Put Your Students in the Picture for Better Problem Solving

Abstract

Teachers always are on the lookout for some way to use the natural interests of students in teaching them the basic skills they need to know. Most students—both girls and boys—love to read about, to hear about, and to discuss feats that set new world records. Commercial materials that make use of some of these records are on the market, but you may want to focus on certain types of lessons that the commercial material does not cover. One of the best uses of information about record-setting events is to combine reading and arithmetic skills in ways that will extend the students' understanding of solving word problems in arithmetic. Removing some of the mystery from word problems by helping students to create and solve their own word problems that use reports of world records in various areas of sports and in other fields is one good way of providing instruction and practice in solving word problems. Take a record and present it in an attractive format similar to the one that follows.