When
it comes to getting students to love learning, particularly a content area that they
are not interested in or lack confidence, the best place to begin is to think
about what motivates and engages your students. Although this can differ
slightly from year to year, many strategies to motivate students remain the
same: encouraging a positive attitude, engage students in cooperative group or partner work, and assign meaningful activities and tasks. When these strategies are coupled with
appropriate scaffolding and teacher communication, students’
interest in math and perception about themselves as math students changes, and
changes greatly! Turn your students’ dislike for challenging problem solving
activities into excitement and eagerness to complete the task at hand with
these tried and true tips and strategies.
Start with a Positive Attitude
Many
upper elementary students’ initial reaction when it comes to math problem
solving is stress and worry. The fear sets in on where to begin and how to
attack a multi-step word problem. It can be
overwhelming when faced with a problem with large numbers, many different skills, and overly wordy. To counter the fear and stress that students face, spend time fostering positivity and a growth mindset in your classroom. A simple discussion about persevering and trying hard goes a long way. Remind students that by working on difficult math problems they are actually growing and stretching their brains. This type of mind shift doesn’t happen overnight. Develop a classroom mantra to encourage grit and a growth mindset with your students. By creating a class math mantra with your students, you increase student buy in. Do not just create one and then tell students to say it. Make sure to work together to make a meaningful mantra for your classroom community. Read more classroom community ideas here. TPost your math mantra all over your classroom and include it during your math lessons. You might begin each lesson with the class chanting it to engage them right from the start of each lesson. Be sure to post it in a visible place, so that each day and lesson begins with a positive attitude! Teach more than one section of math? Create individual math mantras for each class and create a wall of math mantras in your classroom!
overwhelming when faced with a problem with large numbers, many different skills, and overly wordy. To counter the fear and stress that students face, spend time fostering positivity and a growth mindset in your classroom. A simple discussion about persevering and trying hard goes a long way. Remind students that by working on difficult math problems they are actually growing and stretching their brains. This type of mind shift doesn’t happen overnight. Develop a classroom mantra to encourage grit and a growth mindset with your students. By creating a class math mantra with your students, you increase student buy in. Do not just create one and then tell students to say it. Make sure to work together to make a meaningful mantra for your classroom community. Read more classroom community ideas here. TPost your math mantra all over your classroom and include it during your math lessons. You might begin each lesson with the class chanting it to engage them right from the start of each lesson. Be sure to post it in a visible place, so that each day and lesson begins with a positive attitude! Teach more than one section of math? Create individual math mantras for each class and create a wall of math mantras in your classroom!
Teacher Tip: Your
attitude is contagious! Be sure to always have a positive attitude during math problem solving lessons! J
Partner and Group Work


Make it Meaningful
When
it comes to math, nothing is more powerful than by presenting students with
meaningful and authentic real world tasks. Tasks that students can relate to
and make connections with, will increase engagement, time on task, and small
group math discourse. Think about what interests
your specific cohort of students. Are
they interested in gaming? Sports? Baking? Outdoor adventure? Once you know what will grab their attention
create problems and tasks centered on their interests. Meaningful real life complex tasks that offer
an open ended approach to solving, will increase student time on task and
perseverance as students no longer see a right and wrong way to solve the
problem, but rather many different ways to work together, brainstorm, and solve
the problem. See an example of a complex, real world open ended problem solving
task that I have my students complete HERE. Don’t forget that students LOVE
technology! Integrate their love and knowledge by completing problem solving on
websites like Thinking Blocks or by creating multiple step problem solving activities
in the form of a text. Grab
a FREE sample at the bottom of this post.

