin

Respond to the questions below in your

problem-solving journal.
• Which problem would you solve with a
picture? Why?
• Which problem would you solve with a
diagram? Why?

Using the Strategy

Recall Polya’s principles from Chapter 2. In order to represent a
problem with a picture or diagram, it is important to begin with the
information given in the problem and follow the steps below.

1. Identify the key information that is critical to the solution.

2. Eliminate details that embellish the problem but can be

ignored when you are actually solving the problem.

3. Determine how you will represent the information that you

will use.
Remember, if one way to draw the picture or diagram isn’t working,
it is okay to change your representation. With some problems you
may want to use drawings to show each step of your solution. In
other cases, the drawing may be enough to get you started, and
you can move to a more abstract representation using numbers or
an algorithm.

111
Ready, Set, Solve
Take time to solve the following problems in your journal. Use the
strategy of Draw a Picture or Diagram. How does your drawing
help you to represent the information in the problem? How can you
use the drawing to help translate the information in the problem into
numbers or words? Be sure to answer the question in the problem.
Thinking about how you solved the problem and how describing
your thinking through representations and communication helps to
develop a deeper understanding of the process you used to reach
a solution. When we focus on the process we used to solve a
problem, we can use that process to solve similar problems.

112
Grades K–2
Azziza invited 6 friends to her birthday
party. Each person at the party received a
cup with 5 chocolate candies and 2 sticks of
gum. How many chocolate candies and how
many sticks of gum were given at the party?

Grades 3–5
Ellen has season tickets to the ballpark. Her
seat is in section 22. The row is second from
the front and eighth from the back. Each
row seats 15 people. How many seats are in
section 22?

Grades 6–8
Larry and Linda want to build a garden that
will be placed right next to the garage. They
have 100 yards of fencing to put around
the garden to keep out the rabbits. They
would like to make the largest rectangular
garden possible. All of the sides must be
whole numbers. Determine the best size for
the garden.

113
Act It Out
Understanding the Strategy
Act It Out is a strategy that is similar to Make a Model and Draw a
Picture in that it helps students visualize what is happening in the
problem. Often this strategy is used together with Make a Model,
because with manipulatives or concrete materials can help you act
out the problem. Sometimes it is difficult to determine the first
action step to take in a problem, so physically representing the
problem helps to clarify your thinking and understanding. Going
through the motions of the problem makes it easier to discover
relationships that will lead to a solution.
This strategy can be employed by students of all ages. Young
students will need practice identifying the important information
in the problem and will enjoy role-playing to find the solution.
Middle-grade students will find that this strategy may provide entry
into a problem that does not lend itself to any of the other strategies.

Using the Strategy

In order to act out a problem, you need to understand the situation
being presented. In other words, you are defining the story that is
taking place. Determine any materials that are needed to help you
act it out. Since this strategy may involve more than one person,
the problem solvers need to think about how they are going to
proceed and how to record the actions. It is helpful to have one
person take the role of narrator (or director) to oversee the process
and another person to be the recorder and document the work.
It is critical to understand the problem and consider all of the
information as you determine how you will act it out. It is not
unusual to notice details that may have been overlooked as you
go through the role-playing process. There is nothing wrong with
starting again and considering the additional details. This also
speaks for the importance of reviewing a solution in terms of the

114
original problem or conditions so that no details are overlooked that
might have an implication for the accuracy of the solution.
As with the other strategies in this chapter, the Act It Out strategy
should be used in conjunction with other strategies so that students
can communicate their thinking and the process used to reach a
solution. They might decide to describe the process they used to act
it out. They can develop a list or table to record what is happening
as they complete the problem. It is not unusual for patterns to arise
as students are acting out the problem, and therefore they can draw
conclusions and solve the problem using numbers, especially with
more complicated situations.

Ready, Set, Solve

Take time to solve the following problems in your journal. Gather
some colleagues and have some fun with acting out each of these
problems. Even if you can solve it using another strategy, acting it
out will give you a better sense of what your students go through
when they use this strategy to solve problems. You may also be
surprised by the solutions you find when you act it out. Are they
different from the result you would have achieved if you had
solved it with paper and pencil? Are they more efficient? Do
they lead you to think about the problem in other ways? How
will you communicate your solution process? Thinking about
how you solved the problem and describing your thinking through
representations and communication helps to develop a deeper
understanding of the process you used to reach a solution. When
we focus on the process we used to solve a problem, we can use
that process to solve similar problems.

115
Grades K–2
Marcy puts coins in her piggy bank every
week. There is a total of 50¢ in the bank.
What coins could she have if there are six
coins in the bank? Seven coins? Eight coins?

Grades 3–5
Darren bought a bike for $50. Later that
summer, he sold it to his friend Dennis for
$60. He bought it back for $70 and then sold
it for $80. Did he earn or lose money, and if
so, how much? Or, did he come out even?

Grades 6–8
You are having a birthday party. When the
first person arrives, you shake her hand. As
each new guest arrives, he or she shakes
hands with everyone at the party. There
is a total of 10 people at the party. If each
person shakes hands with everyone else
exactly one time, how many handshakes will
there be?

116
Create or Use a Graph
Understanding the Strategy
Creating a graph is commonly used to solve real world problems.
In using this strategy, students should have experience in each of
the following scenarios:
• Questions are posed in a problem context.
• Questions are posed by the teacher.
• Questions are generated by students themselves.
Dealing with data can also happen in a variety of contexts:
• Students collect and organize data in an appropriate graph
and draw conclusions.
• A graph is provided in the context of the problem, and
students use the graphical representation to make inferences
and draw conclusions.
There are many ways to organize data. Bar graphs, circle graphs,
line graphs, and pictographs are among the most common ways;
however, scatter plots and stem-and-leaf plots are also useful. A
Venn diagram is a way to help represent data that may be related and
overlap. The Venn diagram is made up of two or three overlapping
circles. Each circle describes one characteristic of the data. The
overlapping area of the circles includes data that has more than one
characteristic. Consider this problem:
The 30 fifth-graders at Euclid Elementary School are planning
their class party. They have taken a survey regarding favorite pizza
toppings. In the class, 17 students like pepperoni on their pizzas,
and 21 like mushrooms. There are two vegetarians in the class
who will only eat cheese. Of all the students, how many want both
pepperoni and mushroom on their pizza? Use a Venn diagram to
help solve the problem.

117
Using the Strategy
There are a variety of ways this strategy can be used. In some
situations, a graph will be provided and the students must interpret
the data and make inferences to answer the question. In other
situations, data will be provided and students must determine how
to best organize the data to solve the problem. Perhaps the best
place to start is to pose a question (or have students pose a question)
and collect the data to answer the question. Remember that giving
students many experiences to organize and interpret data will help
them to use data in a variety of situations outside the mathematics
classroom. Organizing, graphing, and interpreting data is a critical
skill in science. Looking at data provided in the media and drawing
conclusions about that data is an important life skill.
Keep in mind the appropriateness of graph types as you consider
the age level and experience of the students with whom you
are working. Young children should have experience with real
graphs, picture graphs, tallies, frequency tables, and bar graphs.
Upper-elementary students can begin to work with histograms, line
plots, Venn diagrams, and circle graphs. Middle school students
who have had experience with a variety of graphical representations
can begin to work with double-bar graphs, box-and-whisker plots,
and scatter plots. All of these representations will help students to
become quantitatively literate as they deal with data.

Ready, Set, Solve

Take time to solve the following problems in your journal. These
problems are designed for you to represent data in a format that
will help you to answer the question. The representation of the
data is an important part of the solution process and is part of the
solution. Consider how the representation you chose supports
your conclusions and leads to the solution. Think about how the
graph helps you to organize the information and leads to drawing
a conclusion that will satisfy the problem. How you can adapt
these problems to use with students? Your awareness of how you
solved the problem and the act of describing your thinking through

118
representations and communication will help you develop a deeper
understanding of your own thought processes as you reached the
solution. Focusing on the process we used to solve a problem helps
us to apply that process to other similar problems.

Grades K–2
The second-graders are playing a dice game.
They roll 2 dice, add the numbers, and move
that number of spaces on the game board.
Fred is wondering which sum comes up the
most often when you roll two dice. So, the
students decide to collect some data to find
out. Roll two dice 50 times and use a graph to
keep track of the rolls. How would you answer
Fred’s question?

Grades 3–5
The new Bouncy Ball is quite special. Each
time the ball bounces, it bounces half as high
as the time before. The ball is dropped from
a tower that is 128 feet tall. It is caught when
it bounces up one foot. How many times did
the ball hit the ground before it was caught?

Grades 6–8
The Lincoln Middle School Basketball team has
14 players. They are listed at three positions:
forward, center, and guard. When the manager
counts the centers and guards, she counts
eight players. When she counts the forwards
and the centers, she counts nine players. How
many centers, how many forwards, and how
many guards are on the team?

119
 t
Reflect and Ac

Respond to the questions below in your

problem-solving journal.
1. Which strategy was most difficult for you? Why?
How can you become more comfortable with using
this strategy?
2. Were any of these strategies new to you? If so,
how did they help you think about solving problems
in a different way?
3. Which strategy do you think you will use with
your students first? Use one of the resources
mentioned to find a problem to use to model the
strategy with your students.

120
 CHAPTER
6
Advanced Thinking
Strategies
“Teachers can help and guide their students, but
understanding occurs as a by-product of solving
problems and reflecting on the thinking that went
into those problem solutions.”
Lester 2003

In this chapter, we will look at strategies that help you to approach

a problem in another way. The strategies presented in this chapter
are as follows:
• Solve a Simpler Problem
• Account for All Possibilities
• Work Backwards
• Change Your Point of View
Solve a Simpler Problem helps to make the problem more
manageable. In real-life problems, there is often more than one
solution. Account for All Possibilities helps you to ensure that
you have considered all of the reasonable answers that fit the
conditions of the problem. In some problems, you may know the
final outcome and want to find the situation at the beginning of the
problem. In this case, Work Backwards is a very helpful strategy.
When you are really stumped by a problem, it is often helpful to
start all over with a different point of view.

121
These strategies require more sophisticated thinking than the
strategies we have explored in previous chapters. Although
students in kindergarten through grade 3 can certainly have some
early experiences with each of these, keep the problems very simple
and save a formal introduction to these strategies for students in
grades 4 and 5.

Solve a Simpler Problem

Understanding the Strategy
When faced with a complex problem, making it simpler will help
you to get started. Simplifying a problem involves changing the
problem so that it becomes understandable. This allows for a solution
method to become apparent and can often be generalized by finding
a pattern. This strategy is not only helpful for solving problems but
can also help students to see relationships in mathematical situations
rather than memorizing procedures and rules.

Using the Strategy

There are many ways to simplify a problem. Each is used in a
different situation and involves a different level of complexity.
Here are two ways to simplify a problem:

1. Using simpler numbers to solve a problem can help

you to recognize the setting of the problem and identify
the operation to use. This is a good strategy for young
children, especially when they are using problems
to develop conceptual understanding of number and
operations. For example, a problem may present a situation
in which students can use repeated addition in place of
multiplication. This type of problem is often presented in
mathematics textbooks.

122
 2. The less-familiar approach involves beginning with a
simpler case of the problem and building with successive
cases that will lead to a solution. In the process of solving
the problem, a pattern may be discovered that can be
generalized for any number of cases. This strategy is often
used with other strategies such as Create a Table, Draw a
Diagram, or Create an Organized List in order to record
the result of working through successive cases. Once the
table is constructed, identifying the pattern enables you to
continue to solve the problem by applying the pattern to
each successive case.
Think how you can simplify the problems below to help you get
started. Notice that the original problem is quite difficult to tackle,
yet starting with a simpler situation makes the problem much more
approachable.
Find the sum of the first 50 odd numbers.
Simplify: Begin by finding the sum of the first two odd numbers.

1+3=4
Move on to the first three odd numbers, then to the first four odd
numbers.
1+3+5=9
1 + 3 + 5 + 7 = 16
Keep track of your work in a table and continue until you notice a
pattern. Once you notice a pattern, you can continue to increase
the number of addends, or if you can generalize the pattern, you
can jump to 50 addends. In fact, you can then solve this problem
for any number of addends!
A football team of 12 players must choose a
captain and a co-captain. How many different
combinations are possible?
Simplify: How many combinations would be possible for a team
with three players? four players?

123
Making a tree diagram will help to keep track of the possibilities.
Can you find the pattern? Can you determine the answer to this
problem by extending the pattern?

Three players (A, B, C)

Captain Co-captain

B
With three players there are six possibilities.

124
 Four players (A, B, C, D)
Captain Co-captain

A C

B C

C B

D B

C
With four players there are 12 possibilities.

125
Continue the tree diagrams until you think you have the pattern and
can identify the number of combinations for 12 players.
Find the product:
55 × 58
Start with a simpler situation and look for a pattern.
51 × 51 = 5 × 5 = 52
51 × 52 = 5 × 5 × 5 = 53
52 × 52 = 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 54
52 × 53 = 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 55
Continue with additional examples until you find the pattern. Can
you generalize a rule for multiplying any numbers with exponents?

Ready, Set, Solve

Solve these problems by solving a simpler problem. Begin by
thinking about how you can simplify the situation in the problem.
As you record your work in your journal, think about other
strategies that will help you to organize your results. Show your
thinking using pictures, numbers, or words. Make a note of any
patterns you find as you solve the problem. Thinking about how
you solved the problem and describing your thinking through
representations and communication helps to develop a deeper
understanding of the process you used to reach a solution. When
we focus on the process we used to solve a problem, we can use
that process to solve similar problems.

126
Grades K–2
Miranda loves to count. On her way to
school today, she counted these things:
• One white kitten sitting on the front
porch.
• Two frogs hopping across the street.
• Three robins singing in the tree.
• Four grasshoppers jumping along the
sidewalk.
• Five poodles going for a walk.
• Six squirrels climbing up the trees.
• Seven fire hydrants painted red.
• Eight daffodils swaying in the wind.
• Nine pine trees with pine cones hanging
low.
• Ten acorns sitting on the ground.
How many things did Miranda count
altogether?

Grades 3–5
Tony’s restaurant has 30 small tables to be
used for a banquet. Each table can seat only
one person on each side. If the tables are
pushed together to make one long table,
how many people can sit at the table?

Grades 6–8
How many squares of any size are on a
standard 8 × 8 chessboard?

127
Account for All Possibilities
Understanding the Strategy
Too often we reach a solution to a problem without realizing there
are other possible answers. In our everyday life, there are very
few problems we encounter that have only one solution (although
there may be a best solution). Accounting for all possibilities
helps you to determine not only whether you have found all of the
answers that fit the problem but also whether you have eliminated
all the solutions that do not work. A key part of this strategy is
to systematically account for all possibilities. This means that
you do not have to examine all of the potential possibilities but
rather that each possibility must be accounted for. In other words,
through your work, you can eliminate possibilities that do not fit
the condition of the problem.

