Lessons
Lesson 1
Purpose: To introduce the students to the KWC chart as a tool to help students solve a variety of word problems. The students will be able to read a word problem and use the various reading strategies to complete a KWC chart
Materials: Chart paper, markers, manipulatives (counters, cubes, etc.) copies of the KWC chart (see Appendix A)
Procedure: The lesson will begin by talking about how a KWL chart works. The concept of the KWC will be written out on chart paper and the students will look and see how the KWL and the KWC are similar and how they are different. For the first few lessons, only the K and the W will be used. The class will use very simple addition and subtraction word problems. It will be done as a whole class activity. Each sentence in the problem will be read and analyzed and each reading strategy will be explored. Here is an example of how a lesson may go.
Jill had 8 Bratz dolls. She received 4 more Bratz dolls for her birthday. How many Bratz dolls does Jill have altogether?
We start by asking questions: Seeing as how Jill had 8 Bratz dolls before her birthday, how old do you think Jill is? Do you think that she likes Bratz dolls? Does she like Barbie dolls also?
We then move to making connections with the word problem. The teacher may ask questions like: How many of you have Bratz dolls? Does anyone in your family have any Bratz dolls? Have any of you ever received a present for your birthday? Have you seen the Bratz television show on Saturday mornings? What are the ages of girls who like Bratz dolls? Do boys play with Bratz dolls?
Next, we move on to visualization. The question can be asked: Can you see the Bratz dolls Sasha, Yasmine, Chloe, or Jade in your mind? Can you draw one of them on your paper?
Now we move on to the more tricky strategy, inference and predicting. Ask questions like: Do you think Jill is happy? Why do you think that she is happy? Do you think that Bratz dolls are her favorite? Why do you think so? Do you think that Jill will want more Bratz dolls for Christmas? Do you think Jill will want accessories to go with her Bratz dolls?
Now, determining what is important for answering the question. To help students figure out what is important, let's eliminate those things which are not important, such as: Is it important to know how old Jill is? Is it important to know when her birthday is? Now what is important? That she had 8 Bratz dolls. She received 4 more Bratz dolls. The other information might be important, but for other purposes.
Finally, let's synthesize this information. What is being asked of you? Do we need to add to answer the question or do we need to subtract to answer the question? After having this discussion about the word problem, we then go back to the KWC and begin to fill in the various components. Starting with the K the teacher writes on the chart paper what do we know for sure? We know that Jill had a birthday. We know that before her birthday she had 8 Bratz dolls. We also know that she received 4 more Bratz dolls for her birthday. Next, we move to the W and ask the question, what are we trying to find out? The teacher writes on the chart paper we are trying to find out how many Bratz dolls she has altogether. Then allow the students to solve the problem by doing the bottom portion of the KWC. Show how you solved the problem using pictures, numbers, and words. I will then have the kids share how they solved the problem.
Lesson 2
Purpose: To introduce the C in the KWC using problems that increase in difficulty. The students will be able to fill out all sections of the KWC chart. This will be probably be done approximately 2-3 weeks after the introduction of the KWC.
Materials: Chart paper, markers, manipulatives (counters, cubes, etc.) copies of the KWC chart (see Appendix A)
Procedure: At this point the students should be more comfortable in running through the various reading strategies to help them complete a KWC chart as well as solve simple word problems. Here is an example of a more difficult word problem that utilizes the C in the KWC.
Trish lives on a farm and gathers 3 eggs from the henhouse every day. How many eggs does Trish gather in a week?
Although this can be a multiplication problem, it will be done as a successive addition problem. This is a great way to prepare the students for multiplication. We then start with questions such as: Is this a chicken farm? Do you think there are other animals on the farm? How many chickens do you think she has?
Next, what connections can you make to this word problem? Have you ever been on a farm before? Have you read about farms or seen them on television? Do you know anyone who has lived or lives currently on a farm? Have you eaten eggs before?
Then, visualize what you see in your mind. Can you see the farm? Maybe it has a big red barn. Can you see the henhouse? Can you see Trish with a basket in her hand walking to the henhouse to gather the eggs?
Next we begin to inference and predict. Trish lives in a rural area. She may not have neighbors who live close by. She probably has other chores that she has to do. A week is 7 days. She will probably have to keep gathering eggs until the chore is passed on to someone else or she leaves home. Each inference should be evaluated for relevance to the problem.
Now let's determine what is important for answering the question. It is important to also recognize that sometimes it is preferable to work backward from the question. What are we being asked? What do we need to know to answer the question? What information in the problem can help us? It is important to provide students with a variety of ways to problem solve. Trish gathers 3 eggs every day. Trish gathers these eggs every day for a week. A week is 7 days. Trish gathers 3 eggs every day for 7 days.
Finally, let's synthesize the information in the word problem. We have to find out how many eggs Trish will gather in one week. We know that she gathers 3 eggs a day for 7 days. Are we going to have to add or subtract? Some kids may know that you can multiply to get the correct answer. Have them show both ways in their work so that they can make the connection that successive addition is another way to multiply.
Now let's fill in the KWC with all of the information that we have compiled. The K, What do we know for sure? We know that Trish gathers 3 eggs everyday. We know that she gathered those eggs for one week. Next, W, What are we trying to find out? We are trying to find out how many eggs Trish will gather in one week. Finally, the C, Are there any special conditions? One week is 7 days. The students can write in the C or in the show your work section of the chart the heart of the question of Trish gathered 3 eggs each day for 7 days.
Again, like the previous lesson, allow the students to solve the problem by doing the bottom portion of the KWC. Show how you solved the problem using pictures, numbers, and words. I will then have the kids share how they solved the problem.
Lesson 3
Purpose: To introduce the students to a new worksheet that can be used also with a KWC, but gives them practice with determining what is being asked of them by having them create the question for the word problem.
Materials: Chart paper, markers, manipulatives (counters, cubes, etc.) copies of the KWC chart (see Appendix A), copies of the Create Your Own Question worksheet (see Appendix B)
Procedure: The Create Your Own Question worksheet is help for my students to practice the skill of determining what is being asked of you. This can also be used as an assessment to determine if the students in my class understand the implications within a word problem. By having all of the details except the final question, this will give me a good insight into my students' understanding. The student will have to use all of the data within the word problem to create a question. The creation of their question shows whether they understand what kind of word problem that they are working with. Is it addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division? The lessons in the beginning will just be addition or subtraction. As the year progresses, multiplication and division will be added. Once students have created their questions, they have to solve them and show their work. More importantly, the students have to explain why their questions good ones for the story. Their explanations gives you the greatest insight into their thinking. Appendix B has a sample problem. You can either type the problem in before-hand or leave that area blank and the students can copy the problem from the board or overhead. The KWC can be used to help the student organize their thoughts and walk them through the reading strategy process.
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