Scaffold for Success
When
we scaffold during math, specifically when solving multiple step word problems,
we set students up for success. Scaffolding is a gradual process. It is important that students begin to feel
successful and confident when problem solving before you back completely away
and expect them to solve complex problems on their own. This is especially true
for struggling math students. One strategy that I have found to be successful for building
student confidence and accuracy for solving problems is through the use of
graphic organizers during math. Start off my using a chart size graphic
organizer template with these labeled sections: what I know, what I need to figure out to solve the problem, important
information to help me, my plan of attack, my solution, and when I checked my
work I noticed. Start on day one by solving a multiple step word problem, modeling how to complete the graphic organizer by writing the information for
each section of the graphic organizer on sticky notes and placing them on the
graphic organizer. Repeat the process for the next few days with the students
so that they can practice using the graphic organizer. The following week have
students work
with a partner to complete the sticky notes for the first few boxes only, so that the students do not actually solve the problem. This allows time for students to build confidence in their understanding of word problems and how they plan to solve them, rather than trying to manage the organizer AND solve the problem. This also allows time for you to discuss all the pre-solving strategies with the students. The following week have students work with a math partner, or in small groups, to use the organizer to problem solve. The scaffolding that you provided and the time devoted to teaching and practicing the use of the graphic organizer will build students’ perseverance skills and lessen the fear of solving math word problems. Send the graphic organizer home with students to help them complete homework, too! Grab this math graphic organizer to help you scaffold math problem solving in your classroom for FREE HERE.
with a partner to complete the sticky notes for the first few boxes only, so that the students do not actually solve the problem. This allows time for students to build confidence in their understanding of word problems and how they plan to solve them, rather than trying to manage the organizer AND solve the problem. This also allows time for you to discuss all the pre-solving strategies with the students. The following week have students work with a math partner, or in small groups, to use the organizer to problem solve. The scaffolding that you provided and the time devoted to teaching and practicing the use of the graphic organizer will build students’ perseverance skills and lessen the fear of solving math word problems. Send the graphic organizer home with students to help them complete homework, too! Grab this math graphic organizer to help you scaffold math problem solving in your classroom for FREE HERE.
Teacher Tip: Switch up
math partners and groups often when scaffolding. This will ensure that students
do not rely on other students to complete the organizer.
Communication
There
is nothing more important to increase student confidence, success, and perseverance
than by communicating with them what they are doing well and how they can grow.
Students need to hear about both their successes
and areas of growth so that their work is validated AND so that they have clear direction and focus of what they need to work on next.
Write on their work, hold formal student conferences, or simply kneel
beside them as they work to chat about what they are doing. Whatever strategy you choose to communicate, be sure to communicate with them
individually, so that there is no doubt that they are the focus of your
discussion and not their math partner. Be sure to use the word goal when
discussing an area that students can improve. By using the term, “a goal I would like to see you reach," makes what
you want to see students do become real and attainable for them. Try writing
the goal you have for the student on a sticky note and place it into their math
notebook or workbook. This will serve as
a reminder of what they are working towards for both you and the student.
Teacher Tip: Communicate
every small success with your students!
Students love to be celebrated! When you celebrate any small milestone, students are more likely to repeat that act. You can celebrate students completing the math graphic organizer correctly, using math talking stems appropriately, and increasing their participation in math. Grab these student awards for FREE HERE.
Just like building any kind of relationship, your students' relationship with math problem solving needs time, nurturing, and commitment. Don't give up on students right away. Allow many opportunities to practice these strategies and before long, students will develop a LOVE of math problem problem solving!
How do you encourage students to love math problem solving?
Students love to be celebrated! When you celebrate any small milestone, students are more likely to repeat that act. You can celebrate students completing the math graphic organizer correctly, using math talking stems appropriately, and increasing their participation in math.
Just like building any kind of relationship, your students' relationship with math problem solving needs time, nurturing, and commitment. Don't give up on students right away. Allow many opportunities to practice these strategies and before long, students will develop a LOVE of math problem problem solving!
How do you encourage students to love math problem solving?
Check out these other great ideas to spark a love of learning in your upper elementary students!
Spark a Love of Learning with Games | The Owl Teacher
Spark a Love of Social Studies | Tried and True Teaching Tools
3 Ways to Inspire a Love of Fractions | Mix and Math
Just-Right Reading: I Love Myself! | Reading by Heart
5 Ways to Ignite a Love of Math Problem Solving | Think Grow Giggle
Absent Work that Students and Teachers Love | Elementary Inquiry
Loving to Write Informational Texts | Mikey D Teach
No comments