Using the Strategy

As with many of the previous strategies we have examined, it is
helpful to use Account for All Possibilities in conjunction with
other strategies. To get started with this strategy, it might be
helpful to set up a table or organized list. The critical link here
is that your work should be organized. This means that once you
find a solution that fits the conditions of the problem, you need to
consider additional solutions that also fit. Through an organized
approach, you will not waste time with incorrect solutions because
you can eliminate them through reasoning. You could consider this
strategy an extension of making an organized list because there is
more reasoning involved with considering whether you have found
all of the possible solutions. You may find that you begin with
Guess and Check. As you eliminate incorrect solutions, you can
hone in on the characteristics of solutions that work.
Let’s look at some ways to organize your thinking that will help to
Account for All Possibilities. Study the following problems and
solutions. What do you notice about how the work is represented?

128
Notice that not all possible combinations have been tried. As you
work through the problems, you can reason which trials can be
eliminated. How can you be sure that all of the possible solutions
have been accounted for?
Francine went to the store to buy some fruit. She
can get three oranges for 50¢. She has lots of coins
but no half-dollars and no pennies. Find all of the
combinations of coins she could use to pay for the
oranges. One way to pay is with two quarters. Find
the other combinations. How do you know you
have all of them?
There are some very strange creatures on the planet
Mathoid. Some creatures have two eyes and some
have three eyes. On my last visit, I counted a total
of 23 eyes. How many of each creature did I meet
on Mathoid?
Mark and his father are putting up a fence in their
backyard. Some sections are 15 feet long and the
others are 18 feet long. What is the least number of
sections they can put up so that the fence is 270 feet
long? How many of each will they use?

Ready, Set, Solve

Take time to solve the following problems in your journal.
Remember to think about using the strategy of Account for All
Possibilities. Also consider using a table. Think about how the
table helps you to recognize and extend a pattern. Be sure to
answer the question in the problem. How does the table help
you to organize your work? Thinking about how you solved the
problem and describing your thinking through representations
and communication helps to develop a deeper understanding of
the process you used to reach a solution. When we focus on the
process we used to solve a problem, we can use that process to
solve similar problems.

129
Grades 1–3
Rachelle’s house number has three different
digits.
The sum of the three digits is 12.
The number is greater than 480.
What could the house number be?
Do you think you found all the possible
solutions?

Grades 3–5
Mrs. Fairweather has placed 12 tiles in a
bag. Some are red, some are blue, and
some are yellow. There are no other colors.
How many different combinations of tiles
are possible?

Grades 6–8
Mutt and Jeff are playing a game with the
spinner shown here. They spin twice and
add the fractions. If the sum is greater
than ½, Jeff gets a point. If the sum is less
than ½, Mutt gets a point. Is the game fair?
Explain your reasoning.

⅛ ¼
⅖ ⅓

130
Work Backwards
Understanding the Strategy
Problems in which the final outcome is presented and the question
asks about the original situation are best solved using the Work
Backwards strategy. What is interesting about this strategy is that
you need to reverse what has been done in order to find the answer.
For example, if addition is used to go from the original amount to
the ending amount, then subtraction is needed to solve the problem.
This is a great strategy for helping students understand inverse
operations. Although many of these problems can be solved using
algebra, Work Backwards is often a more efficient way to get to a
solution and is more appropriate for younger learners.

Using the Strategy

To solve Work Backwards problems, you will usually begin with
the answer, which is provided, and methodically undo what was
done in the problem. Although there are various approaches to
working backwards, writing an open sentence with the original
conditions of the problem is one way to determine how to work
backwards. Drawing a picture or diagram of the actions of the
problem and then working back to the original amount is another
way to solve the problem.
It is often helpful to write the actions of the problem numerically,
leaving the starting number blank and ending with the answers.
Look at the following problems:
Kenny took some money out of his bank. He spent
50¢ at the store and had $1.75 left. How much
money did he have to begin with?
$_____ – $0.50 = $1.75
In order to determine what he had to start with, you would have to
put the 50¢ back, or add it to the $1.75.
$1.75 + $0.50 = $2.25

131
It is always a good idea to check the solution by working the
problem “forward” to be certain that you have correctly reversed
all of the actions.
Does $2.25 – $0.50 = $1.75? It checks, so the solution of $2.25
must be correct.
You can also draw a picture or diagram to show the actions of the
problem and then work backwards to find the original amount.
Look at this example.
Last night, Mom baked some blueberry muffins for
our class picnic. Much to my surprise, my brother
ate ¼ of the muffins. My dad ate ⅔ of what was left.
Then my little sister found the plate of muffins
and ate ½ of what was left. When I went to get
the muffins, there were only two left. How many
muffins did Mom bake?
Since you know that the amount left is two muffins, can you
determine how many muffins each person ate?

Brother Dad ate ⅔ of what was left.

ate ¼

Sister ate ½ of Two muffins

what was left

Final Step

Dad ate ⅔ Brother

ate ¼
Sister ate ½ of
2 muffins what was left

132
Ready, Set, Solve
Take time to solve the following problems in your journal. Although
there are a variety of approaches that can be used, using the Work
Backwards strategy will help you to reach a solution efficiently.
Notice that in each of these problems, you know the situation at the
conclusion of the problem and are asked to identify the start. Think
about the actions in the problem and how you would undo each
action. Once you reach a solution, redo the problem using your
answer and work forward. Do you reach the same final condition
as stated in the original problem? Thinking about how you solved
the problem and describing your thinking through representations
and communication helps to develop a deeper understanding of
the process you used to reach a solution. When we focus on the
process we used to solve a problem, we can use that process to
solve similar problems.

Grades 1–3
Patrick shook the coins out of his piggy
bank. He took 25¢ to buy a cool pencil for
school. He took 15¢ to buy an eraser. When
he counted the money that was left, he still
had 45¢. How much money did Patrick have
in his piggy bank before he took the coins?

Grades 3–5
Mom just filled the cookie jar with cookies.
They were chocolate-chunk cookies—my
favorite. My brother came home from
soccer practice and took half the cookies.
My sister came home from dance lessons
and took half of what was left. When my
dad got home from work, he took half the
remaining cookies. By the time I finished my

133
homework and went downstairs for a snack,
there were only two cookies left. How many
cookies did mom put in the cookie jar?

Grades 6–8
Dorothy and Toto were on the yellow brick
road with a full basket of oranges. When she
met the Scarecrow, he was very hungry, so
she gave him half of her oranges plus two
more. Later she met the Tin Man and gave
him half the remaining oranges plus two
more. And when she met the Lion she gave
him half the remaining oranges plus two
more. When they arrived in Oz, Dorothy
had two oranges left in her basket. How
many oranges were in the basket before
Dorothy gave any away?

134
Change Your Point of View
Understanding the Strategy
Have you ever tried to solve a puzzle or problem, and no matter
what you did, you just could not figure it out? Then you put it
aside and tackled it a day or two later and you saw the solution
immediately? As we approach a problem, we often have one plan
and try to make it work. If our plan is not successful, we return
to the same point of view and adopt a new plan. Sometimes this
works. At other times, we may need to rethink the problem and
our approach.
To use the Change Your Point of View strategy, rethink the
information in the problem. Discard any previous notions and think
outside the box by redefining the problem. This strategy requires
a major shift in focus. Elements that initially appeared to be
important are down-played, and new ideas get more consideration.

Using the Strategy

This is not an easy strategy to use. Of all the strategies, this one
takes the most creative and critical thinking. In fact, many new
inventions and ideas are the result of someone entirely changing his
or her approach to a problem and starting from scratch with a whole
new perspective. The best way to become more comfortable with
changing your point of view is to solve a variety of problems that
call for divergent thinking. Brain teasers and puzzles are a great
way to do this. Although some people may discount the value of
these experiences, they inspire creative thinking and higher-order
thinking skills.
Here are some ideas for problems that call for Change Your Point
of View. You can find them in puzzle books, magazines, and the
newspaper, as well as on the Internet. Don’t give up if you cannot
find a solution. Put the problem away for a while and think about
it after a day or two. The more experience you (and your students)
have, the better you will get at solving this type of problem.

135
Toothpick Puzzles
Remove one toothpick to leave 3 squares.

Make this figure with 12 toothpicks.

1. Remove four toothpicks and leave three triangles.

2. Move four toothpicks and form three triangles.

Word Jumbles
Rearrange the letters to make a mathematical word.
nidodait
rgatinel

Sequences
Complete the following sequence:
J, F, M, A, M, J, J, A, S, ___, ___, ___

Brain Teasers
Use four 9s in an equation that equals exactly 100.

136
Mathematical Puzzles
Arrange 10 trees in five rows, with four trees in each row.

Mathematical Riddles
• Which weighs more: a pound of iron or a pound of feathers?
• Why should you never mention the number 288 in front
of anyone?
• A street that is 40 yards long has a tree every 10 yards on
both sides. How many total trees are on the entire street?

Ready, Set, Solve

Take time to solve the following problems in your journal. These
are tricky, so be prepared to change your point of view! It is very
tempting to peek at the solutions, but give yourself some time
to think about how you might change your perspective on the
problem. Keep track of the development of your thinking in your
problem-solving journal. Remember, the more experience you
have with these kinds of problems, the better you will become at
using this strategy!

137
Grades K–2
Arrange eight toothpicks in the shape of
a fish. Move the toothpicks until the fish
is facing another direction. How many
toothpicks did you move? Can you do it
another way? What is the least number of
toothpicks you can move?

Grades 3–5
Complete each of the following sequences.
S, M, T, W, T, _____, _____
O, T, T, F, F ___, ____, _____
F, S, T, F, F, S, S, _____, _____, _____
M, V, E, M, J, S, U, ____, _____

Grade 6–8
A farmer, a fox, a chicken, and a bag of
corn must safely cross the river in a very
small boat. The farmer may only take one
thing at a time in the boat. She cannot
leave the fox and the chicken together on
either side of the river, because the fox will
eat the chicken. And, she cannot leave the
chicken alone with the bag of corn, because
the chicken will eat the corn. How can
the farmer get everything across the river
without anything being eaten?

138
 t
Reflect and Ac

Respond to the questions below in your

problem-solving journal.
1. Which strategy did you find most useful? Why do
you think this is so?
2. Which strategy did you find most difficult? What
can you do to become more comfortable with it?
3. Think about using these strategies with your
students. How do you think they will react?

139
140
 CHAPTER
7
Assessing Problem Solving
“Assessment should be more than merely a test at
the end of instruction to see how students perform
under special conditions; rather, it should be an
integral part of instruction that informs and guides
teachers as they make instructional decisions.
Assessment should not merely be done to students;
rather, it should also be done for students, to guide
and enhance their learning.”
NCTM 2000

As you have read this book, you have begun a learning journey
that has helped you and your students to become better problem
solvers. On your personal journey, you have stopped to evaluate
your thinking—perhaps changed paths in the middle of a problem
to reach a solution and continued to think about the mathematical
ideas that emerge from the solution process. How do you help
your students to develop into good problem solvers? This entails
students who can evaluate, revise, and extend their own thinking
when faced with a problem-solving situation. Assessing student
work is how this begins.
Throw away your preconceived notions of assessment. You need
to consider student problem-solving work from many perspectives.
Putting a grade on a paper should be the last of your assessment
goals. Rather, when you assess a student’s attempt at solving a
problem, imagine crawling into that student’s head to analyze
his or her thinking. This includes how the work was organized,
the efficient use of strategies, and the mathematical accuracy.
Focusing on these aspects will provide a much more valuable
picture of where that student is and where he or she needs to go
than any letter or number grade you could put on the paper.

141
 As a teacher, student assessment is a critical part of your work.
There are many reasons to assess and evaluate student work.
According to Van de Walle et al. (2009), “problem solving provides
ongoing assessment data that can be used to make instructional
decisions, help students succeed, and inform parents.” Assessing
student thinking through problem solving is much more complex
than grading a traditional page of mathematical exercises.

k
Stop and Thin

Respond to the question below in your

problem-solving journal.
• Problem solving is the first standard for
mathematical practice in the Common Core
Standards (2010) and the first process standard
in NCTM’s Principles and Standards for School
Mathematics (2000). Why is problem solving so
essential to mathematics teaching and learning?

To teach problem solving well takes a great deal of effort on the

part of the teacher and much valuable class time. To do problem
solving well also takes a great deal of effort from the student. It is
difficult to put that kind of effort into something you do not truly
believe to be important. Remember, we assess what we value, and
we value what is important!
Assessment is an integral part of mathematics instruction. It is
through assessment that we improve both student learning and our
teaching. Through using a variety of assessments, students have
the opportunity to demonstrate what they know and what they
still need to learn. Formative assessments help teachers to adjust
their instruction to meet the needs of students based on immediate
feedback. Summative assessments tell us what a student has

142
accomplished and mastered over a period of time. Both types of
assessment are essential to successful problem solving as well as
the development of mathematical thinking through problem-solving
experiences (Van De Walle et al. 2009).

Formative Assessment
The term “formative assessment” has several interpretations. To be
consistent, consider the definition provided by the Chief Council of
State School Officers (2010):
“Formative assessment is a process used by teachers and students
during instruction that provides feedback to adjust ongoing
teaching and learning to improve students’ achievement of intended
instructional outcomes.”
This definition includes several important ideas. First, this
type of assessment is not “done to” students by teachers. True
formative assessment is a joint venture in which both the teacher
and the student should have an active role. Student participation
in assessment happens while the student is solving the problem.
There are self-directed questions that should become a habit for
students while they are in the process of solving the problem.
• Am I making progress toward a solution, or should I
reconsider the strategies I am using?
• Does my work make sense?
• Can I explain and justify it to someone else?

Formative Assessment Using the Launch,

Explore, Summarize Instructional Model
Teacher-initiated formative assessment takes place during
each phase of instruction in the Launch, Explore, Summarize
Instructional Model. In the Launch phase, you determine if
students have unpacked the information in the problem and have an
entry into finding a solution. You gather information by watching

143
students. Those eager to proceed need little intervention. Some
students may have some clarifying questions, after which they can
get started. If there are students who are totally lost, you use this
information to scaffold the problem to meet their needs. Knowing
how to do this is important because you need to discern if it is a
comprehension or a mathematics issue. In the former case, you
need to back up to the questions students answered to help set the
stage for what is happening in the problem. If the issue is with the
mathematics, you may need to adjust the problem by using simpler
numbers, simplifying the situation, or asking questions to help the
student get started. The goal of assessment in the Launch phase of
the lesson is to be sure the students are able to get started!
In the Explore phase of the lesson, students are working
independently or in groups. As you circulate around the room,
be aware of what each group is doing to reach a solution. You are
constantly assessing as you observe group or individual work. At
first, you may want to ask questions to determine how students
are doing. Eventually, you will be able to observe, assess, and for
groups that do not need your intervention, move on.
Some ways to assess during the Explore phase include:
• Ask a group member to explain the work and thinking of the
group.
• Observe the way students are working with concrete
materials and their written representation of the solution
process.
• If they are on the right track, move to another group.
• If they are stuck, a question to help them proceed
(without telling them what to do) is in order.
• If they are headed in a wrong direction, ask a question
that will give them just enough information to think
about their work so that they can reconsider what they
are doing and think about another possible path.

