StoryProblems

Mrs.Self:2ndGrade
ActionResearchProject

FallClinicals2015

InitialMeetingwithMrs.Self
ImetwithMrs.Selfwiththeappropriatepapersandrubricfortheprojectitself,andtoldherthat
weneededtofocusonLiteracy.Sheinformedmethatreadingwasduringthelasthalfoftheday,
sowewouldhavetoincorporateitintothebeginningoftheday.Rightaway,shecameupwiththe
ideaofusingthedailystoryproblemsinmathtoassessthestudentsabilitytocomprehendthe
problem(story)presentedtothem.ThequestionwasHowcanthesestudentscomprehension
andunderstandingoftheconceptofmathwithinthedailystoryproblemsimprove?She
gavemeacouplestudentsthatIcouldassess.Theideaofthisquestioncamefromtheideathatthe
studentsdontknowhowtoformtheequationsfromtheproblembecausetheysimplydont
understandwhatisgoingoninthestory.Myjobwastoshowthestudentsthatitisimportantto
comprehendthestorywithintheproblem,andthentheproblemwillbecomemoreattainable.
Howdoesthisquestionpertaintoliteracy?Iaskedmyselfthisquestionatthebeginningofthe
meetingwithmyteacher.Iwantedtodosomethingthatshewasenthusiasticaboutherstudents
growingin,whilefollowingtheguidelinesofthisproject.Eventhoughthisquestiondealswith
mathconceptsratherthantheusualreading,writing,orotherwaysofassessingliteracy.Ithink
thatthisquestiongoesoutsideoftheboxofliteracyandreallyshowsthatliteracycanbeintegrated
intoanysubjectareaofachildscurriculum.Theideabehindthisprojectistohopefullyopenthe
childrenseyestotheideathatstoryproblemsarenotjustmath.Atthisage,itisdifficultfor
studentstogetpasttheideathatsubjectscanbeintegrated,andwhentheyareawareofthefact
thattheyaredoingmath,thentheyareonlyfocusedonmath.Iwantthemtorealizethatthemath
problembecomesmoreattainableiftheyrealizetheimportanceofcomprehensionwithinthestory
behindtheproblem.Myfavoritesubjectismath;thereforeIwasmorethanenthusiastictohelpthe
student(s)increasetheirabilitytocompletethesedailystoryproblems.Storyproblemsare
importantbecausetheycanbeapplicabletoastudentsdailylife!Mygoalistoimpactstudent
achievementintheclassroom.
StudentsChosenandInitialReflections
Iwasoriginallygiventwodifferentstudentstoworkwith.Idecidedtoworkwithone,duetothe
factthattheotheroneswereleavingclassalot,whichhinderedourmeetingtimes.Also,focusing
ononestudenthelpedmereallyunderstandwherethatstudentwasandwheretheyneededtogo
fromthere.
StudentF:Thisstudentwaschosenbecauseheshowedlackofcomprehensionand
Action knowledgeofhowtocompletethestoryproblemsonadailybasis.Itwasconcerningfor
Research Project
Mrs.Self,andhewouldcontinuouslynotfinishhiswork.Iendedupnotworkingwithhim
forthelongterm,solelybecausehewaspulledoutofclassalot.But,Ididmanagetogeta

Sallyfound5seashellsonthebeach.DanielfoundtwiceasmanyasSally.HowmanyshellsdidSallyandDaniel
findtogether?

Whoarethemain
charactersinthisproblem?

Whatishappeninginthe
problem?

Howwouldyoudrawouttheproblem?
FinalEquation:

Action Research Project

Areweusingadditionorsubtraction?

Action Research Project

Little Accomplishment
2 Proficient:

WITH ASSISTANCE

Full Accomplishment

3 Excellent:

INDEPENDENT

Got It: Student essentially understands the target concept.

