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.

Want to learn more? Sign up for a free five-week email mini-course full of research-backed strategies to help students make sense of math. Give Cindy Cliche a math word problem, and she can tell you ...

Solve word problems using a checklist. Engage in a Number Talk to find "how many." Solve addition and subtraction word problems with a Step-by-Step Visual Model checklist. Understand what the problem ...