144
Remember that your role here should be to observe. The questions
you ask students or groups should be for the purpose of assessing
their understanding and progress. You will learn a lot from listening
and much less from telling!
In the Summarize phase of the lesson, you will be looking for
things such as the following:
• efficiency of the strategies students used
• accuracy of the mathematics that students did to solve the
problem
• any patterns or generalizations students have discovered
• how students respond to the work of a group who may have
approached the problem differently
By assessing these areas, you will be able to determine how to
bring the problem and the mathematics to closure for the students
by helping them to make their thoughts explicit and to find the
connections with other mathematical ideas.

Using Notes and Observations to Assess

Written notes and observations are one way of assessing student
work. A page with a list of students’ names and space to take
notes about each student’s work on a problem or task will provide
information on whether the student needs additional experience
with a concept or a strategy. Using a separate page for each problem
allows you to collect a great deal of information on students and to
monitor their progress as they gain experience in solving problems
and applying strategies.

145
A Closer Look at Student Thinking
Notice that you move in and out of instruction and assessment.
With each question you ask, you assess student understanding to
determine where the student is and how much additional support he
or she needs to continue. Write notes as you ask the questions and
record student responses to aid you through this process. The final
goal is to have the student become less dependent on your help to
approach a solution process, even when it is not clear, by asking
himself or herself the right questions.
Consider the following problem:
Martina has a new mailbox. She wants to paint her
house address on it. The digits she needs to use
are 2, 7, and 6. She uses each digit once. What
could Martina’s address be? How many different
addresses are possible using these digits?

Assessing Comprehension Difficulties

Ask the student to read the problem aloud. If there are words that
are posing difficulty, help with those words. Some words, such as
digit, different,and once are critical to reaching a solution. Students
must be clear on what these words mean in order to have an entry
into the problem.
Ask the student to rephrase the problem situation in his or her own
words. If the student is not successful, ask him or her to read the
problem again and help dissect the problem one sentence at a time.

146
Assessing Mathematics Difficulties
If students are really struggling with approaching this problem, you
might simplify it by starting with two digits. Another scaffolding
strategy would be to write the digits 2, 7, and 6 on different slips
of paper. Ask the student to show one possible address. Ask how
the papers can be rearranged to show another address. Let students
continue with the process.
Ask the student how he or she knows that all of the possibilities
have been found. This leads to a conversation about organizing the
solutions in a logical way.

How to Handle Student Frustration

The kind of problem solving and mathematical understanding
that we aspire to with problem-solving instruction can be very
frustrating for students—especially in the beginning. Students in
the upper grades who have never experienced real problem solving
are accustomed to doing the mathematics, getting the answer, and
being done. Having to think differently or work in a situation
in which the solution process is not immediately obvious often
causes students to want to give up. It is important to be explicit as
strategies are introduced. Model the problem-solving examples,
and inform students of what you value when you are assessing
their work. Focusing on progress in thinking and not just with the
answer will help students to become proficient in making sense
out of a mathematical situation and encourage them to try a variety
of approaches when solving a problem. Students will become
strategic thinkers, extending their skills beyond the problems they
are solving and into all aspects of learning mathematics.
Formative assessment is an important part of the work of teaching.
When you ask students a question or observe them working, you
are assessing their understanding, which influences your next
teaching moves. If the students are on the right track, they can
continue with no intervention from you. If students are stuck, you
need to determine your next move. What question can you ask to
give them just enough information to help move them forward, or

147
should you let them struggle a bit longer to see what progress they
can make on their own? Only through formative assessment can
you make the decisions you need to inform your instruction. There
is no recipe for how to do this. The more you purposefully ask
questions, observe students, listen to their thinking, or read their
work, the better you will become at learning about their progress
and making instructional decisions.

When to Assess
Throughout the lesson
Problem solving can be an individual endeavor, a group activity, or
a whole-class lesson. No matter what the organizational scheme of
your lesson, assessment is a vital component as you observe, listen,
and ask questions.

Written work
After students have had problem-solving experiences in the
classroom, assign problems for them to solve outside the
mathematics class. This may be homework or a problem of the
week with extended time to work. You could provide time to get
started in class and have students finish on their own. This type of
assessment, though still formative, includes more formal feedback,
perhaps in the form of a rubric score.

During class discussions

Listening to students explain their thinking and respond to other
students’ ideas is a valuable way to determine if they understand
a concept. This will help you to decide what to do next, how to
divide students to continue the work, or how to differentiate the
lesson to meet the needs of individual students.

148
Student Self-Assessment
Having students assess their own work is the key to formative
assessment. Not only does it help students to understand your
criteria for their work but it also gives them the opportunity to
develop criteria around what they value in their work. Students
who take self-assessment seriously can offer you insight into what
they understand or what they are struggling with. It is important
to take student self-assessment seriously so that your students will
take it seriously too. Using students’ assessments in a checklist or
rubric form during conferences with students and parents provides
information about how the students perceive their work. There are
several templates of student assessment rubrics included later in
this chapter and in Appendix B.
Part of self-assessment includes students’ ability to evaluate their
work and decide whether they are pleased with the outcome. It
is interesting that, in many subject areas, we give students the
opportunity to put together their ideas and submit a draft. After
we comment on the draft, we offer students the chance to rewrite
and resubmit—often until they are satisfied with the final product.
Yet we seldom do this in mathematics. Consider allowing
your students to make drafts of their problem-solving work so
that they can receive feedback from you as well as assess the
outcome themselves. They may even do the rewrite following the
Summarize phase of the lesson so they can incorporate the new
ideas and understandings they have from listening to others.

Summative Assessment
Determining a students’ mastery of a particular concept or skill
is done through summative assessment. Although formative
assessment is used more often in problem-solving situations, after
students have had many experiences with solving problems and
applying mathematical concepts, you must determine their level of
understanding and mastery.

149
 One way to think about formative and summative assessment is
with a cooking metaphor. When you try a new recipe, you taste
and adjust the food. That is formative assessment. When you
serve the meal to your family and get feedback, that is summative
assessment.

k
Stop and Thin

Respond to the questions below in your

problem-solving journal.
Earlier in this book, you wrote about the
characteristics of a good problem solver and why
problem solving is important. Go back and take a
look at your reflections. Make a list of what you
look for when you assess student work. Then,
next to each item on your list, note the type of
assessment you would use to get that information:
formative, summative, or both.

Using Rubrics to Assess

Up to now, we have been talking about formative assessment that
is somewhat spontaneous. You listen, ask questions, observe, and
gather information from students throughout the lesson and adjust
instructional moves based on that information.
How a student represents his or her thinking through written
and oral experiences, communicates his or her ideas about a
mathematical concept, makes connections among mathematical
ideas, and justifies his or her mathematical ideas not only tells you
whether the student “can do the mathematics” but also provides
information about the student’s level and depth of understanding

150
of mathematical concepts. This is when the use of a rubric, which
provides more specific criteria for more formal assessment, can be
used for either formative or summative assessment purposes.
This book contains some sample rubrics that can be used to help
assess students’ understanding of a problem-solving strategy and the
mathematical concepts being explored through the problem itself,
as well as students’ ability to organize and clearly communicate
their solution. Ideally, you want to reach the point at which you can
design your own rubric so that both you and your students know
what is valued in problem solving. However, starting with a simple
and straightforward rubric will help you to feel more comfortable
assessing student problem-solving work.
Begin with the general rubric. As you and your students become
comfortable with the general expectations of problem-solving
work, it can be modified to fit the characteristics of the problem,
including the use of specific strategies, the development of
mathematical concepts, and the application of mathematical
processes that you may want to see in each student’s work. The
general rubric (figure 7.1) can be used with students at all grade
levels. A simplified version for young students (figure 7.2) is
included so that they can become comfortable with the valued
components of a good problem solution. Full-size versions of these
rubrics can be found in Appendix B.
States that have open response items on their assessments often have
samples of released items and the rubrics they used to score student
responses. Check your state department of education website and
the sites of other states to find examples. You will likely find that
the criteria are similar to those we have talked about.
It is important to help students understand the rubric you
will use to assess their work so that they understand your
expectations. Showing student-work examples of both acceptable
and unacceptable solutions also helps students to understand the
rubric and your expectations.

151
 Assessment Resources
Figure 7.1. General Rubric
General Rubric
Level One Level Two Level Three Level Four
Criteria
(Novice) (Apprentice) (Practitioner) (Expert)
• Random • Mostly complete • All elements • Well‑planned
• Incomplete • Hit‑and‑miss represented • Complete and
Organization of • Missing elements approach • Shows a plan displayed in
Information • Most elements are or appropriate an organized
present strategy fashion
• Organized

• Major errors in • Chose appropriate • Minor errors in • Accurate

computation and mathematical computation but
Mathematical explanation concept but demonstrates
Accuracy unable to conceptual
accurately understanding
complete the task

• Lack of strategic • Some • Shows some • Use of efficient

approach to task demonstration of application of and appropriate
• No explanation strategic approach strategies but not strategy or
but incomplete efficient combination of
Use of or lack of strategies
Strategies • Some use of
follow through representation • Includes a
• No representation and or complete
or explanation explanation representation
or explanation

Summary:
Organization of Information Level 1 ___ Level 2 ___ Level 3 ___ Level 4 ___
Mathematical Accuracy Level 1 ___ Level 2 ___ Level 3 ___ Level 4 ___
Use of Strategies Level 1 ___ Level 2 ___ Level 3 ___ Level 4 ___

Notes:
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

169

152
 Assessment Resources
Figure 7.2. K–2 General Rubric
General Rubric (Grades K–2)
(applies to written or oral work)

Level One Level Two Level Three Level Four

Criteria
(Novice) (Apprentice) (Practitioner) (Expert)

Messy not finished Almost finished Somewhat Complete neat

not organized organized and organized
Organization finished
of Information

J F A 0
Not correct not on On the right track Almost correct Correct
the right track but not correct some missing
Mathematical pieces
Accuracy

J F A 0
No use of a plan Use of a plan but Some application ood use of a
did not get to a of a plan shown plan written or
Use of solution by work or oral
Strategies explanation

J F A 0
Summary:
Organization of Information Level 1 ___ Level 2 ___ Level 3 ___ Level 4 ___
Mathematical Accuracy Level 1 ___ Level 2 ___ Level 3 ___ Level 4 ___
Use of Strategies Level 1 ___ Level 2 ___ Level 3 ___ Level 4 ___

Notes:
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

170

153
Final Thoughts
Assessment is an important part of problem solving for several
reasons. It helps you to determine the depth of a student’s
understanding of the mathematics in the problem. Depending
on the problem you choose, assessing student work will also
give you the information you need to see if the student is making
connections to other mathematics and applying the concept to
real-life situations. When you use formative assessment strategies
in your class, you will have information that will guide your next
instructional moves. These strategies also help you to differentiate
instruction. You can scaffold your instruction for students who are
struggling and extend the mathematics for the students who are
ready for more.
Summative assessment provides you the opportunity to assess
student learning at specific points in instruction. Although
formative assessment is more useful during the problem-solving
process, once you expect students to be adept at solving problems
around a mathematical concept, summative assessment will help
you to evaluate their progress.
This chapter includes models of assessment rubrics and student
self-assessment documents. They are designed to get you started.
As you feel more comfortable with determining the specifics you
are looking for when your students solve a problem, modify the
rubric. It is important that students understand your expectations
if they are to meet them.

154
 t
Reflect and Ac

Respond to the questions below in your

problem-solving journal.
1. How has your understanding of assessing problem
solving changed as a result of reading this chapter?
2. Why is student self‑assessment an important part
of the formative assessment process?
3. Make a list of your goals in assessing student work.
Think about the type of assessment that will help
you to reach each goal.

155
156
 CHAPTER
8
Questions from the Field
“It is better to solve one problem five different ways
than to solve five different problems.”
Polya 2009

In my work with teachers around the country, I have found that

many teachers ask similar questions when it comes to effectively
implementing problem solving in their classrooms. I have gathered
the most frequently asked questions and responded to them here.

Questions About Choosing

and Solving Problems
How do I find time to fit problem solving into an already full
curriculum?
Look at the mathematics topic that you are teaching. Find a good
problem to introduce that topic. This not only gives students an
opportunity to explore the topic but also builds and reinforces the
application of the mathematics so students can understand why
they need to learn it and when they might use it. Use problems to
replace some of your “show and tell” lessons with problems that
help to build the mathematical understanding.
Where can I find rich problems?
There are many books with rich problems. Teaching Children
Mathematics and Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School are
monthly journals published by the National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics, and both are loaded with good problems. If you do
not belong to the NCTM, your local or district library may subscribe
to these journals. You can also find many rich problems on the

157
Internet, but be careful, as there are also some very poor examples
as well. A good place to start is the NCTM Illuminations website.
Once you begin to use problems, keep a file of them. Over time,
you will build a good library of problems that both you and your
students will enjoy solving.
How do I select which problems to use with my students?
You can select problems by the mathematical topic they explore or
by the strategy students might use to solve it. If students are just
getting started with a strategy-based approach to solving problems,
start with problems that will enable them to become comfortable
with a specific strategy. Strategy instruction should be explicit.
Giving students the opportunity to explore is still important, but
discussion on the strategy and good models are critical when
strategies are first introduced.
If you are choosing the problem by mathematical content, then you
want to look for problems that will develop that concept as students
solve it. Developing the habit of analyzing problems for the
mathematics they include helps students to hone in on the content.
How do I know what strategy students should use?
Some problems lend themselves to a particular strategy, such as
Work Backwards. Most problems can be solved using a variety
of strategies or a combination of strategies. When you are getting
started, find problems that can be solved with a particular strategy
and model with that strategy. When students share their work
during the Summarize phase of the lesson, other strategies may
come up. Encourage your students to use a variety of strategies.
Discuss which strategies are most efficient.

158
How can I help students to write about their thinking instead
of focusing on the answer?
This takes time. For many upper elementary and middle school
students, the answer has been the goal in previous mathematics
classes. Show that you value the work by setting standards, share
models of good work, and emphasize that it is the thinking that
goes into solving a problem that is just as important, if not more
so, than the answer. It can be helpful to tell students that a week
from now, no one will care about the answer, but the process used
to solve the problem can be used again in another situation. Be
relentless. Make sure that students understand that you value
their thinking!
I teach older students. How do I get started with my students
who have never used strategies before?
Start at the beginning. Introduce the strategies to your students
by giving them problems that employ the strategy. A new strategy
each week with a class problem and a homework problem, such
as a problem of the week, will get the students familiar with the
strategies. The best-case scenario is a problem that also includes
the mathematics they are studying. However, that is not always
possible. So focus on the strategies first. Once the strategies have
been introduced, they are all available for students to use as they
solve a variety of problems around the concepts they are learning.

