How Do You Solve a Problem? Banner Set

How Do You Solve a Problem? Banner Set
Congratulations on your purchase of this Really
Good Stuff® How Do You Solve a Problem?
Banner Set—a resource for reinforcing problemsolving skills.
separate pieces of paper and place them on the
floor. Ask four volunteers to represent each
character and have them come to the front of the
classroom. Read through the first problem on the
reproducible aloud. As the class works through
This Really Good Stuff® product includes:
• 6 Problem-solving Strategy Posters and 2
Blank Posters, Write Again® wipe-off laminate
• 1 How Do You Solve a Problem? Banner
Headline
• This Really Good Stuff® Activity Guide
Assembling and Displaying the How Do You Solve
a Problem? Banner Set
Before you punch out and display the How Do You
Solve a Problem Banner Set, make copies of this
Really Good Stuff® Activity Guide, cut apart the
reproducibles, and file the pages for future use. Or,
download another copy of it from our Web site at
www.reallygoodstuff.com. Punch out the Headline
and Problem-solving Strategy Posters and
position them where students will be able to see
them easily.
the problem, have the volunteers act it out
accordingly. Once the class believes they have the
correct order, ask each volunteer to stand on the
correct piece of paper in order. Review the problem
to confirm that the volunteers are in the correct
order. Distribute manipulatives to the students
and instruct them to solve the second problem on
the reproducible by “acting it out” using their
manipulatives. (Answers: 1: Azeen, Matt, Jimmy,
Lucia and 2: Rachel, Oumar, Carlos, Stephanie.)
Look for a Pattern Problem-solving Strategy
Poster
Point to the Look for a Pattern Poster and ask
students if they notice a pattern in the numbers.
Students might say that the numbers are all even
or that they all go up by two. Ask students what
Introducing the How Do You Solve a Problem?
Banner Set
Ask students what problem solving means and
how they use problem solving in math. Explain to
students that depending on the given problem,
different problem-solving strategies are used. Tell
students that they will be practicing each of the
strategies on the Posters.
the next number in the line would be. Write the
following problem on the board: A rabbit ate three
carrots on Monday, six carrots on Tuesday, and
nine carrots on Wednesday. How many carrots will
the rabbit eat on Thursday? Instruct students to
answer the problem, (Answer: 12, the pattern is
+ 3.) Ask students how they found their answer.
Lead students to realize the rabbit is following a
Make a Model/Act It Out Problem-solving
Strategy Poster
pattern of adding three carrots each day. Ask
Copy and distribute the Who Is First?
some type of pattern. Divide students into pairs,
Reproducible. Write the numbers 1 through 4 on
and have each pair trade problems and solve.
students to create their own problems involving
All activity guides can be found online:
Helping Teachers Make A Difference®
© 2009 Really Good Stuff
®
1-800-366-1920 www.reallygoodstuff.com #157348
How Do You Solve a Problem? Banner Set
Make a Picture or Diagram Problem-solving
Guess and Check Problem-solving Strategy
Strategy Poster
Poster
Tell students that drawing a picture will help them
Explain to students that when they solve a
organize the data in some problems to solve them
problem asking for math computation, one
more easily. Copy and distribute the Beach Rental
Reproducible. Instruct students to draw in
pictures of people to help solve the problem. Ask a
student to demonstrate how he or she got the
answer on the board. (Answer: Five houses.)
strategy is to carefully read all the information,
estimate, or make an educated guess on what
they think the answer will be, and then solve the
problem using computation to find the actual
answer. Give students several word problems to
Give students small stickers or stamps when
practice both their estimation and computation
solving problems using this strategy. Then instead
skills in their journals.
of drawing pictures, the students can place
stickers or stamps on their paper, which will save
Make a List Problem-solving Strategy Poster
them some time.
Pointing to the Make a List Poster, explain that
this strategy helps organize thoughts. It is similar
Make a Table Problem-solving Strategy Poster
Write the following problem on the board and
model how to set up a table to solve the problem:
to the Make a Table strategy but this strategy is
one that students can use when there is more
than one possibility. Copy and distribute the Make
A baker needs to put five peanuts in each cookie
the Change Reproducible. Instruct students to
he bakes. It costs $2.00 for five peanuts. If he
list all the different combinations they could have
makes nine cookies an hour, how many peanuts
for the two problems. (Answers: 1: 7
does he use and what does it cost him?
combinations—8 nickels; 6 nickels and 1 dime; 4
nickels and 2 dimes; 2 nickels and 3 dimes; 4
dimes; 1 quarter, 1 nickel, and 1 dime; 1 quarter and
3 nickels and 2: 6 combinations—3 balls; 1 bear
and 1 ball; 5 cars; 1 bear and 1 car; 2 balls and 1
car; 1 ball and 3 cars.)
Discover Your Own Strategies
As your class develops additional problem-solving
strategies, use a dry erase marker to record them
on the Blank Posters.
Helping Teachers Make A Difference®
© 2009 Really Good Stuff® 1-800-366-1920 www.reallygoodstuff.com #157348
Who Is First? Reproducible
Who Is First?
1. Lucia, Jimmy, Azeen, and Matt were all in line at a carnival ride. Use the following
information to find out what order they were in.
•Jimmy was not last
•Azeen was first
•Jimmy was before Lucia but after Matt
_______________________, _______________________, _______________________, _______________________,
2. Stephanie, Rachel, Oumar, and Carlos are on the same baseball team. Use the
following information to determine what their batting order is.
•Carlos and Stephanie are both after Oumar
•Rachel is first
•Carlos is before Stephanie
_______________________, _______________________, _______________________, _______________________,
Beach Rental Reproducible
Beach Rental
We are planning a family reunion at the beach. There are 20 of us coming to the reunion.
If each house only holds four people, how many houses will we need to rent?
Helping Teachers Make A Difference®
© 2009 Really Good Stuff® 1-800-366-1920 www.reallygoodstuff.com #157348
Make the Change Reproducible
Make the Change
1.
If a store clerk gives you 40¢ and you do not have any pennies, list the different
coin combinations you could use.
2.
You have exactly 15¢ to spend in a store. You can buy more than one of an item.
List all the possible combinations of things you can buy using the most
money possible.
ball: 5¢
toy car: 3¢
stuffed bear 10¢
Helping Teachers Make A Difference®
© 2009 Really Good Stuff® 1-800-366-1920 www.reallygoodstuff.com #157348