1 Marginal:
Substantial Accomplishment

(W)

0 Unsatisfactory: Partial Accomplishment

NEEDS IMPROVEMENT

udent shows evidence of misunderstanding, incorrect concept or procedure

Howard County Public School System Draft 2011/2012

Adapted from Van de Walle, J. (2004) Elementary and Middle School Mathematics: Teaching Developmentally. Boston: Pearson Education, 65

ConnectingComprehensionwithMathematics
AbbyThurston
ActionResearchLiteratureReview2015

Action Research Project

Abstract
ThisLiteraturereviewwillserveasevidencefortheneedofchangingtraditionalwaysofsolvingproblems
andcombiningmathandcomprehension.Professionalshavelocatedthattherootproblemwiththisdiscrepancyis
theabilityforthestudentstounderstandwhattheyarereading.Theevidencethatishighlightedthroughoutthis
literaturereviewshowsmanydifferentpositiveimpactsonthestudentswithanincreaseoftheemphasisof
comprehension.Thisreviewalsogivessomewaysthatevidenceshowsthatcanhelpaneducatortakeonthisnew
approachtowordproblems.Thisisjustamereexampleofhowsubjectscanandshouldbeintegratedwithina
studentseducation.

Action Research Project

Mathisahugecontroversyamongsteducatorsandstudents,mainlyconcerningthedifficultytofully
completeandunderstandtheconceptsbehindmath.Thisisprevalentwithintheelementaryeducationrealm;for
numbersarebeingintroducedforthefirsttime.Thecomplexitybehindthehumanbrainanditscomprehensionof
theconceptofnumbersisextremelyhardforbeginningstudentstograsp.Aconceptofmaththatisnotreally
consideredwithineducationiswordproblems,alsoknownasstoryproblems.TheOxfordDictionarystatesthata
wordproblemis,anymathematicsexerciseexpressedasahypotheticalsituationexplainedinwords.Word
problemsareexamplesofhowmathcanapplytoeverydaylife.Yet,Studentsdoanywherefrom1030percent
worseonwordproblemsthanwhenthesameproblemispresentedinmathematicalform.(Smeneks)Whyis
this?Onewouldthinkthatstoryproblemswouldmakemathmoreenticingandengaging.KristinaSmeneks

Action Research Project

statesthat,Studentsarenotstrugglingwiththemath;theyarestrugglingwiththereading.Thereisanapparent
disconnectwithcomprehensionofthemathproblemsthemselves.Thereisavarietyofdifferentevidenceand
studiesonthistopic,andthefocusofthisLiteraryReviewwillbeonthesecondgradecommoncorestandard
level.Studentsshouldbeabletoreadamathproblem,visualizeitintheirheads,writeoutthenumericalequation,
andthensolvetheproblem.
Whenastudentissolvingawordproblem,theyshouldmakesuretheyaretacklingtheprobleminintricate
stepbysteps.Itisuptotheteachertodemonstratewhatthesestepsare.Thefirststepthatisnecessaryistoteach
theimperativevocabularytolookatwithinthewordproblem.Inorderforcomprehensiontotakeplace,
knowledgeofvocabularyisimportanttotellwhattheproblemisaskingforthestudenttomanipulate.Thisoften
willrequirestudentstoreadovertheproblemmorethanonetime,andeitherhighlight,circle,orunderlinethese
importantwords.TheAlabamaLearningExchangesfirststandardarticulates,Useadditionandsubtraction
within100tosolveoneandtwostepwordproblemsinvolvingsituationsofaddingto,takingfrom,putting
together,takingapart,andcomparingwithunknownsinallpositions,e.g.,byusingdrawingsandequationswitha
symbolfortheunknownnumbertorepresenttheproblem.Inthisstandard,itshowsthatonlyadditionand
subtractionarenecessaryforthisgradelevel.Therefore,someexamplesofkeyterminologyforadditionare,
combined,increased,totalof,sum,altogether,plusandmanymore.Theexamplesforsubtractionare,minus,
lessthan,less,fewerthan,decreased,takeawayandmanymoreotherwords.Whenstudentsareawareofkey
vocabulary,itenablesthemtoinvestigatewhattheproblemisaskingforandthemathematicalprocedurethatwill
needtobeused.Thiswillensurethatthestudentisreadytounderstandtheproblem.
Oncethekeywordshavebeenidentified,itisnowtimeforthestudenttocomprehendtheconceptofthe
problem.Thisstephelpsthemuseboththeirthinkingvoiceandtheirlisteningvoicetoworktotheiradvancement
intheirabilitytograsptheproblemahead.Thedifferencebetweenreadingvoiceandthinkingvoiceis
straightforward:astudentsreadingvoiceiswhatastudentcanreadaloud,andastudentsthinkingvoiceishow