Questions About Confidence

and Perseverance
How can I expect my students to solve problems if I do not feel
confident about solving problems myself?
Most of us did not learn this kind of problem solving or the use
of strategies in our own mathematics education, so we are not
as comfortable teaching this way as following the lessons in our
mathematics textbooks. The best way to become a good problem
solver is to solve problems. This is true for you as well as your

159
students. The problems in this book will get you started. Don’t be
afraid to learn along with your students. And, don’t be surprised if
they come up with ways to solve problems that you never thought
of. That’s wonderful and should be celebrated.
I know problem solving is a critical part of the curriculum
and helps students to develop conceptual understanding of
important mathematics concepts, but my students are not
motivated to think in this way. So, they get to an answer and
quit, or they give up when they do not immediately know what
to do. What can I do to encourage students to stick with it?
It is really important for you to stick with it if you are going to
expect your students to stick with it. Find (or edit) problems that
are interesting and motivational for your students. Simple ways to
get students interested include adding some silliness to the problem
or using your students’ names in the problem. Also, be sure to
include the Summarize phase in your lesson. Without it, students
are left hanging and often miss the importance of the strategy or
the mathematics. Problems should be challenging enough but not
too challenging for students. Most importantly, make sure your
expectations for student work are clear and understood. Share
good examples of student work. Keep your expectations high, but
also reasonable. You want your students to be challenged but not
totally frustrated. Finally, remember that a good problem often
cannot be solved in one class period. Give students the time they
need to be successful.

Questions About Differentiation

and Problem Solving
How can I differentiate my instruction with problem solving?
Problem solving is one of the best ways to differentiate mathematics
instruction. You can simplify the problem for students who are
struggling. This can be done by breaking the problem into steps
and asking a question for each step. You can simplify the conditions
of the problem. For example, instead of asking how many pieces

160
of candy you need to fill 15 cups if 24 go in each cup, make the
numbers simpler. For students who can solve the problem with
little effort, be ready with a similar problem that involves taking the
mathematics to a higher level. This takes some practice on your
part, but you will soon become comfortable at layering a problem
to meet the needs of the students in your class.
What can I do to support students who have difficulty
comprehending the problem?
Students often think they should be able to solve the problem after
reading it once. Use the same comprehension strategies you would
use in teaching reading. If it is a vocabulary issue, find the words
that may present difficulties and help students to focus on those.
If it is a contextual issue, be sure that your students are familiar
with the context as part of the Launch phase of the lesson. Asking
students to read the problem more than once and put it in their
own words works for many students. Be sure that students with
comprehension issues are completing the steps in the Polya model.
That will also help them to comprehend the problem. For students
with serious reading issues, simplify the words of the problem.
For young children, use a rebus (pictures) in place of difficult
vocabulary that they may not yet know.
What do I do with students who successfully solve a problem
before others in the class?
Remember it is just as important for these students to value the
thinking process as well as the solution as it is for the other kids
in the class. A correct answer with no thinking is not acceptable.
(These are often the hardest students to convince!) Their work
should be complete, organized, and clear in order to be considered
complete. Once that expectation has been met, ask students if there
is another way to solve the problem, if there are other possible
solutions, and if they have accounted for all possible solutions.
Such questions give these students an opportunity to delve deeper
into the problem. Extending the problem by adding a layer of

161
complexity to the situation, using more difficult numbers, or adding
another step are also ways to help these students extend their
thinking about the problem and the mathematical ideas.
How can I incorporate technology in my problem-solving
classroom?
Consider the type of technology you might want to use.
Allowing students to use calculators may be appropriate for some
problems—especially when the mathematics gets “messy.” At
other times, particularly when you are trying to develop conceptual
understanding through modeling or drawing pictures, a calculator
is not appropriate. A document camera or interactive whiteboard
are excellent ways to have students share their work. If you do
not have access to these resources, chart paper can be posted in
the classroom.

Questions About Assessment

Can I use problem solving for summative assessment?
Although rich problems are commonly assessed to inform
instruction and determine student understanding over time, many
states use open response items on their tests. Once students have
had experience with problems around a particular mathematics
concept, a level of mastery of the concept and its use in an
application or context should be expected. That is the time to use
a rich problem for summative assessment. As with any other kind
of summative assessment, you should have clear expectations,
identify the mathematics, and know how you will evaluate (grade)
student work.
How do I grade student work?
Grades are an important part of our educational process. They are
also a motivating factor for some students. The use of a rubric
is the best way to assess student work in problem solving. The
rubric should include your goals for using a particular problem
and should be clear to the students. You can give a grade based

162
on how students perform under each of the criteria in your rubric.
The rubric can be as specific or as general as you want it to be.
You might want to start out with a general rubric so that students
can focus on the important aspects of problem solving to get
started (selecting strategies, organizing their work, mathematical
accuracy) and then get more specific depending on your purpose
for using a particular problem. A good rule of thumb might be as
follows: novice is a D, apprentice is a C, practitioner is a B, and
expert is an A. However, allow students to submit drafts, rewrite,
and rethink. Putting a D on the paper of a student who needs more
support and the opportunity to internalize the mathematics can be
very defeating and may encourage students to give up. So grade
with caution!

163
APPENDIX
A
Student Journal Templates
Template 1
Problem

What do I want to find out?

_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
What important information do I know?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
What else do I need to know?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
What extra information is in the problem?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Here is my estimate or prediction:
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Strategies I plan to use:
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

164
 Student Journal Templates
Template 2
My Work

Answer to the question:

_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Partners who worked with me:
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
New ideas I learned from solving this problem:
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Questions I have about this problem:
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

165
APPENDIX
B
Assessment Resources
Student Self-Assessment Rubric
Grades K–2

Not A Good Good Super

Criteria
Sure Beginning Job Job

J F A 0
I understand
the problem.

I understand

J F A 0
what to do
with the
math.
I showed

J F A 0
my work
neatly and
completely.

Note: Some explanation and examples of the criteria should be

provided to students before they complete their self-assessment.
Use of the self-assessment tool can take place before and after the
Summarize part of the lesson when students have some other work
to compare with their own work.

166
 Assessment Resources
Student Self-Assessment Rubric
Grades 2–5

Level One Level Two Level Three Level Four

Criteria
(Novice) (Apprentice) (Practitioner) (Expert)
I did not I understood I understood I understood the
understand parts of the the problem problem and the
the problem. problem. and reached mathematics.
Understands I started but did a reasonable I can explain my work
the Problem not finish solving answer. and the mathematics
and the Math the problem. I used some I used to solve the
mathematics problem.
to solve the
problem.

I could not I tried a strategy I used one or I used one or more

find a strategy but got stuck and more strategies strategies to solve the
to help me did not know that helped me problem.
solve the how to finish the to solve the I used mathematical
Use of
problem. problem. problem. ideas and extended
Strategies
I needed more my thinking to
help. another way to solve,
another solution, or
another problem.

I did not show I showed my I clearly explained I clearly explained

any work work for as much how I solved the how I solved the
and cannot as I completed. problem. problem and showed
explain how I tried to explain I used some my work with details
to solve the my thinking. pictures, numbers, so that someone can
Organization
problem. My work was or words in my understand exactly
not neat and explanation. what I was thinking.
organized. I have included
pictures, numbers, or
words.

What I learned from solving this problem:

_____________________________________________________
Questions I have:
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

167
 Assessment Resources
Student Self-Assessment Rubric
Grades 6–8

Level One Level Two Level Three Level Four

Criteria
(Novice) (Apprentice) (Practitioner) (Expert)
My work is My work is I have shown all of My work is
incomplete. somewhat my work. well-planned.
It is not complete. The strategy I It is easy to
organized, so I could have done used is clearly understand my
Organization
it is hard to more to show my shown. My work thinking and what
of Information
follow. thinking. is organized. I did to solve the
problem.
It is complete and
organized.

I did not I think I knew I understood the I understood the

understand what to do, mathematics, but mathematics,
the but I got stuck I made some silly showed my steps,
Mathematical
mathematics somewhere in the mistakes in my and arrived at an
Accuracy
involved in process of solving. computation or accurate solution.
the problem. I could not reach a math thinking.
solution.

I did not know I started with a I selected a I chose good

what strategy strategy but got strategy, but it was strategies that led
to use. stuck and did not not very efficient. me to a solution.
I did not show know where to go It took me a long I included all of my
Use of any work or next. time to get to a work and a clear
Strategies explain my I could not solution. explanation of what
thinking. think of another I included some I did.
approach, so I explanation about
did not reach a my approach.
solution.

What I learned from solving this problem:

_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Questions I still have:
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
168
 Assessment Resources
General Rubric
Level One Level Two Level Three Level Four
Criteria
(Novice) (Apprentice) (Practitioner) (Expert)
• Random • Mostly complete • All elements • Well‑planned
• Incomplete • Hit‑and‑miss represented • Complete and
Organization of • Missing elements approach • Shows a plan displayed in
Information • Most elements are or appropriate an organized
present strategy fashion
• Organized

• Major errors in • Chose appropriate • Minor errors in • Accurate

computation and mathematical computation but
Mathematical explanation concept but demonstrates
Accuracy unable to conceptual
accurately understanding
complete the task

• Lack of strategic • Some • Shows some • Use of efficient

approach to task demonstration of application of and appropriate
• No explanation strategic approach strategies but not strategy or
but incomplete efficient combination of
Use of or lack of strategies
Strategies • Some use of
follow through representation • Includes a
• No representation and or complete
or explanation explanation representation
or explanation

Summary:
Organization of Information Level 1 ___ Level 2 ___ Level 3 ___ Level 4 ___
Mathematical Accuracy Level 1 ___ Level 2 ___ Level 3 ___ Level 4 ___
Use of Strategies Level 1 ___ Level 2 ___ Level 3 ___ Level 4 ___

Notes:
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

169
 Assessment Resources
General Rubric (Grades K–2)
(applies to written or oral work)

Level One Level Two Level Three Level Four

Criteria
(Novice) (Apprentice) (Practitioner) (Expert)

Messy, not finished, Almost finished Somewhat Complete, neat,

not organized organized and organized
Organization finished
of Information

J F A 0
Not correct, not on On the right track Almost correct, Correct
the right track but not correct some missing
Mathematical pieces
Accuracy

J F A 0
No use of a plan Use of a plan but Some application Good use of a
did not get to a of a plan shown plan (written or
Use of solution by work or oral)
Strategies explanation

J F A 0
Summary:
Organization of Information Level 1 ___ Level 2 ___ Level 3 ___ Level 4 ___
Mathematical Accuracy Level 1 ___ Level 2 ___ Level 3 ___ Level 4 ___
Use of Strategies Level 1 ___ Level 2 ___ Level 3 ___ Level 4 ___

Notes:
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

170
 Assessment Resources
Observation Recording Sheet
Problem:
_____________________________________________________
Strategy/Strategies:
_____________________________________________________
Mathematical Ideas:
_____________________________________________________

Student Name Notes Follow-Up Actions

171
APPENDIX
C
Additional Problems for Practice

These problems will give you extra problem-solving opportunities.

You should practice solving them in your journal and then choose
appropriate problems to use with your students. The problems are
categorized by the chapter in which a possible solution strategy
was presented, and solutions can be found in Appendix D. Keep
in mind that most problems can be solved by a variety of strategies
or by using several strategies, so do not limit yourself to just the
strategies listed. The goal for you and your students is to become
fluent with the strategies and choose ones that are efficient.

Chapter 3: Getting Started Strategies

These are the strategies presented in Chapter 3. Consider using
them to solve the problems provided here.
• Restate the Problem
• Identify Wanted, Given, and Needed Information
• Identify a Subgoal
• Select Appropriate Notation

1. Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. They
had a 3-quart bucket and a 5-quart bucket. When they got
down to the bottom of the hill, they found an 8-quart bucket.
How could they divide the water so that each one had 4
quarts of water?

2. Four students decide to throw a Super Bowl party. They

agree to share the expenses equally. Mina buys a cake for
$8. Ricardo buys ice cream for $5. Martina spends $2 on
popcorn, and Dave gets $3 worth of soft drinks. In addition,
Dave pays the $6 needed to rent the giant popcorn popper.
To be fair, who owes money to whom?

172
3. Remember the princess and the pea? She had problems
sleeping because of a pea under her mattress. Well, her
problem was tiny compared to that of her cousin, the
duchess. The duchess bought a radio, got back to the castle,
and discovered that it played only rock music. “Horrors!”
she gasped. “Where is Beethoven? Where is Mozart?
What is all this screaming?” She took the radio back and
exchanged it, only to have the same thing happen again.
The duchess exchanged quite a few radios before she found
one that would pick up a classical station back at the castle.
She was glad the radio was on her Chopin Liszt, and she
would be certain to Handel it with care, so she wouldn’t
have to take this one Bach. You might be wondering how
many radios the duchess took back before she found the
right one. Here is a clue: The total number of radios divided
in half, added to 9, equals three-fourths the number of
radios. How many radios did the duchess return?

4. Jacob, Jonathan, Josh, Jason, and George were the first five
to cross the finish line of the 10K race. Use these clues to
find the order in which they finished.
• Jacob passed Jonathan just before the finish line.
• George finished 10 seconds ahead of Jacob.
• Josh crossed the finish line in a dead heat with Jonathan.
• Jason was fifth at the finish.

5. Nihal drew the following diagram to show his friends’

favorite sports.
8
28
17 5

Football Baseball

How many people were asked? How many like baseball?

Football? Both? Neither? Explain your thinking.

173
 6. Ruth has 12 markers in her desk. One third of them are blue
and one fourth of them are red. The rest are green. How
many of each color does she have?

7. The Empire State Building in New York City is 1,453 feet,

9 inches tall. How many 3-inch long toothpicks would it
take to reach from the ground to the top of the Empire State
Building?

8. The village of Roses is known for its beautiful gardens. The

gardens are built in a very interesting pattern shown below.
The Norris family wants to build a very large garden in their
backyard. They have enough room for an eight-plot garden.
What are the area and the perimeter of their garden?

1 plot
2 plots

3 plots

9. Laron and Jeff are earning money by shoveling snow.

Laron charges $7.50 an hour. Jeff charges $5 an hour for
the first 3 hours and then $9 an hour for each hour after
that. How many hours does Jeff have to work to earn more
money than Laron?

10. My house number is a three-digit number. Each digit is

different. It is an even number. It is divisible by 3. It is
the closest number to 600 that fits these clues. What is my
house number?

