ABSTRACT
How many times have you witnessed a student obtain the correct answer to a word problem because they just guessed which operation to use with the numbers in the problem? Without even reading the words, children often search for the numbers and try to “do something” with them. As word problems become more complex, involving more than two numbers or requiring multiple steps and operations, children will find it more difficult to solve word problems by just guessing if they do not know how to apply the problem-solving process. If children can learn at an early age to justify their answer, as well as share their reason with others, they can build their repertoire of strategies and get in the habit of crafting an explanation.
