1. Read the problem. (student should read the problem out loud; more than once if necessary)

2. Ask yourself, “What are they asking?” and then explain it to yourself. If you can, draw a     picture of what the problem is about. (encourage verbalization of what it is asking and model/prompt picture drawing to aid in comprehension)

3. Circle the numbers that you’ll use in the problem and underline the question that is being asked. (don’t allow student to do this until 1 & 2 have been done- this draws their attention to the pertinent information)

4. Ask yourself, “What math am I going to do to solve this?” (add, subtract, multiply, divide, invert, use the area formula...) (ask the student to think about what math process is required- refer them to their drawing and the underlined question; point out clue words that indicate a particular math process- of=multiply, increased by=add/multiply...)

5. Solve the problem and re-check your work. (student should complete the algorithm and check for errors in calculation)

6. Re-think your work. Say to yourself, “Okay, here is what they asked and here is what I did. Does my answer make sense?” (re-read the problem, with special attention to the underlined question and talk them through it- does your answer make sense? does your solution answer the question?)

Here is a student version you could print to have at home, or put in their notebook for use during work at school. 

WORD OF WARNING: It is imperative that students practice the 6 steps before using them independently.  Don't ever let them skip steps 1 and 2. 

Þ      Read the problem.

                 Ask yourself, “What are they asking?” and then explain it  to  yourself.  If you can, draw a picture of what the problem is about.

Þ      Circle the numbers that you’ll use in the problem

         and underline the question that is being asked.

Þ      Ask yourself, “What math am I going to do to solve this?”

                (add, subtract, multiply, divide, invert, use the area formula...)

Þ      Solve the problem and re-check your work.

Þ      Re-think your work. Say to yourself, “Okay, here is what they asked

                and here is what I did. Does my answer make sense?”