174
Chapter 4: Getting Organized Strategies
These are the strategies presented in Chapter 4. Consider using
them to solve the problems provided here.
• Look for a Pattern
• Create a Table
• Create an Organized List
• Guess and Check

1. Lashay has some pennies. When she counts them by fives,

there are three left over. When she counts them by sevens,
there are two left over. She has almost $1.00 in pennies.
How many pennies does Lashay have?

2. Who am I?
• The sum of my digits is greater than 8.
• The difference between my digits is 1.
• I can be evenly divided by 8.
• I am an even number less than 100.

3. Bozo has $1.07 in coins. He cannot make change for $1.00.

He cannot make change for 25¢. He cannot make change for
10¢. He has exactly 7 coins. What coins does he have?

4. If you start at the number 1 and count by 3s, you get the
following sequence:
1, 4, 7, 10, 13 . . .
What is the 100th number in this sequence?

175
5. The Lazy Lizards, a rock band, will appear in concert
tonight. Fans began arriving in groups. The first group had
only Patsy in it. She arrived very early. Each group after
that had two more people than the group that arrived before
it. How many people attended the concert if 20 groups
came in all?

6. Find a set of three consecutive even numbers whose sum

is 216.
Find a set of four consecutive odd numbers whose sum
is 216.
Find a set of three consecutive numbers whose sum is 216.
What do you notice?

7. There are 20 students collecting the golf balls that have

fallen into the water trap and then selling them for practice
balls. The first student brought in one golf ball. The second
student sold the ball. The third student brought in three
golf balls, and the fourth student sold one. The fifth student
brought in five golf balls, and the sixth student sold one.
This continues as every odd number student brings in the
same number of golf balls as his or her number, while the
even numbered students sell one golf ball each. When all 20
students have finished, how many golf balls will be unsold?

8. Prince Charming is slaying dragons. He must slay 50

dragons in one day to rescue the maiden in distress. If he
slays four dragons the first day, nine dragons the second
day, 14 dragons the third day, and continues with this
pattern, how long will it be before he rescues the fair
maiden?

176
 9. During a football game, your team scored 15 points. In how
many different ways could your team have made that score?
Remember:
• A touchdown scores 6 points
• An extra point after a touchdown scores 1 point
• A field goal scores 3 points
• A safety scores 2 points

10. The Wolfe family has their activities planned for the
summer. On the first day, they will go swimming. On the
second day, they will go to the park. On the third day, they
will play baseball. On the fourth day, they will go to the
library. On the fifth day, they will go swimming. On the
sixth day, they will go to the park. On the seventh day, they
will play baseball, and on the eighth day, they will go to the
library. If they continue this pattern, what will they do on
the 21st day of summer? What will they do on the 31st day?

11. Arrange the numbers from 1 to 6 in the circles below so that

the sum of the numbers along each side of the triangle is 10.
How many different solutions can you find?

177
Chapter 5: Visualizing Strategies
These are the strategies presented in Chapter 5. Consider using
these to solve the problems provided here.
• Make a Model
• Draw a Picture or Diagram
• Act It Out
• Make or Use a Graph

1. Huge Harold took ⅔ of a pizza but could only eat half of the
portion. Little Lucy took ½ of a pizza but could only eat
two-thirds of her portion. Who ate more?

2. Mrs. Math baked chocolate chip cookies for the class party.
She put eight cookies in each of 24 bags, one bag for each
student. There were four cookies left over. How many
cookies did Mrs. Math bake?

3. You need 27 cubes (nine each of three colors). How can

you arrange them into a larger cube so that no row has a
repeated color and no column has a repeated color?

4. A frog fell to the bottom of a 20-foot well. Each day he

climbed up five feet. However, each evening he was very
tired and slid back two feet. If the frog continued with this
pattern, how long would it take him to get out of the well?

5. Michele and Devonte like to trade. They agree that six

peanuts are worth two apples and 10 apples are worth five
bananas. How many peanuts should Devonte give Michele
in trade for three bananas?

6. If you fold a sheet of paper in half 10 times, how many

layers of paper will be on top of each other?

178
 7. An explorer spotted 30 animals in the jungle: 17 had fur,
21 had tails, and two had neither fur nor a tail. Of all the
animals the explorer saw, how many had both fur and a tail?

8. Anna and Monika like to swim laps at the community

pool. They are swimming together today, but they are on
different schedules. Anna swims every three days, and
Monika swims every five days. How many times will their
schedules coincide over the next 10 weeks?

9. At a party, Mrs. Square asked Mrs. Circle, “How many

children do you have, and what are their ages?” Mrs. Circle
replied, “I have three children. The product of their ages
is 36, and the sum of their ages is equal to the address of
this house.” Mrs. Square walked outside and looked at the
house address. She found Mrs. Circle and said, “I need just
a bit more information.” Mrs. Circle replied, “I’m sorry, but
I have to leave. My oldest child is babysitting and needs me
to come home.” After Mrs. Circle left, Mrs. Square thought,
“I know the ages of her children!” What are the ages of
Mrs. Circle’s children?

10. When Snow White married Prince Charming and moved

into his castle, the seven dwarfs sold their cottage and
scattered to different parts of the country. Four moved to
the West Coast and opened a diamond store. Three moved
to the East Coast and bought a clothing store that sold
half-sizes. Four of the dwarfs bought condominiums by the
beach, and three bought houses in the city. Grouchy, Joyful,
and Wheezy moved to the same coast. Silly and Nosy
moved to different coasts. Silly, Snoozy, and Shy bought
the same kind of home, but Joyful and Nosy purchased
different kinds of homes. One day, a royal messenger
brought Snow White the news that one of the dwarfs who
lived in a house on the East Coast was getting married.
Snow White sent the dwarf a letter offering the castle for the
wedding. To which dwarf did she address the letter?

179
Chapter 6: Reasoning Strategies
These are the strategies presented in Chapter 6. Consider using
these to solve the problems provided here.
• Solve a Simpler Problem
• Account for All Possibilities
• Work Backwards
• Change your Point of View

1. How many different rectangles are in this figure?

2. Liness has to be at school at 8:30 A.M. It takes her 30

minutes to shower and get dressed, 20 minutes to eat
breakfast, and five minutes to walk to the bus stop. The bus
ride to school is 15 minutes long. What time does Liness
need to wake up?

3. Jane has pennies, nickels, and dimes in her purse:

• She has 8 coins altogether.
• She has fewer nickels than dimes.
• She has fewer pennies than nickels.
How much money could she have?

4. Mom bought a giant chocolate bar and cut it into equal

pieces. If Gina eats ⅓ of the pieces and Carla eats ½ of the
remaining pieces, there are 12 pieces left over. Into how
many pieces did Mom originally cut the chocolate bar?

180
5. Caleb loves to go shopping. As soon as he gets his allowance,
he heads for the mall. Yesterday, he used his allowance to
buy some jeans. In the first store, he spent half his money
and three dollars more. Then, he went to buy a shirt, and in
that store, he spent half his remaining money and two dollars
more. After he bought the jeans and the shirt, he had five
dollars left. How much allowance did Caleb receive?

6. A regular bowling alley has the pins set like this:

There are four rows with one pin in the first row and four
pins in the last row. You hit a “strike” when you knock down
all 10 pins with one ball.
The new MegaBowl has decided the game would be much
more interesting if they added six more rows following the
same pattern. How many pins would you have to knock
down with one ball in order to get a strike at the MegaBowl?

7. Alex, who always has a scheme for everything, has just

made a deal with his parents. He told them that rather than
paying $10 a week for his allowance, they can pay him in
a different way. He asks for one cent on the first day, two
cents on the second day, four cents on the third day, and so
on, with each day’s pay being double the pay of the previous
day. If Alex’s parents fall for his scheme, how much
allowance will Alex receive after two weeks?

181
 8. Marvin baked some brownies. He gave half of them to
some of the first-graders out at recess. He gave ¼ of what
was left to the third-graders in the hallway. After he gave
6 away at lunchtime, he had no brownies left. How many
brownies did Marvin bake?

9. One night the king couldn’t sleep, so he went down into the
royal kitchen where he found a basket full of grapes. He
was hungry, so he ate ⅙ of the grapes. Later that night, the
queen was hungry, and she couldn’t sleep. She went down
to the royal kitchen, found the basket of grapes, and ate ⅕
of what was left. Still later, the prince awoke, went down
to the kitchen, and ate ¼ of the grapes that were left. Even
later, his sister, the princess, woke up and went down to
the kitchen. She found the basket of grapes and ate ⅓ of
the grapes in the basket. Finally, the royal dog came by
and saw the grapes. He ate ½ of the remaining grapes. The
next morning, the cook came down to make breakfast for
the royal family. There were only three grapes left in the
basket. How many grapes were originally in the basket?

10. If it costs 5¢ each time you cut and weld a link, what is the
least amount you can pay to make a chain out of the five
links?

182
 APPENDIX
D
Answer Key
Chapter 3 Solutions
Restate the Problem in Your Own Words
Ready, Set, Solve (p. 76)
A pen, a pencil, and an eraser cost $2.70 altogether. The pencil
was $1.00 more than the eraser. The pen was $ 0.30 more than the
pencil and eraser together. How much was the pen?
The pen, the pencil, and the eraser cost $2.70, so that is the total
bill. The pencil costs $1.00 more than the eraser. If the eraser cost
5¢, the pencil would be $1.05. The pen was 30¢ more than the
pencil and the eraser, so if the eraser was 5¢ and the pencil was
$1.05, the pen would be $1.45. To find the cost of the pen, use this
information:

Pencil Cost Pen Cost

Eraser Cost (eraser + (pencil + Total Cost
$1.00) eraser + 30¢)

5¢ $1.05 $1.40 $2.50

10¢ $1.10 $1.50 $2.70

The cost of the pen was $1.50.

While counting her money, Beth noticed that she had the same
number of dimes as nickels, and the same number of quarters
as nickels. How many nickels did she have if her coins were
worth $2.00?
The number of dimes is the same as the number of nickels. The
number of quarters is the same as the number of nickels. That
means the number of nickels, dimes, and quarters is all the same.
The coins are worth $2.00. How many nickels does she have?

183
 Nickels Dimes Quarters Total

5¢ + 10¢ + 25¢ = 40¢

1 1 1
(too low)
15¢ + 30¢ + 75¢ = $1.20
3 3 3
(too low)
25¢ + 50¢ + $1.25 = $2.00
5 5 5
(got it!)

She had five nickels.

One year, one-fifth of the children in Miss Baker’s class had perfect
attendance records. Of the children, 28 did not have perfect
attendance records. How many children were in the class?
If ⅕ of the students had perfect attendance, that means ⅘ did not
have perfect attendance. There were 28 students that did not have
perfect attendance. So, ⅘ = 28. How many students were in the
class?
If ⅘ = 28, than ⅕ would have to be 7, since 4 × 7 = 28. 28 + 7 = 35.
28 students

7 7 7 7 7

There were 35 students in Miss Baker’s class.

Identify Wanted, Given, and

Needed Information
Understanding the Strategy (p. 77)
Every item at Hardware Heaven was marked down an additional
25%. The electric drill was originally $68.00 and was marked
down 15%. How much did the drill cost?

184
The problem needs information that requires me to do something
with the facts given before I can finally get its solution.
George Washington died on December 14, 1799. How old was he
when he died?
The problem needs information that I may be able to find through
another source before I solve it.
How many children under the age of 12 visited the observation
deck of the Empire State Building last month?
The problem needs information which is not known or available to
me. Therefore, I cannot solve it.

Ready, Set, Solve (p. 79)

One pipe can fill a tank in three hours, and another pipe can fill the
tank in six hours. How long will it take to fill the tank if both pipes
are used at the same time?
Wanted: How long will it take to fill the tank?
Given: One pipe fills the tank in three hours and another fills it in
six hours.
Needed: How long will it take the pipes together to fill the tank?
I can find out by making a model and trying some different
numbers.

Time Pipe A Pipe B Amount Filled

1 hour ⅓ tank ⅙ tank 63 or ½ tank

2 hours ⅔ tank 62 tank 6 or full tank

It would take 2 hours to fill the tank.

185
Susan, her brother, her daughter, and her son all went bike riding.
The fastest and slowest riders were the same age, while the slowest
rider’s twin was slower than the fastest. If Susan rode faster than
her children, who rode the fastest?
Wanted: Who rode the fastest: Susan, her brother, her daughter, or
her son?
Given: The fastest and slowest were the same age. The slowest
rider’s twin was slower than the fastest. Susan rode faster than her
children.
Needed: I need to figure out the relationships based on the
information in the problem.
Susan rode faster than her children so that she would have to be
first or second.
Susan cannot be the same age as her children.
Susan’s daughter and son must have been twins, based on the clue
that the slowest rider’s twin was slower than the fastest.
So, Susan’s brother must have been the same age as the twins and
was the fastest.

(#4) Slowest (#3) (#2) (#1) Fastest

Son Daughter Susan Brother

There are seven girls (including Ling) living on Ling’s street. The
average of their ages is 13. One of the girls is 16 years old, and
four of the girls are two years under the average. What is Ling’s
age if the other girl is 13?
Wanted: Ling’s age.
Given: There are seven girls on the street. The average of their ages
is 13. One girl is 16, and there are four girls who are 11 (two years
under the average). The other girl is 13.

186
Needed: What do I need to add to the information I have to make
the average 13?
The average is the sum of their ages divided by 7. I need to find
out what the sum of their ages should be.
7 × 13 = 91 (the total of their ages)
16 + 11 + 11 + 11 + 11 + 13 + Ling = 91
16 + 11 + 11 + 11 + 11 + 13 = 73 + Ling = 91
91 – 73 = 18
Ling is 18 years old.
I can check by adding:
16 + 11 + 11 + 11 + 11 + 13 + 18 = 91
91 ÷ 7 = 13

Identify a Subgoal
Ready, Set, Solve (p. 81)
Mr. and Mrs. Jogger like to run. From past experiences they know
that Mr. Jogger can run 6 km in the time it takes Mrs. Jogger to
cover 4 km. They would like to run the same distance, 9 km, and
finish together. How much of a head start does Mrs. Jogger need
for them to finish together?
Start by figuring out how far each runs in 30 minutes.

Time Mrs. Jogger runs Mr. Jogger runs

½ hour 2 3
1 hour 4 6
1½ hours 6 9

187
In 1½ hours Mrs. Jogger will cover 6 km. She needs a 3 km
head start to finish with Mr. Jogger.
During one school year, Stella was given 25¢ for each math test
she passed and was fined 50¢ for each math test she failed. By
the end of the school year, Stella passed seven times as many math
tests as she failed and she had a total of $3.75. How many tests
did she fail?
Stella gets 25¢ for each test she passes and has to pay 50¢ for each
test she fails.
She passed seven times as many tests as she failed and had a total
of $3.75. I want to know how many tests she failed.
Start with seven tests passed and one test failed to see how much
she makes.

