THANKS TO NCTM's MENU COLLECTION AND DEDICATED TO "THE BOYS" at NYTC WHO ASKED FOR SOME GOOD STORY PROBLEMS.
THOUGHTS ON PROBELM SOLVING:
A PROBLEM MEANS THAT YOU WILL HAVE TO TRY OUT SEVERAL STRATEGIES TO SOLVE IT. JUST BECAUSE THE ANSWER DOESN'T IMMEDIATELY JUMP OUT AT YOU, DOES NOT MEAN YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO SOLVE IT.
IN THE BEGINNING ASK THINGS LIKE "WHAT DO I KNOW" "DO I NEED ANY MORE INFORMATION, " AND CAN I DIAGRAM, MAKE A CHART, MAKE AN ESTIMATE, TO HELP" "PICTURE THE PROBLEM AND ANALYZE IT"
IF YOU GET STUCK DO YOU TRY TO LOOK AT IT IN A DIFFERENT WAY, AND TRY A DIFFERENT STRATEGY OR MAKE A SIMPLER PROBLEM?
BE OK WITH FEELING FRUSTRATED SOMETIMES. GOOD LEARNING OFTEN FOLLOWS FRUSTRATING TIMES
TALK ALOUD AND TRY EXPLAINING YOUR THINKING TO SOMEONE ELSE
GIVE YOURSELF CREDIT WHEN YOU SOLVE PART OF IT AND REALLY GET EXCITED WHEN YOU SOLVE THE WHOLE PROBLEM
FOLLOW THIS LINK TO TEST OUT SOME RICH PROBLEMS TAKEN FROM NCTM'S MENU OF PROBLEMS
Math Background Survey
