Addressing Low Achievement

In
Mathematics
This reports focuses on strategies
teachers can use to help students
struggling with math. A critical
instructional component is to make
sure they understand a skill or
concept before being asked to
practice it. Adapting instruction to a
variety of learning styles can be
useful, as is encouraging students to
“think-a-loud” about how they
approach math problems. Several
strategies are suggested for students
who have difficulty with basic math
operations and word problems.
Teachers can address some of the problems presented
by struggling learners, as well as normal differences in
skill levels and developmental levels, through the use of
adaptations or accommodations (Ebeling et al. ), many
of which can be incorporated into regular classroom
instruction. Activities that provide opportunities for
students to use a variety of learning styles increase the
likelihood that more students will understand the new
concept or skill being presented. Here are some
approaches that complement different strengths
Developing Understanding
Teachers working with young children know the
importance of instruction directed toward students’
developmental level. This concept remains important to
math instruction through all grade levels. It may require
moving from the concrete to the pictorial to the abstract,
with opportunities provided for students to actively
manipulate objects or draw graph-like “pictures.”
However, “Students do not discover or understand
mathematical concepts simply by manipulating concrete
materials.... [teachers] must help
students focus on underlying mathematical
ideas...” (Sutton an)
Discussing math problems and solutions as a class helps
students develop mathematics skills and understanding
(Grouws 2004).
For students struggling with math, such discussions can
help by providing a window into alternative solution methods
or having problems and solutions expressed in student-level
language. Encouraging students to “think aloud” and share
the way they approach problems may be especially
important. Teachers can encourage such discussion by:
■ Asking students to conjecture about “What might happen
if...?” situations. Return to those conjectures after the
students have resolved the problem to discuss which of their
ideas still hold true.
■ Asking students to share their solutions with the class, as
well as the strategies they used (Kline 2000), and allowing
other students to ask
■ Asking a student to rephrase or repeat another student’s
explanation (Kline 2000).
Areas of Special Difficulty
While there are many math areas in which
students have difficulty, two of the most common
are basic operations
and word problems. There are several strategies
for addressing these areas. Basic operations.
When teaching basic operations, such as addition,
subtraction, multiplication, or division, begin by
helping students develop an understanding of the
meaning of the operation before describing and
modelling the procedure. Then provide plenty of
opportunity to engage in both guided and
independent practice. Students who need more
support should stay in the guided instruction
phase until they can work independently (Mercer
and Miller n.d.).
Provide an example of a correctly solved problem at the
beginning of every lesson;
■ Have students verbally or visually explain how to solve a
problem;
■ Introduce only one concept at a time and teach it to
mastery;
■ Teach in small chunks so that students get lots of practice,
one step at a time;
■ Provide learning aids, such as calculators, to help
students focus on conceptual understanding;
■ Routinely model the use of estimation and have students
estimate a reasonable solution before starting any
computation;
■ Teach families of facts; and
■ Demonstrate all concepts with manipulative.
Word Problems.

Many students experience difficulty with word problems

(Jarrett 1999). For some, the problem lies with an inability to
read and comprehend the problem (Bley and Thornton
1995). Others have trouble distinguishing relevant from
nonrelevant information, whereas some cannot translate the
words into mathematical operations they understand. The
following strategies may provide students with different ways
to “see” word problems and better grasp the concepts of
what is being asked and how to work toward a solution:
Work backward. Give students both the problem and the
answer, then help them to develop connections between
the words in the problem and their numeric representations.

Draw and model. Draw a picture or manipulate objects to

form a model to help students visualize a situation, verbalize
abstract ideas, and explain relationships.

Make a table or a graph. Tables and graphs provide visual

means for students to organize and summarize numerical
and verbal data.

Act it out. Some students learn best when they act out a
problem kinesthetically.
Draw and Model
 Promoting a Positive Attitude
Finally, because many students who experience difficulty in
math develop negative attitudes toward the subject,
teachers must use good teaching practices to encourage
positive attitudes. Mercer and Miller (n.d.) suggest the
following:
■ Involve students in setting challenging but attainable
instructional goals;
■ Ensure that instruction builds on previously learned skills;
■ Use progress charts to provide students with feedback on
how well they are doing;
■ Discuss the relevance of a math skill to real-life problems;
■ Communicate positive expectations for student learning;
■ Help students understand how their own effort affects
achievement outcomes; and
■ Model an enthusiastic and positive attitude toward math
Before Implementing MATH
INTERVENTIONS FOR STRUGGLING
MATH LEARNERS
Before Implementing MATH
INTERVENTIONS FOR STRUGGLING
STUDENTS