Total
Tests Money Money
Tests Failed Money
Passed Earned Paid
Earned
7 × 25¢ =
7 1 50¢ $1.25
$1.75

For each group of seven tests passed and one test failed, Stella
earns $1.25. Since she earned a total of $3.75, that means she took
three groups of tests, or she passed 21 tests and failed three tests.
(You can also solve this by continuing the table.)
Check: 21 tests passed ($5.25) and three tests failed (–$1.50) leaves
Stella with $3.75.
Stella failed 3 tests.

188
Use the diagram to fill in the numbers using these clues:

Column Column Column

1 2 3

Row
1

Row
2

Row
3

• Each digit 1–9 is used once.

• Row 1 is half the total of Column 1.
• Row 1 contains the prime factorization of 30.
• There are no composite numbers in Column 3.
• The sums of Column 3 and Row 2 are the same.
• Column 2 contains even and consecutive numbers.
• All corner numbers are odd and consecutive.
• There is a square number in each column.

189
Look at each clue and build a list of information you can use to
solve the problem. Each clue is a subgoal.

Clue What I Know

1. Each digit 1–9 is used once. 123456789

2. Row 1 is half the total of The sum of row 1 is 10
Column 1. (Clue 3)
2 × 3 × 5 are in Row 1;
3. Row 1 contains the prime
3 and 5 are in the corners
factorization of 30.
(Clue 7)
4. There are no composite 1, 2, 3, 5, or 7 are in
numbers in Column 3. Column 3
5. The sums of Column 3 and Row The clue can be used to
2 are the same. check your answer.
6. Column 2 is even and
Could be 2, 4, 6, or 4, 6, 8
consecutive.
7. All corner numbers are odd and
Are 1, 3, 5, 7, or 3, 5, 7, 9
consecutive.
1, 4, or 9 are in each
8. There is a square number in
Column 4 must be in
each column.
Column 2

Column Column Column

1 2 3

3 2 5 Row
1

8 4 1 Row
2

9 6 7 Row
3

190
Select Appropriate Notation
Ready, Set, Solve (p. 84)
The students at Linda’s party are playing a new game. They are
seated around a circular table, evenly spaced and consecutively
numbered. Linda is number 5. She is directly opposite Kim who is
number 16. How many students are at the party?
To solve this problem, draw a picture and fill in what you know.
Start by putting Linda in seat 5 2 1 22 1
20 2
and Kim across from her in seat

19

3
16. If they are directly across
16 17 18

4
from each other, there are 10 Linda

5
seats between them on either
Kim

6
side. Draw in the other seats
15

7
(or add 10 + 10 + 2) and you
14

8
will find there are 22 people 10 11 1 2 1
3 9
playing the game.
Another notation would be to make a list. If seat 5 is across from
16, then you can work up and down from the information you know
to find that: Since 1 is across from 12, and 11 is across from 22,
there are 22 players.
There are also some interesting patterns that come from this
problem!
In this tangram puzzle, you can
make many different shapes
c d
by putting the seven pieces
together in different ways. e
If the area of the entire puzzle is a f
one square unit, find the area of
each of the pieces.
g
b

191
If you divide the puzzle so that all of the pieces are the same size
(equivalent to the size of pieces e and g), you will find you have 16
pieces:
• a is 146 of the square or ¼ unit2
• b is 146 of the square or ¼ unit2
• c is 126 of the square or ⅛ unit2
• d is 126 of the square or ⅛ unit2
• e is 116 of the square or 116 unit2
• f is 126 of the square or ⅛ unit2
• g is 116 of the square or 116 unit2

c d

e
a f

g
b

To check, you can add all of the fractions. The sum is 1166 , or 1 unit.

192
The Wright Brothers have a collection of bicycle seats and wheels.
They have a total of 26 seats and 60 wheels. They decide to make
some bicycles, tricycles, and unicycles. There are more bicycles
than any other type of cycles. The number of wheels they put on
bicycles is close to the number of wheels they put on the tricycles.
They do not use very many wheels to make the unicycles. How
many of each type of cycle do they make?
I know that they have 26 seats and 60 wheels. seats wheels
Unicycles have one seat and one wheel
Bicycles have one seat and two wheels
Tricycles have one seat and three wheels
Since they all have one seat, I know they made 26 cycles altogether.
The number of bikes is greatest, and they used almost the same
number of wheels for tricycles.
They made the least number of unicycles.

Bikes Tricycles Unicycles Total

Total Seats
(Wheels) (Wheels) (Wheels) Wheels

10 (20) 7 (21) 9 (9) 26 50

12 (24) 7 (21) 7 (7) 26 52
15 (30) 9 (27) 2 (2) 26 59
14 (28) 10 (30) 2 (2) 26 60

This is one solution. Are there others possible?

193
Chapter 4 Solutions
Look for a Pattern
Ready, Set, Solve (p. 90)

Grades K–2
Marta is reading a book for her summer reading club. On the first
day, she read two pages. On the second day, she read five pages.
On the third day, she read eight pages. How many pages did Marta
read on the sixth day?

day 1 2 3 4 5 6
pages 2 5 8 11 14 17

Marta read 17 pages on the sixth day. The pattern is adding 3 more
pages each day.

Grades 3–5
Our class has a plan for recess time. We would like one minute on
the first day of school, two minutes on the second day, four minutes
on the third day, eight minutes on the fourth day and so on. If our
teacher accepts the plan, how long will recess be at the end of the
second week of school? Express your answer in more than one way.

day 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
minutes 1 2 4 8 16 32 64 128 256 512
total
time 1 3 7 15 31 63 127 255 511 1,023

There would be 1,023 minutes, or 17 hours and 3 minutes of recess

on the tenth day of school!
The pattern is that the number of minutes doubles each day, and
the total time for each day is one less than the number of minutes
by the next day.

194
Grades 6–8
Larry is having a party. The first time the doorbell rings, one
person enters. Each time the doorbell rings, a group enters that
has two more people than the previous group. What is the total
number of guests at the party after the doorbell rings 10 times?

Doorbell Ring People Entering Total Number

1 1 1
2 3 4
3 5 9
4 7 16
5 9 25
6 11 36
7 13 49
8 15 64
9 17 81
10 19 100

There will be 100 guests at the party after the 10th ring.
The pattern is the number of people who enter is two times the
number of rings minus 1 (2 × number of rings – 1). The total is the
number of rings squared.

195
Create a Table
Ready, Set, Solve (p. 94)

Grades K–2
Jonathan wants to buy a candy bar that costs a quarter. He has
pennies, nickels, and dimes but no quarters in his pocket. How can
he pay for the candy bar with exactly 25¢?
Pennies Nickels Dimes
25 0 0
20 1 0
15 2 0
15 0 1
10 3 0
10 1 1
5 4 0
5 2 1
5 0 2
0 5 0
0 3 1
0 1 2
There are 12 different ways that he can make 25¢.

Grades 3–5
Suzanne and Jose work at the city garden in the summer. Suzanne
comes every third day to water all of the plants. Jose comes every
fifth day to pull weeds. They never miss a day—even on weekends!
If they are both working at the garden today, how many times will
they be working on the same day in the next six weeks?
days
Jose 1 6 11 16 21 26 31 36 41
Suzanne 1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40

They will be in the garden on the same day a total of three times in
the next six weeks.

196
Grades 6–8
Iggy loves ice cream! His favorite flavor is caramel pecan swirl.
His little sister, Izzy also loves ice cream. In fact, she loves every
flavor! Last week, Iggy put a gallon of ice cream in the freezer.
That night, Izzy ate half of the ice cream. The next night, she ate
half of what was left. This continued for a total of six nights. On
the seventh day, Iggy decided to have some of his ice cream. Boy,
was he surprised when he opened the container! How much ice
cream was left for Iggy? How much ice cream did Izzy eat?

Amount in Amount Izzy

Night Amount Left
Fridge Eats
1 1 gallon ½ gallon ½ gallon
2 ½ gallon ¼ gallon ¼ gallon
3 ¼ gallon ⅛ gallon ⅛ gallon
4 ⅛ gallon 116 gallon 116 gallon
5 116 gallon 312 gallon 312 gallon
6 312 gallon 614 gallon 614 gallon

After six nights, there was 614 gallon of ice cream left for Iggy. Izzy
had eaten a total of 6634 gallons of ice cream.

197
Create an Organized List
Ready, Set, Solve (p. 99)

Grades K–2
How many different ways can you make 10 using addition with
three addends?
(Note: The order of the numbers doesn’t matter. 3 + 3 + 4 is the
same as 4 + 3 + 3)
0 + 0 + 10 1+1+8 2+2+6 3+3+4
0+1+9 1+2+7 2+3+5
0+2+8 1+3+6 2+4+4
0+3+7 1+4+5
0+4+6
0+5+5
There are 14 ways to make 10 using three addends.

Grades 3–5
Mark and Sara love pizza. They both like the following toppings
on their pizza:
• pepperoni • sausage • mushrooms
• chicken • pineapple • extra cheese
They want to order and share a pizza, but they only have enough
money for three toppings. How many different combinations are
possible?

198
P = pepperoni M = mushrooms PI = pineapple
S = sausage C = chicken CH = cheese

PSM SMC C PI CH
PSC S M PI C PI M
P S PI S M CH C CH M
P S CH S C PI M CH PI
PMC S C CH
P M PI S PI CH
P M CH
P C PI
P C CH
P PI CH
There are 20 different pizzas with three toppings each.

Grades 6–8
Pat has a new bicycle lock. It’s the kind that has a four-number
combination. If the combination has four different numbers
between 1 and 9 and all the numbers in the combination are even
numbers, how many possible combinations would there be for
Pat’s lock?
2468 4268 6248 8246
2486 4286 6284 8264
There are
2648 4628 6428 8426
24 different
2684 4682 6482 8462 combinations.

2846 4826 6824 8624

2864 4862 6842 8642

199
Guess and Check
Ready, Set, Solve (p. 102)

Grades K–2
When Matty emptied his piggy bank, he had nine coins, including
pennies, nickels, and dimes. When he counted the value of the coins,
he found he had 58¢. What coins did Matty have in his piggy bank?

dimes 5 4 4 5 5
nickels 3 4 3 2 1
pennies 1 1 2 2 3
total coins 9 9 9 9 9
total $ 66¢ 61¢ 57¢ 62¢ 58¢

He had 5 dimes, 1 nickel, and 3 pennies.

Grades 3–5
The animal shelter has 10 more cats than dogs. They found homes
for 2 cats and took in 2 dogs. Now there are twice as many cats as
dogs. How many cats does the animal shelter have now?

cats 11 12 13 14
dogs 1 2 3 4
cats – 2 9 10 11 12
dogs + 2 3 4 5 6
twice as
many cats? no no no yes

There are 12 cats in the shelter.

200
Grades 6–8
You have probably heard the tale of Ali Baba and the 40 thieves.
I’ll bet you never heard the story about his brother Bubba. One
night, Bubba followed Ali and watched him enter the cave where
they had hidden the stolen fortune. Later Bubba returned to the
cave and spoke the magic words, Open Sesame. The cave opened,
and Bubba went inside. He was amazed to find 2,290 pounds of
rubies and emeralds. There were four times as many 1-pound
rubies as 3-pound rubies. He found three times as many 3-pound
emeralds as 6-pound emeralds. How many rubies and how many
emeralds of each size did Bubba Baba find in the cave?

1 lb. 3 lb. Ruby 3 lb. 6 lb. Emerald Total

Rubies Rubies Weight Emeralds Emeralds Weight Weight
100 25 175 30 10 150 325
500 125 875 60 20 300 1,175
1,000 250 1750 90 30 450 2,200
1,500 375 2625 90 30 450 3,075
800 200 1400 120 40 600 2,000
900 225 1575 150 50 750 2,325
880 220 1540 150 50 750 2,290

Chapter 5
Using the Strategy (p. 107)

Make a Model
Look at the triangle below. Move exactly three pennies so that the
triangle points down.
x
A A

x x
A

The three coins marked with an X are the coins to be moved. They
can move to any of the spaces marked with an A.

201
Ready, Set, Solve (p. 109)

Grades K–2
Tonight’s dinner includes peas and carrots. You HATE peas and
carrots! Instead of eating the peas and carrots, you count them.
You find out you have 12 vegetables on your plate. How many peas
could you have? How many carrots could you have?
For this model, use green tiles (peas—shaded gray) and orange tiles
(carrots—no shading). As you make a model, creating a table will
help you keep track of your answers.

peas carrots
1 11
2 10
3 9
4 8
5 7
6 6
7 5
8 4
9 3
10 2
11 1

202
Grades 3–5
How many ways can five squares be arranged so that the squares
can only touch along a full side?

Okay Not okay

Be careful of shapes that are rotations or reflections of pieces you

have already found.

is the same as

Using tiles will help you find the possible shapes. Be careful to
eliminate shapes that are reflections or rotations.

There are 12 possible arrangements of the tiles.

203
Grades 6–8
You want to make a container to hold some pebbles you have
collected on the beach. All you have is a piece of cardboard that
is 8" × 11". You decide to roll it into a cylinder. You can roll it
horizontally, which is 11" tall, or vertically, which is 8" tall. If
you want your container to hold the maximum amount of pebbles,
which way should you roll the cardboard?
To make a model, take a piece of cardboard that is 8" × 11". Roll it
lengthwise and tape it. Place it on a plate or pan. Fill it with rice or
similar material. Remove the cylinder and take off the tape. Now
roll it the other way and fill it with the rice you collected from the
original cylinder. Which container held more?

Height Circumference Radius (C/2π) Volume πr2(h)

8 11 1.751 in. 9.629 in.2
11 8 1.273 in. 5.093 in.2
The shorter cylinder holds more.

Draw a Picture or Diagram

Understanding the Strategy (p. 110)
Each evening, Larry takes his dog, Archie, for a walk. Archie is
a very large dog. Every time they pass five houses, Archie turns
around and pulls Larry back two houses. Then Larry pulls Archie
forward five houses, and—you guessed it—Archie pulls Larry back
two houses. If they need to walk past 20 houses in order to make it
around the block and back to Larry’s house, how many times will
Larry have to pull Archie forward?
A 12-inch board was cut into two pieces so that the shorter piece
was half as long as the larger piece. How long was the short piece?
Although either problem can be solved with a picture or diagram,
the first problem is likely easier to be solved with a diagram
because it has so many steps. The second problem can be solved
with a picture.

204
Ready, Set, Solve (p. 113)

Grades K–2
Azziza invited 6 friends to her birthday party. Each person at the
party received a cup with 5 chocolate candies and 2 sticks of gum.
How many chocolate candies and how many sticks of gum were
given at the party?

When you count the total number of chocolate candies and sticks
of gum, there are 30 chocolate candies and 12 sticks of gum.

