Students often struggle to connect math with the real world. Word problems—a combination of words, numbers, and mathematical operations—can be a perfect vehicle to take abstract numbers off the page.

Solve one-step word problems using a visual model & a problem-solving process. Warm up with a Mystery Math Mistake to hunt for the mistake in adding two 2-digit numbers using a decomposition strategy.

Word problems try and tell students a story about the math problem in front of them. They are a useful way to connect abstract numbers to concrete situations, so students can learn early on to apply ...