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.

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 ...

Fletcher Elementary School first grader, Briar Cercone, shows her class how she used a number line to solve a word problem. The students on the rug are showing her a thumbs up if they agree with her ...