Grades 3–5
Ellen has season tickets to the ballpark. Her seat is in section 22.
The row is second from the front and eighth from the back. Each
row seats 15 people. How many seats are in section 22?
Begin drawing the location of Ellen’s seat using the information in
the problem.
Back
X
X
From the drawing, I can tell
X
there are nine rows of seats.
X
Since each row has 15 seats,
X there are 9 × 15, or 135 seats in
X section 22.
X
X
X

Front

205
Grades 6–8
Larry and Linda want to build a garden that will be placed right
next to the garage. They have 100 yards of fencing to put around
the garden to keep out the rabbits. They would like to make the
largest rectangular garden possible. All of the sides must be whole
numbers. Determine the best size for the garden.
Begin with a drawing that will fit the information in the problem.
Keeping a table as you adjust the dimensions of the garden will
help you find the garden with the greatest area.

length width perimeter area

10 yd. 40 yd. 100 yd. 400 yd.2
11 yd. 38 yd. 98 yd. 418 yd.2
12 yd. 36 yd. 96 yd. 432 yd.2
13 yd. 34 yd. 94 yd. 442 yd.2
14 yd. 32 yd. 92 yd. 448 yd.2
15 yd. 30 yd. 90 yd. 450 yd.2
16 yd. 28 yd. 88 yd. 448 yd.2
17 yd. 26 yd. 86 yd. 442 yd.2
Notice that the area begins to decrease after 15 × 30. So 15 × 30 is
the best size for the garden. The area will be 450 sq yd.

Act It Out
Ready, Set, Solve (p. 116)

Grades K–2
Marcy puts coins in her piggy bank every week. There is a total of
50¢ in the piggy bank. What coins could she have if there are six
coins in the piggy bank? seven coins? eight coins?
Get some coins and act this out. Notice that you will also be using
some of the other strategies. Guess and Check and Create a Table
will help you to keep track of your work.

206
Do not give up when you have found one solution. There may be
more than one way to solve the problem. Try using the coins to
make combinations that equal 50¢.
4 coins

5 coins

6 coins

6 coins

7 coins
If you exchange a dime for two nickels, you can make 50¢ with
seven coins using three dimes and four nickels.

8 coins
If you exchange another dime for two nickels, you can make 50¢
using two dimes and six nickels.

207
Grades 3–5
Darren bought a bike for $50. Later that summer, he sold it to his
friend Dennis for $60. He bought it back for $70 and then sold it
for $80. Did he earn or lose money, and how much? Or did he
come out even?
Before you act this out, think about the problem and write down
what you think the answer will be. You may also want to work
it out with numbers—it helps you to see how much clearer the
situation is when you act it out.
Get some money—it doesn’t have to be real! Get some friends,
a bike (or a picture of a bike) and go for it. By the way, students
love this problem! Don’t tell them the answer—under any
circumstances. Once they have acted it out, they will be convinced
as to whether their original prediction was correct.
So, you need the bike seller, Darren, Dennis, and the bike buyer.
Each person should start with $200. Act out the steps in the
problem:
Darren buys the bike for $50.
He sells it to Dennis for $60.
He buys it back for $70.
He sells it again for $80.
Now have each person count his money. How much does Darren
have at the end of all of the transactions? If you count $220, you
can see that he made $20.
A good follow-up once the problem has been acted out is to think
of how you will represent the actions of the problem in showing
your work.

208
Grades 6–8
You are having a birthday party. When the first person arrives,
you shake her hand. As each new guest arrives, he or she shakes
hands with everyone at the party. There is a total of 10 people at
the party. If each person shakes hands with everyone else exactly
one time, how many handshakes will there be?
There are several ways to act out this problem. First you need to
understand exactly what is happening. Each person shakes hands
with each other person exactly once. So, once I shake your hand,
I don’t touch it again.
Get a group of 10 people. Determine how you will act out the
problem so that every person shakes every other person’s hand
once. One way to do this is to have everyone line up. The first
person goes down the line and shakes 9 hands—and he or she
is now out of the line. The second person goes down the line
and shakes 8 hands—and he or she is now out of the line. This
continues with the third person shaking 7 hands and with every
other person shaking hands until 1 person is left standing—since he
or she has already shaken everyone else’s hand, he or she shakes 0
hands. Do you see the pattern?
9 + 8 + 7 + 6 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 + 0 = 45 handshakes

Create or Use a Graph

Understanding the Strategy (p. 117)

The 30 fifth-graders at Euclid Elementary School are

planning their class party. They have taken a survey of pizza
toppings. Of the students, 17 want pepperoni on their pizza
and 21 of them want mushrooms. There are two vegetarians
in the class who will only have cheese. Of all the students,
how many want both pepperoni and mushrooms on their
pizza? Use a Venn diagram to help solve the problem.

209
This problem can be solved with a variety of different strategies.
Using a Venn diagram is a good way to organize your work, to
check to be sure that it fits the information in the problem, and
to represent your thinking. With the Venn diagram, you can also
use materials such as markers to represent the students. Move the
markers around until you have reached a solution.

Pepperoni Mushrooms
x xx xxx x xx
x xx xxx x xx
x xxx x xx
x x x

x x vegetarians

There are 10 students who want pepperoni and mushrooms.

Ready, Set, Solve (p. 119)

Grades K–2
The second graders are playing a dice game. They roll two dice,
add the numbers, and move that number of spaces on the game
board. Fred is wondering which sum comes up the most often when
you roll two dice. So, the kids decide to collect some data to find
out. Roll two dice 50 times, and use a graph to keep track of the
rolls. How would you answer Fred’s question?
To solve this problem, you need to roll two dice, add the number
on each, and keep track of your sums in a graph. If you use this
problem with your students, you may need to set up the graph
before they begin to work. What sums are possible? Now, roll the
dice 50 times and record each outcome on the graph. A sample
graph is shown on the next page. What conclusions can you draw
from the results?

210
 Rolling Dice
9
Number of Rolls

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Sum of Dice
The sums of 7 and 8 occur most often. Note that with 50 rolls,
results may vary considerably. Combining student data to include
more trials will get closer to the actual probability, which is the sum
of 7 occurring the most often.
Grades 3–5
The new Bouncy Ball is quite special. Each time the ball bounces,
it bounces half as high as the time before. The ball is dropped from
a tower that is 128 feet tall. It is caught when it bounces up 1 foot.
How many times did the ball hit the ground before it is caught?
Bouncing Ball Height
128 ft.
Height (in feet)

64 ft.

32 ft.

16 ft.
8 ft.
4 ft. 2 ft.
1 ft.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Number of Bounces

The ball will bounce 7 times before it is caught.

211
Grades 6–8
The Lincoln Middle School Basketball team has 14 players. They
are listed at three positions: forward, center, and guard. When
the manager counts the centers and guards, she counts 8 players.
When she counts the forwards and the centers, she counts 9
players. How many centers, how many forwards, and how many
guards are on the team?
guards forwards
xx xxx
xxx xxx

xxx

centers

There are 5 guards, 6 forwards, and 3 centers.

212
Chapter 6
Solve a Simpler Problem
Using the Strategy (p. 123)
Find the sum of the first 50 odd numbers.
Simplify: Begin by finding the sum of the first 2 odd numbers.
1+3=4
Move on to the first three odd numbers, then the first four odd
numbers.
1+3+5=9
1 + 3 + 5 + 7 = 16
Keep track of your work and continue until you notice a pattern.
Once you notice a pattern, you can continue to increase the number
of addends, or if you can generalize the pattern, you can jump to 50
addends. In fact, you can then solve this problem for any number
of addends!
1+3=4
1+3+5=9
1 + 3 + 5 + 7 = 16
1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 = 25
1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 11 = 36
1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 11 + 13 = 49
Notice that the sum in each equation is a square number.

213
 1 + 3 = 4 (2 × 2)
1 + 3 + 5 = 9 (3 × 3)
1 + 3 + 5 + 7 = 16 (4 × 4)
1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 = 25 (5 × 5)
1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 11 = 36 (6 × 6)
1 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 9 + 11 + 13 = 49 (7 × 7)
Can you predict what the next sum will be?
Look more closely.
Can you determine what number will be squared by looking at the
addition equation?
Predict the sum of the first 10 odd numbers.
Did you notice that the number of addends is the same as the
number you are squaring?
So, the sum of the first 10 odd numbers is 102 or 100.
With this pattern, you should be able to generalize the sum of the
first 50 odd numbers. (50 × 50 = 2,500)

214
A football team of 12 players must choose a captain and a
co-captain. How many different combinations are possible?
Simplify: How many combinations would be possible for a team
with three players? four players?
Making a tree diagram will help to keep track of the possibilities.
Can you find the pattern? Can you determine the answer to this
problem without having to do every case by extending the pattern?

Three players (A, B, C)

Captain Co-captain
B
A
C
With three players there
A
are six possibilities.
B
C
A
C
B

Four players (A, B, C, D) Four players (A, B, C, D)

Captain Co-captain
B A
A C C B
D D
A A
B C D B
D C
With four players there are 12 possibilities.

Continue the tree diagrams until you think you have the pattern and
can identify the number of combinations for 12 players.

215
The pattern:
Each of 3 players can match up with the other two players,
so 3 × 2 = 6 combinations.
Each of 4 players can match up with the other three players,
so 4 × 3 = 12 combinations.
Each of 5 players can match up with the other four players,
so 5 × 4 = 20 combinations.
The pattern continues with any number of players
so n × (n – 1) would give you the number of combinations. For the
football team, it would be 12 × 11 = 132 possible combinations.
Find the product:
55 × 58
Let’s start with a simpler situation and look for a pattern.
51 × 51 = 5 × 5 = 52
51 × 52 = 5 × 5 × 5 = 53
52 × 52 = 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 54
52 × 53 = 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 × 5 = 55
Continue with additional examples until you find the pattern. Can
you generalize a rule for multiplying any numbers with exponents?
The exponent indicates how many times 5 is used as a factor.
Notice if you add the exponents, this will tell you how many times
to multiply 5.
Therefore 55 × 58 = 513

216
Ready, Set, Solve (p. 127)

Grades K–2
Miranda loves to count. On her way to school today, she counted
these things:
• One white kitten sitting on the front porch.
• Two frogs hopping across the street.
• Three robins singing in the tree.
• Four grasshoppers jumping along the sidewalk.
• Five poodles going for a walk.
• Six squirrels climbing up the trees.
• Seven fire hydrants painted red.
• Eight daffodils swaying in the wind.
• Nine pine trees with pine cones hanging low.
• Ten acorns sitting on the ground.
How many things did Miranda count altogether?
Begin with the kitten and frog.
1+2=3
Now add on the 4 grasshoppers.
3+4=7
Continue with each set of items until you have added
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + 10.
Miranda counted 55 items on her way to school.

217
Grades 3–5
Tony’s restaurant has 30 small tables to be used for a banquet.
Each table can seat only one person on each side. If the tables are
pushed together to make one long table, how many people can sit
at the table?
Start with a simpler problem and draw pictures to demonstrate
what is happening.

x tables people
x x 1 table seats 4 people 1 4
+2
x 2 6
+2
3 8
+2
x x 4 10
x x 2 tables seat 6 people
x x

x x x
x x 3 tables seat 8 people
x x x

Each time you add a table, you add two more people. You could
continue the table by adding 2 each time, but that is a lot of work!

218
Look at the pictures you drew. What do you notice?
x
x x
x

2
1 1
2

3
1 1
3

What would 10 tables look like?

10
1 1
10

What would 20 tables look like?

Can you use this pattern to figure out what 30 tables would look
like?
30
1 1
30

30 + 30 + 1 + 1 = 62 people

Grades 6–8
How many squares of any size are on a standard 8 × 8 checkerboard?
The simplest problem to start with is a 1 × 1 checkerboard.
there is 1 square
In a 2 × 2 checkerboard, there are two different size squares.
four small and one large

219
In a 3 × 3 checkerboard, there are three different size squares.

nine small, four medium, and one large

size squares total

1×1 ■1 1 square

■4
2×2 5 squares
■1
■9

3×3 ■4 14 squares

■
■ 16
1

■ 9

4×4 ■ 4
30 squares

■ 1

How many different sizes are in a 4 × 4 checkerboard?

If you complete the table, you can find the pattern for the number
of squares in an 8 × 8 checkerboard.
In an 8 × 8 checkerboard, there are
64 + 49 + 36 + 25 + 16 + 9 + 4 + 1 or 204 squares.

220
Account for All Possibilities
Using the Strategy (p. 129)
Francine went to the store to buy some fruit. She can get 3 oranges
for 50¢. She has lots of coins but no half dollars and no pennies.
Find all of the combinations of coins she could use to pay for
the oranges.

Quarters Dimes Nickels

2 0 0
1 2 1
1 1 3
1 0 5
0 5 0
0 4 2
0 3 4
0 2 6
0 1 8
0 0 10
How can you be sure that you’ve found all of the possible
combinations of coins?
There are some very strange creatures on the planet Mathoid.
Some creatures have two eyes and some have three eyes. On my
last visit, I counted a total of 23 eyes. How many of each creature
did I meet on Mathoid?
This is a great problem because there is more than one possible
solution. Let’s make a table to keep track of our work. Once
you’ve determined the number of two-eyed creatures, how can you
figure out the number of three-eyed creatures?

2 eyes 1 2 3 3 4 5 6 6 7 8 9 9 10 11
3 eyes 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 1
total 23 22 24 21 23 22 24 21 23 22 24 21 23 25
solution? yes no no no yes no no no yes no no no yes no

221
I could have met 1 creature with two eyes and 7 creatures with
three eyes; or 4 creatures with two eyes and 5 creatures with three
eyes; or 7 creatures with two eyes and 3 creatures with three eyes;
or 10 creatures with two eyes and 1 creature with three eyes.
How can you be sure that we have accounted for all of the
possibilities?
Mark and his father are putting up a fence in their back yard. Some
sections are 15 feet long, and the others are 18 feet long. What is
the least number of sections they can put up so that the fence is 270
feet long? How many of each will they use?
Let’s create a table to keep track of our work.

15-foot Pieces Length of Remainder Divisible by

15-foot Pieces of Length 18?
Needed
1 15 255 no
2 30 240 no
3 45 225 no
4 60 210 no
5 75 195 no
6 90 180 yes

This could be done with 16 sections. Mark and his father need six
15-foot pieces and ten 8-foot sections. There are other combinations
that will work, but this requires the least amount of sections.

222
Ready, Set, Solve (p. 130)

Grades K–2
Rachelle’s house number has three different digits.
The sum of the three digits is 12.
The number is greater than 480.
What could the house number be?
Do you think you found all the possible solutions?
Since the house number is greater than 480, the digit in the hundreds
place has to be greater than 4. You also know that the digits add to
12. Now you can get started. Look for combinations that add to
12. You need to eliminate solutions with digits that are the same.

507 606 705 804 903

516 615 714 813 912
525 624 723 822 921
534 633 732 831 930
543 642 741 840
552 651 750
561 660
570
There are 25 possible addresses for Rachelle’s house.

