Modelling clay for schematising and solving story problems -

Abstract

Middle primary years (8 to 11 years)

Teaching problem-solving in primary school often raises questions. Which problem to choose? How to present it? What should students focus on? How to guide students to find the relevant operation or operations?

Since 2008, my colleagues and I have been conducting research studies on the role that solving story problems might play in the development of mathematical thinking in primary students. Unlike the popular view that story problems help students relate mathematics to real life, we believe:

• These tasks are exceptional tools for developing students' mathematical reasoning, modelling ability and algebraic thinking.
• Well-designed story problems and problem-solving activities might make mathematics meaningful for all students.

In our research on story problems in primary education, we found that ordinary modelling clay has interesting properties and can be used effectively to stimulate relational and algebraic thinking in students. However, appropriate modelling with modelling clay is not so evident for adults – future teachers and even experienced teachers.

During the workshop, we will discuss the following topics:

• Why we offer story problem-solving activities to students.
• What information in the text of a story is the most important to develop students' mathematical thinking?
• What is the difference between a relationship and an arithmetical operation?
• How to use modelling clay to represent and solve a story problem.
• What is similar and different in our approach versus the Singapore method?

We will utilise the elenapolotskaia.com website, which contains a collection of problems in an interactive environment, to explore possibilities for organising classroom activities with students.