UPS Math Strategy

As a reading and math interventionist, I work with students who are having difficulties in class. They somehow manage to develop misconceptions from the most well-intentioned best practices. Some of my students were ineffectively utilizing the CUBES strategy that they had been taught for word problems. I did some research and found that many people discourage its use because it can be problematic.

I especially enjoyed reading a post by Annie at Show Your Thinking Math. You can read her full post HERE. She gives some great examples for when CUBES fails to work and some helpful guidance on teaching word problems. Here's an example from her that reflects what I was seeing in class:

Annie takes away 3 cookies from her brother. She puts the cookies in her pile of 7 cookies. How many cookies does Annie have?

Most of my students would circle the numbers 7 and 3, underline takes away, and subtract to get 4 cookies. However, this is actually an addition problem. It should be 3+7=10!

She convinced me to abandon CUBES and find something more focused on getting at the heart of understanding word problems.

I found the UPS Check strategy was recommended often, but it needed some adapting to meet the needs of my particular students.

The first step is the hardest!! UNDERSTAND

I will start with NUMBERLESS word problems. Using this format forces students to focus on what the problem is actually saying instead of jumping into values and a solution too quickly.

Laura from Where the Magic Happens Teaching has an AMAZING post and it has a FREE set of numberless word problems that were perfect for my kids! You can visit her HERE for your set. 

My goal during this phase is to get my kids to read problems one sentence at a time. We will draw, act out, or explain what happened. We will keep rereading and adding a sentence until we know what actually happened in the word problem. Then, we will construct a number sentence and I will phase in one value at a time until the unknown element is clear. 

The Second Step should be easier then: PLAN

We spent the whole first semester working on fact fluency and addition and subtraction strategies. They should have strategies ready to use "on the run". Once we have our number sentence, my students will plan how they wish to solve it. We try to use the algorithm as little as possible. Most of my MTSS math kids are more visual and prefer other strategies, but it is a viable option for some. 

Lastly, we will SOLVE AND SHARE. 

This is where I made some changes to the UPS Check Strategy. I embedded the check part into the questions for this step. Since my school is working on the 4C's I need my kids to communicate mathematically. I also want to hear them use domain-specific vocabulary. So, they will explain their thinking to someone (me, their partner, the group), and we will scaffold that towards explaining their thinking in writing. 

Since I will camped out on word problems for a while, I needed a bulletin board to use routinely. If you would like to have mine, you can download it through Dropbox HERE or on the picture below. It can be converted into an anchor chart on chart paper or bound into a flipbook if you lack bulletin board space. 

I would love to hear from you! How do you approach instruction in word problems? 

The Love Letter by Anika Aldamuy Denise

Oh my goodness! The Love Letter by Anika Aldamuy Denise is my new favorite book for Valentine's Day! The author has written a charming story jam-packed with innocence and sweetness! Lucy Ruth Cummins's illustrations are soft and exquisite, too. They blend together beautifully! 

In The Love Letter, grumbly Hedgehog finds a love letter in the woods and it makes him oddly cheerful. Lazy Bunny finds the letter and she feels oddly helpful. Anxious Squirrel finds the letter and he feels oddly carefree. What will the friends do with the letter? Who wrote it? Who was it really for? You will have to read it to find out! Click on the picture above to find samples from the book on Amazon. Order it today! You won't regret it! 

This book is so full of literary rich activity ideas! I just posted a book study for The Love Letter on TPT. You can check it out HERE or by clicking a picture below. 

You can also grab a FREEBIE from the unit in Dropbox HERE or on the picture below.

I hope you found a new favorite, too! 

Tacky the Penguin

Tacky the Penguin is one of my favorite stories for winter! He's just so loveable! I love how he is true to himself and doesn't care what others think of him.

I found this awesome professionally done video read-aloud. The sound effects add a lot to the story.

I also created a book study for Tacky the Penguin. You can find it it my TPT store HERE. It is full of fun literature-based activities! A FREEBIE from the unit is included below. :)

I also included it in my Helen Lester Bundle. If you already own this bundle, you can redownload it and get the Tacky unit for free. It now contains 3 book studies and 3 scoot activities. You can check it out HERE. 

I am a huge fan of integrating literary texts with informational texts. My unit for Tacky would blend beautifully with this non-fiction study on Penguins. It has text in 3 formats: real-world photos, colorful clipart, and a line art student booklet. You can see it HERE. 

I hope this freebie from Tacky the Penguin will be useful to you! You can download or print it through Dropbox by clicking HERE or on the picture below. 

Enjoy! Be true to yourself! 

The Snowy Nap

I received a copy of The Snowy Nap by Jan Brett for Christmas. I couldn't wait to read it! It did not disappoint! Jan Brett has done an amazing job bringing Hedgie and his friends back for another adventure. This talented author created a new folktale full of charm, exquisite illustrations, and rich vocabulary.

If you haven't had the pleasure of reading it yet either, here's a link to a sweet read-aloud on YouTube.

I made a book study for The Snowy Nap. It is now available in my TPT store. It is full of activities that involve reading strategy practice. You can check it out by clicking HERE or on the picture below. There are FREEBIES from the unit included in this post. 

I love integrating literary texts with science and social studies content. If you do too, you may be interested in my Hibernation Bundle. It combines The Snowy Nap by Jan Brett and Bear Snores On by Karma Wilson with my non-fiction unit, Animals in Winter. It covers the hibernation, migration, and adaptation skills of many animals. You can check it out HERE or on the picture below. 

I hope you will enjoy these freebies for The Snowy Nap! Just click HERE or on the pics to download them through Dropbox.