223
Grades 3–5
Mrs. Fairweather has placed 12 tiles in a bag. Some are red, some
are blue, and some are yellow. There are no other colors. How
many different combinations of tiles are possible?
Let’s use a table to organize our work.
Red Blue Yellow Red Blue Yellow
10 1 1 3 8 1
9 2 1 3 7 2
9 1 2 3 6 3
8 3 1 3 5 4
8 2 2 3 4 5
8 1 3 3 3 6
7 4 1 3 2 7
7 3 2 3 1 8
7 2 3 2 9 1
7 1 4 2 8 2
6 5 1 2 7 3
6 4 2 2 6 4
6 3 3 2 5 5
6 2 4 2 4 6
6 1 5 2 3 7
5 6 1 2 2 8
5 5 2 2 1 9
5 4 3 1 10 1
5 3 4 1 9 2
5 2 5 1 8 3
5 1 6 1 7 4
4 7 1 1 6 5
4 6 2 1 5 6
4 5 3 1 4 7
4 4 4 1 3 8
4 3 5 1 2 9
4 2 6 1 1 10
4 1 7

This table shows all of the possible solutions. Recognizing patterns

as the table is constructed will help you solve the problem more
efficiently. Can you find the patterns?

224
Grades 6–8
Mutt and Jeff are playing a game with the spinner shown here.
They spin twice and add the fractions. If the sum is greater than ½,
Jeff gets a point. If the sum is less than ½, Mutt gets a point. Is the
game fair? Explain your reasoning.

⅛ ¼
⅖ ⅓
Here are the possible combinations:

⅛+⅛=¼ ⅛ + ⅓ = 21 14 ⅛ + ⅖ = 42 10 ⅛ + ¼ = ⅜
¼+¼=½ ¼ + ⅓ = 71 2 ¼ + ⅖ = 21 30
⅖+⅖=⅘ ⅖ + ⅓ = 1151
⅓+⅓=⅔
Theoretical probability shows that there is a 60% chance that the
sum is greater than ½. The sum is less than ½ 30% of the time and
equal to ½ 10% of the time. Thus, the game is not fair. Jeff has a
higher probability of winning the game.

Work Backwards
Using the Strategy (p. 131)

Kenny took some money out of his bank. He spent 50¢ at the store
and had $1.75 left. How much money did he have to begin with?
$_____ – $0.50 = $1.75

225
In order to determine what he had to start with, you would have to
put the 50¢ back, or add it to the $1.75.
$1.75 + $0.50 = $2.25
It is always a good idea to check the solution by working the
problem “forward” to be certain that you have correctly reversed
all of the actions.
Does $2.25 – $0.50 = $1.75? It checks, so the solution of $2.25
must be correct.
Last night Mom baked some blueberry muffins for our class picnic.
Much to my surprise, my brother ate ¼ of the muffins. My dad ate ⅔
of what was left. Then my little sister found the plate of muffins and
ate ½ of what was left. When I went to get the muffins, there were
only two left. How many muffins did Mom bake?

Brother Dad ate ⅔ of what was left.

ate ¼

Sister ate ½ of Two muffins

what was left

Final Step

Dad ate ⅔ Brother

ate ¼
Sister ate ½ of
2 muffins what was left

If you know the amount that is 2 muffins, can you determine how
many muffins each person ate?
If the final box represents 2 muffins, that means that Sister ate 2
muffins because she ate the same amount as what was left. Dad ate

226
4 times as much as Sister. That gives a total of 12 muffins which
is ¾ of the total muffins. If 12 muffins are ¾, than 4 muffins is ¼. So
there were 12 + 4, or 16 muffins to start.
Let’s check:
16 muffins to start
Brother takes ¼ of 16, or 4 muffins. That leaves 12 muffins.
Dad takes ⅔ of 12, or 8 muffins. That leaves 4 muffins.
Sister takes ½ of 4, or 2 muffins. That leaves 2 muffins. That means
there must have been 16 muffins to start.
Ready, Set, Solve (p. 133)

Grades K–2
Patrick shook the coins out of his piggy bank. He took 25¢ to buy
a cool pencil for school. He took 15¢ to buy an eraser. When he
counted the money that was left, he still had 45¢. How much money
did Patrick have in his bank before he took the coins?
______ – 25¢ – 15¢ = 45¢
If you add 15¢ back to 45¢, that makes 60¢. That is what Patrick
had before he bought the eraser. Now add back the 25¢ for the
pencil, and you’ll see that he had 85¢ in his bank to start.
Let’s check:
85¢ –25¢ = 60¢ and 60¢ – 15¢ = 45¢. Patrick had 45¢ left after
he made his purchases, so we are correct that he started with 85¢.

227
Grades 3–5
Mom just filled the cookie jar with cookies. They were
chocolate-chunk cookies—my favorite. My brother came home
from soccer practice and took ½ the cookies. My sister came home
from dance lessons and took half of what was left. When my dad
got home from work, he took half the remaining cookies. By the
time I finished my homework and went downstairs for a snack,
there were only two cookies left. How many cookies did Mom put
in the cookie jar?
We can solve this problem by working backwards with a diagram.

2
cookies Sister ate
½ of what Brother ate ½
Dad ate was left
½ of what
was left

2
cookies
4 8
cookies cookies
2
cookies

Mom put 16 cookies in the jar.

Grades 6–8
Dorothy and Toto were on the yellow brick road with a full basket
of oranges. When she met the Scarecrow he was very hungry, so
she gave him half her oranges plus two more. Later, she met the
Tin Man and gave him half of the remaining oranges plus two
more. And when she met the Lion, she gave him half the remaining
oranges plus two more. When they arrived in Oz, Dorothy had two
oranges left in her basket. How many oranges were in the basket
before Dorothy gave any away?
Dorothy had two oranges when she arrived in Oz.
She gave the Lion ½ her oranges plus two more. So she had to take
back the two more. She then had four oranges. Double the four

228
oranges (since she gave the Tin Man half), and that means she had
eight oranges before she met the Lion.
After she met the Tin Man, she had 8 oranges left. She had given
the Tin Man half her oranges plus two more. Put back the two she
gave him, so that she has 10. Double the 10 oranges, since she
gave him half, and that means she had 20 oranges before she met
the Tin Man.
After she met the Scarecrow, she had 20 oranges left. She gave
the Scarecrow half her oranges plus two more. Put back the two
she gave him, so that she has 22. Double the 22 oranges, since she
gave him half, which means she had 44 oranges before she met the
Scarecrow.
Let’s check.
Dorothy starts with 44 oranges. She gives the Scarecrow half plus
two more (22 + 2), which leaves her with 20 oranges. She gives
the Tin Man half plus two more (10 + 2), which leaves her with
eight oranges. She gives the Lion half plus two more (4 + 2), which
leaves her with two oranges. So Dorothy has just two oranges
when she arrives in Oz.

Change Your Point of View

Using the Strategy (p. 136)

Toothpick Puzzles
Remove one toothpick to leave 3 squares.
Start Finish

229
Toothpick Puzzles (cont.)
Make this figure with 12 toothpicks.

Start Finish

➞
1. Remove four toothpicks and leave three triangles.
2. Move four toothpicks and form three triangles.

Start Finish

➞
Word Jumbles
Rearrange the letters to make a mathematical word.
nidodait addition
rgatinel triangle

Sequences
Complete the following sequence:
J, F, M, A, M, J, J, A, S, _O_, _N_, _D_
(the initial letter of each month of the year)

Brain Teasers
Use four 9s in an equation that equals exactly 100.
9
99 + – = 100
9

230
Mathematical Puzzles
Arrange 10 trees in five rows, with four trees in each row. (• = tree)

Mathematical Riddles
• Which weighs more: A pound of iron or a pound of
feathers?
Neither—they both weigh one pound.
• Why should you never mention the number 288 in front of
anyone?
Because it’s too gross! (2 × 144 = 288 and 144 is one gross)
• A street that is 40 yards long has a tree every 10 yards on
both sides. How many total trees on the entire street?
There are 10 trees—5 on each side of the street
Ready, Set, Solve (p. 138)

Grades K–2
Arrange eight toothpicks in the shape of a fish. Move toothpicks
until the fish is facing another direction. How many toothpicks did
you move? Can you do it another way? What is the least number
of toothpicks you can move?
Example:
Start Finish

➞
The fewest number of toothpicks that can be moved is 2.

231
Grades 3–5
Complete each of the following sequences.
S, M, T, W, T, __F__, __S__ (days of the week)

O, T, T, F, F, __S__, __S__, __E__ (counting numbers)

F, S, T, F, F, S, S, __E__, __N__, __T__ (ordinal numbers)

M, V, E, M, J, S, __U__, __N__ (planets in order from the sun)

232
Grade 6–8
A farmer, a fox, a chicken, and a bag of corn must safely cross the
river in a very small boat. The farmer may only take one thing at a
time in the boat. She cannot leave the fox and the chicken together
on either side of the river, or the fox will eat the chicken. And, she
cannot leave the chicken alone with the bag of corn, or the chicken
will eat the corn. How can the farmer get everything across the
river without anything being eaten?

Shore River Shore

farmer takes chicken
fox and corn
➞
farmer returns
fox and corn ➞ chicken

farmer takes fox

corn chicken
➞
farmer returns with
corn chicken ➞ fox

farmer takes corn

chicken fox
➞
farmer returns
chicken ➞ fox and corn

farmer takes chicken farmer, chicken, fox,

➞ and corn

233
Additional Problem Solutions
Chapter 3
1.
3-quart 5-quart 8-quart
pail pail pail
start 3 5 0
empty the 3-quart pail into
0 5 3
the 8-quart pail
fill the 3‑quart pail from the
3 2 3
5‑quart pail
empty the 3-quart pail into
0 2 6
the 8-quart pail
empty the 5‑quart pail into
2 0 6
the 3-quart pail
fill the 5‑quart pail from the
2 5 1
8-quart pail
fill the 3‑quart pail with
3 4 1
1 quart from the 5‑quart pail
empty the 3-quart pail into
0 4 4
the 8-quart pail

2. Each person should pay $6.00. Ricardo owes $1.00.

Marina owes $4.00. Mina should get $2.00 back, and Dave
should get $3.00 back.

3. She took the radio back 36 times.

4. George placed first. Jacob was second. Jonathan and Josh

tied for third place, and Jason came in last.

5. Nihal polled 58 people: there were 22 football fans; there

were 33 baseball fans; there were five who liked both
football and baseball; there were eight who did not like
either sport.

234
 6. Ruth has 4 blue markers, 3 red markers, and 5 green
markers.

7. It would take 5,815 toothpicks.

8. The area of the 8-plot garden is 64 square units, and the

perimeter is 46 units.

9. He would have to shovel snow for 9 hours.

10. The house number is 594.

Chapter 4
1. Lashay has 93 pennies.

2. I am 56.

3. Bozo has 1 half dollar, 1 quarter, 3 dimes and 2 pennies.

4. The 100th number in the sequence is 298.

5. The concert was attended by 400 people.

6. 70, 72, 74
51, 53, 55, 57
71, 72, 73

7. There will be 90 golf balls not sold.

8. He will rescue the maiden on the 11th day.

235
 9. TD = touchdown FG = field goal
PA = point after SA = safety
TD (6) PA (1) FG (3) SA (2)
2 1 0 1
2 0 1 0
1 1 2 1
1 1 0 4
1 0 3 0
1 0 1 3
0 0 5 0
0 0 3 3
0 0 1 6

10. They will swim on the 21st day and play baseball on the
31st day.

11. There are many solutions to this problem. Here is one:

6 4

3 2 5

Chapter 5
1. They both ate the same amount.

2. She baked 196 cookies.

3. There are many possible solutions to this problem.

Check to be sure your solution matches the clues.

4. It takes him 6 days. When he reaches the top, he climbs out,

so he doesn’t slide back.

236
 5. He should trade 18 peanuts.

6. It is physically impossible to fold a paper in half 10 times,

but if you could, there would be 1,024 layers of paper.

7. The explorer spotted 10 animals with both fur and a tail.

8. They will be at the pool on the same day 4 times.

9. The children are 2, 2, and 9.

10. Snow White sent the letter to Nosy.

Chapter 6
1. There are 28 different rectangles.

2. She would have to get up at 7:20 a.m.

3. She could have 1 penny, 2 nickels, and 5 dimes (61¢) or 1

penny, 3 nickels, and 4 dimes (56¢).

4. She cut the chocolate bar into 36 pieces.

5. Caleb received $34 for his allowance.

6. You would have to knock down 55 pins.

7. Alex would receive a total of $163.84 on the 15th day.

8. Marvin baked 16 brownies.

9. There were 18 grapes in the basket.

10. 10¢. You can do it with 2 cuts.

237
APPENDIX
E
References
Burns, M. 2007. About teaching mathematics. Math Solutions:
Sausalito, CA.

Chief Council of State School Officers. 2010. Formative

assessment for students and teachers. [Link]
org/Resources/Programs/Formative_Assessment_
for_Students_and_Teachers_%28FAST%[Link]. (Accessed
February 1, 2011.)

Common Core State Standards. 2010. [Link]

standards. (Accessed January, 31, 2011.)

Fitzgerald, W., G. Lappan, G. D. Phillips, J. Shroyer, and

M. J. Winter. 1986. The middle grades mathematics project.
Addison-Wesley Publishing Company: Boston, MA.

Heibert, J., K. C. Fuson, D. Wearne, and E. Fennema. 1997. Making

sense: Teaching and learning mathematics with understanding.
Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH.

Kroll, V. 2005. Equal shmequal. Charlesbridge Publishing:

Watertown, MA.

Lester, F. 2003. Teaching mathematics through problem solving.

NCTM: Reston, VA.

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). 2000.

Principles and standards for school mathematics. NCTM:
Reston, VA.

National Governors Association for Best Practices (NGABS)

and Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). 2010.
Common core state standards. [Link]
standards/mathematics. (Accessed November 19, 2010.)

238
National Research Council. 2001. Adding it up: Helping children
learn mathematics. Ed. J. Kilpatric, J. Swafford, and B. Findell.
Mathematics Learning Study Committee, Center for Education,
Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education.
Washington DC: National Academy Press

Polya, G. 2009. How to solve it: A new aspect of mathematical

method. Ishi Press: Japan.

Van de Walle, J., K. Karp, and J. Bay-Williams. 2009. Elementary

and middle school mathematics: Teaching developmentally.
Allyn & Bacon: Upper Saddle Lake, NJ.

239
240
 Thank you for purchasing this eBook.

This eBook is copyrighted. If you accessed this eBook without making

payment, you should be aware that neither the author nor the publisher has
received any compensation, and you may be in violation of state, federal, and/or
international law.

For further information about our products and services, please e-mail us at:
customerservice@[Link].

“ Thank you for helping us

create a world in which

”
children love to learn!

5301 Oceanus Drive Huntington Beach, CA 92649-1030 800.858.7339 FAX 714.230.7070 [Link]