Action Research Project

theirmindabsorbsthatinformationandprocessesit.Evidenceshowsthatabeneficialwaytochannelachilds
thinkingvoiceisrephrasingthewordproblemintodifferentwords,thatmaybemakemoresensetothatchild,
usuallycallingformoresimplelanguageandgettingridofunnecessaryinformationthatmightbewithinthestory
problem.Oncethisisaccomplished,thechildwillnowstartinthebreakingdownprocessofthewordproblem
itself.
Traditionally,mathwordproblemsarecomprisedofmultipledifferentstepsthatcanincludeavarietyof
differentsentencesandnumbers.Itisimportantforthestudenttoidentifywhatinformationisnecessaryandwhat
information,ifany,isunnecessarytosolvetheproblem.Anessentialpartofthebreakdownprocessis
decipheringwhichspecificoperations,inthiscaseadditionorsubtraction,areusedwithwhichnumber.Students
shouldbetaughttoreadeachsentenceorphraseoneatatime,inordertoreceivekeydetailsthatwillhelpthem
putthepiecesoftheproblemtogether.Afterthestudentidentifiesthedifferentstepsandoperationsnecessary,he
orshemustdecipherwhatquestiontheyareanswering.Oncethequestionisidentified,astudentshouldthinkofa
roughestimatefortheanswer.Forinstance,iftheproblemstatedthatagirlstartedoutwiththreemarbles,then
shereceivedsevenmore,howmanyshouldshehaveintotal?Thestudentscancometotheconclusionintheir
headthattheanswerisgoingtobegreaterthanseven.Iftheyconcludewithananswerthatisanylessthanseven,
theyknowthattheyneedtodoublechecktheirwork.Theprocessofbreakingdowntheproblemwilleventually
leadtoimaginationorvisualizationoftheproblemitself.
Childrenarenotoriousforhavingawildimagination,sooncetheyhaveallthetoolstohelpthem
understand,thentheycanplaythesceneintheirheads,orevenwriteitdownonthepaper!Thereisnosetinstone
correctanswerforthevisualizationoftheproblem,butwhenchildrendrawsomesortofdiagramorprocessof
thewordproblemitthenbecomesmoreattainableforthestudentstofullycomprehend.Forexample,ifBobby
hadthreepiecesofcandytobeginwith,thenastudentcoulddrawthreepiecesofcandy.Then,ifBobbyateone
pieceofcandy,thestudentcouldcrossoutoreraseoneofthepiecesofcandy.Ifthequestiontoanswerwashow

Action Research Project

manypiecesofcandyBobbyhasleftover,theynotonlyhavetheiranswers,butalsocomprehendtheproblemasa
whole!
Thereisasurplusofresearchtechniquesthataddressthisissuewithineducationtoday.Itisevidentthat
themainproblemliesinthestudentsabilitytoreadandcomprehend.Nostudentisalike,thereforesomestudents
maybeproficientinsomestepsandsomemaynotbe.Teachersshouldencouragestudentstotrynomatterhow
dauntingthetaskathandwillbe.Withpracticeofthisresearchintheclassroom,studentswillbeableto
comprehendandpictureagivenstoryproblem.

References
UnderstandingandSolvingWordProblems.(n.d.).RetrievedOctober11,2015.
KrickMorales,B.(2009).ReadingandUnderstandingWrittenMathProblems.Retrieved
2015.
Smekens,K.(n.d.).ImproveComprehensionofMathWordProblems.Retrieved
October12,2015.
Huson,J.(n.d.).EffectiveTeachingStrategiesforWordProblemsinMath.Retrieved
October12,2015.

Action Research Project

October14,