So, What can we actually do to help

students who are ready to engage in their
academic progress after years of failure.
This research suggests several MATH
STRATEGIES for struggling students.
 STRATEGIES TO HELP OUR
STRUGGLING MATH LEARNERS
Strategy 1. PROVIDE EXPLICIT INSTRUCTIONS FOR
STRUGGLING LEARNERS.
In discovery-based learning in math, we want our
students to be able to explore rich contextual
situations in the math classroom, teachers believe
that every student should be exposed to this kind of
learning environment.
STRATEGIES TO HELP OUR
STRUGGLING MATH LEARNERS
Strategy 1. PROVIDE EXPLICIT INSTRUCTIONS FOR
STRUGGLING LEARNERS.
If this type of instruction does not work for
chronically struggling students, then they will need
explicit instruction in how to solve the target
problem step-by-step. Struggling students should be
exposed to experiential learning, but they may get
lost if not follow-up
STRATEGIES TO HELP OUR
STRUGGLING MATH LEARNERS
Strategy 1. PROVIDE EXPLICIT INSTRUCTIONS FOR
STRUGGLING LEARNERS.
Explicit instruction can be provided in intervention
classes or by using different differentiation
strategies in learning environment
STRATEGIES TO HELP OUR
STRUGGLING MATH LEARNERS
Strategy 2. PROVIDE RICH CONTEXTS IN THE MATH
CLASSROOM
Struggling students need to participate in these kind
of activities so that they can see and hear proficient
math reasoning from peers. Experiencing rich
contexts along with their more proficient peers
exposes struggling students to their classmates’
proficient problem solving strategies and
verbalization proficient peer thought processes.
STRATEGIES TO HELP OUR
STRUGGLING MATH LEARNERS
Strategy 2. PROVIDE RICH CONTEXTS IN THE MATH
CLASSROOM
Observing the way their more proficient peers use
prior knowledge to solve current challenges and
persevere in problem solving will help struggling
students to improve their approach to engaging
with rich contextual problem
STRATEGIES TO HELP OUR
STRUGGLING MATH LEARNERS
Strategy 2. PROVIDE RICH CONTEXTS IN THE MATH
CLASSROOM
Rich Context in Math consists of mathematical tasks and questions designed to
stimulate mathematical thinking and to promote discussion among students. Context-rich problems
are short realistic scenarios giving the students a plausible motivation for solving the
problem. The problem is a short story (beginning with "you") in which the major
character is the student. Context-rich problems are more complex than traditional
problems, reflecting the real world, and may include excess information, or require the
student to recall important background information.
STRATEGIES TO HELP OUR
STRUGGLING MATH LEARNERS
Strategy 3. USE BAR MODELLING REPRESENTATIONS
TO DECODE WORD PROBLEMS
It is not uncommon for struggling math students to
also be struggling readers. These students usually
need explicit instruction in the reading of word
problems, understanding their underlying structure,
choosing operations to solve the problem, and
strategies to represent the word proble.
STRATEGIES TO HELP OUR
STRUGGLING MATH LEARNERS
Strategy 3. USE BAR MODELLING REPRESENTATIONS
TO DECODE WORD PROBLEMS
The representational strategy for arithmetic word
problems is bar modelling, which is the kind of
representation used in Singapore Math. When
students understand this modelling strategy, it helps
them interpret word problems and choose an
operation.
STRATEGIES TO HELP OUR
STRUGGLING MATH LEARNERS
Strategy 3. USE BAR MODELLING REPRESENTATIONS
TO DECODE WORD PROBLEMS
When students move from the word problem to a
bar model, and then choose an operation to write
expression or equation, they are sharpening their
reading skills, Using the models for addition and
subtraction problem versus, multiplication and
division problems can help them conceptualize the
problem.
STRATEGIES TO HELP OUR
STRUGGLING MATH LEARNERS
Strategy 4. PRACTICE BASIC FACTS
Struggling students should spend a few minutes
everyday working on their arithmetic basic facts.
Ten minutes a day, at the end of class, or as a station
in a series of math activities will help them build
speed and confidence. There are many excellent
applications and web tools available. If you have
access to technology for this use it! If you don’t
have, flashcards and partners will also do the job.
STRATEGIES TO HELP OUR
STRUGGLING MATH LEARNERS
Strategy 5. USE MNEMONICS
Here are some problem-solving strategies you might
want to consider using with your students: RIDE,
TINS, STAR, and FAST DRAW. These problem solving
strategies, along with the ‘infamous” ‘PEMDAS”, can
be an easy way for student to latch onto a problem
and come up with a solution.
STRATEGIES TO HELP OUR
STRUGGLING MATH LEARNERS
OTHER WAYS TO HELP STUDENTS IN MATHEMATICS
Here are a few final quick ideas that help students
who struggle in math
 Have them verbalize their problem solving
process to help resist impulsive behaviors when
solving problems
 Provide out-of-class opportunities for help
 arrange for cross-age peer tutoring
STRATEGIES TO HELP OUR
STRUGGLING MATH LEARNERS
OTHER WAYS TO HELP STUDENTS IN MATHEMATICS
Working with struggling students is difficult.
Nonetheless, one of the signs of a great math
teacher is to be able to reach students no matter
what level they are at; struggling average, or
superstar. All of the above strategies are helpful
when addressing the needs of struggling math
learners.
 HELPING STRUGGLING
LEARNERS IN MATH
Academic Strategies for Struggling
Math Learners
 Provide Explicit Instructions
 Provide Rich Math Contexts in Class Discussion
 Use bar model representation for decoding problems
 Practice basic facts
 Use mnemonics
 Verbalize thinking process before actions
 Provide out-of-class support
 Arrange for cross-age peer tutoring
 HELPING STRUGGLING
LEARNERS IN MATH
Getting To Know the Learner
 Establish trust by providing a safe learning
environment
 Ask about past experiences in learning math
 Ask the number of times students have change
schools
 Review the cumulative records to gain insights about
the students
 Review norm-referenced test data about students to
help them how far they are behind, and find out if they
believe change is possible
 HELPING STRUGGLING
LEARNERS IN MATH
Getting To Know the Learner
 Ask whether they think effort or natural ability is more
important for success in math.
 Prove to the students that you will not give up on them
 HELPING STRUGGLING
LEARNERS IN MATH
NMENOMICS FOR MATH PROBLEM
SOLVING
 RIDE = Read and Understand the problem
Identify the Problem
Draw a picture of the problem
Evaluate the answer and check it
 HELPING STRUGGLING
LEARNERS IN MATH
NMENOMICS FOR MATH PROBLEM
SOLVING
 TINS = Thought
Information
Number Sentence
Solution
 HELPING STRUGGLING
LEARNERS IN MATH
NMENOMICS FOR MATH PROBLEM
SOLVING
 STAR =Search the word problem
Translate the problem
Answer the problem
Review the solution
 HELPING STRUGGLING
LEARNERS IN MATH
NMENOMICS FOR MATH PROBLEM
SOLVING
 FAST DRAW =Find what you are solving for
Ask yourself, “What information is given
Set up the equation
Tie down the sign
Discover the sign
Read the problem
Answer the question or draw
Write the answer
 HELPING STRUGGLING
LEARNERS IN MATH
NMENOMICS FOR MATH PROBLEM
SOLVING
 AGONSAL =Asked in the problem
Given facts
Operation needed to solve the problem
Number sentence
Solution
Answer
Label
 The Cookie Problem
Kevin ate half a bunch of cookies. Sara ate one-third of
what was left. Then Natalie ate one-fourth of what was
left. Then Katie ate one cookie. Two cookies were left.
How many cookies were there to begin with?

