Story Problem Track

Story Problem Track

Story problems are the third type of track. In Corrective Mathematics, students learn a precise strategy for determining which mathematics operations are required in a given story problem. Story problems are covered in all four modules. Each module uses a different strategy to let students work with it and then master both the content and skill.

Below is the module-wise list of story-problem strategies used in the Corrective Mathematics lessons.

Addition: 

• Story-problem exercises in the Addition module require students to work with pictures, sentences in columns and paragraphs, and distractor numbers that are not used in computing answers but appear in a problem.  

Subtraction: 

• Students learn to work with verbs, (find, get, buy, lose, give away, and break) and discriminating numbers (big and small) in story-problem exercises in the Subtraction module to identify their computation strategy (add or subtract) and get to the answer. 

Multiplication: 

• In the Multiplication module, students are taught to look for a repeated number and/or repeated signal words each and every in a problem. This strategy helps them to identify if the problem is a multiplication problem. 
• The teacher says to students, ‘If you use the same number again and again, you multiply to get the answer, and if the same number is not used again and again, then it is not a multiplication problem.’ 

Division: 

• In the Division Module, students are taught to apply two tests to a story problem: (1). If the number is used repeatedly; and (2) if the big number is given. This is an expanded discrimination strategy that ensures students pay close attention to all words and numbers in a story problem.  

The example of a story problem exercise from Lesson 30, available on page 72 of the Corrective Mathematics Series Guide. In this exercise, students review the rules for identifying the suitable strategy to solve the problem and then apply it to new problems.