Personalizing Word Problems.

I know when I was in high school, I hated word problems.  Most of the problems I ran across were on situations, that were totally irrelevant to me.  I'd see problems that talked about going so many miles, across multiple states at a certain speed but I lived on an Island you could circle in less than one day. 

 Or those problems where one train left New York City at 8 am and another train leaves from Atlanta two hours later and trying to figure out when they would meet. I knew more about traveling by buses than I did in regard to trains. 

Then there were the names of the people in the word problems were John, Susie, or Linda when everyone I knew had other, more exotic names like Kiko, or Juan.  For most of my teaching career, I've lived in places with planes, boats, or snow machines and students with names like Dove, Apala, or Kanaya.  

I began rewriting word problems so my students could relate to them better.  I replaced the names with names of my students so they felt a more personal connection.  Instead of trains, which most students have never seen, let alone ridden, I used snow machines or ATV's so they knew more about the vehicle.  Most villages in Alaska are not connected to any other village by road so students don't always relate to diving 6 hours away by car but they might understand traveling 6 hours to go to another village to participate in a dance festival.

In addition, I have to change some of the prices listed because certain items always cost more in the villages.  For instance, gas tends to run $6 per gallon rather than $2 or $3 in other places.  You might spend $12 for four ears of corn or a pizza can run like double the normal cost.  

By rewriting the problems to use names and situations students are more familiar with, then are more likely to feel as if they are dealing with something they understand. They find it easier because they know the situations.  This way, they apply the mathematical concept to something they know, they understand, and can relate to fully.  Now there are some situations that are quite difficult to adjust for the bush and sometimes takes a bit of thinking but it is worth the effort because students are able to access prior knowledge and connect with the mathematical concept.

Once they've established that connection, it is easy to make minor changes such as having them use a car instead of a boat, change the speed of the vehicle, and work towards the original problem. Although we often work on word problems with students, it is usually just one of this and one of that which apply the mathematical concept but we seldom use multiple applications with variations for the same concept.  

I wish I could do more of these but time always seemed to be a limiting factor.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a good day.