Lovin NESA Spring 2012 42

 Different visual depictions of problem solutions for the Cookie
Problem:

Sara
Sol 1 Kevin Natalie Katie

Sol 2

Sol 3
2 Katie Natalie Sara Kevin

Lovin NESA Spring 2012 43

 Solve these problems:

• Jacob had 8 cookies. He ate 3 of them. How many cookies does

he have now?
• Jacob has 3 pesos to buy cookies. How many more money does
he need to earn to have 8 pesos?
• Nathan has 3 pesos. Jacob has 8 pesos. How many more pesos
does Jacob have than Nathan?
 Perspectives
Most adults think 8 – 3 = 5, because it’s the most
efficient way to solve these tasks.

Young children see these as 3 different problems and

use the action or situation in the problem to solve it – so
they solve each of these using different strategies.

(Unfortunately, too often children are told to subtract –

because that’s how we interpret the problem.)
 A first grader…
• Jacob has 8 cookies. He ate 3 of them. How
many cookies does he have now?
X X X
1 2 3 4 5

• Jacob has 3 dollars. How many more dollars

does he need to earn to have 8 dollars?
1 2 3 4
1 5
2 6
3 47 58

• Nathan has 3 dollars. Jacob has 8 dollars. How

many more dollars does Jacob have than
Nathan?
1 2 3 4 5
Town Sports ordered 99 scooters. They have received 45
scooters. How many scooters is Town Sports waiting on?

45 ?

99

99 – 45 = ______ OR 45 + ____ = 99

Lovin NESA Spring 2012 47

 Start Unknowns

Bear Dog had some cookies. Taiwan gave him 8 more

cookies. Then he had 13 cookies. How many cookies did
Bear Dog have before Taiwan gave him any?
? 8

13

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 Multiplication
A typical approach is to use arrays or the area model to
represent multiplication.
4 3×4=12
Why?
3

Lovin NESA Spring 2012 49

 Multiplication - Context –
Grocery Store

apples lemons
Groups of 5 or less subtly suggest skip
counting (subitizing). tomatoes
Lovin NESA Spring 2012 50
How many muffins does the baker have?

Lovin NESA Spring 2012 51