Numberless Word Problems
in the Elementary Grades
Regina Payne
Elementary Mathematics Curriculum Specialist
1. Students learn to value mathematics.
2. Students become confident in their ability to do
mathematics.
3. Students become mathematical problem solvers.
4. Students learn to communicate mathematically.
5. Students learn to reason mathematically.
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Numberless Word Problems are scaffolds allowing
each and every student access to discovering
relationships that unfold in a math story.
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Numberless Word
Problem - Graph
A Grade 2 Story
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Students discuss what the numbers might
look like, suggest possible numbers, and
find as much math as they can in the
scenario
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They defend and/or challenge reasoning
using their own mathematical thoughts
and what makes sense to them.
As more information is revealed, students
must keep the identified relationships
intact.
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Students generate engaging math
questions that they are interested in
solving.
Student Generated Questions
https://bit.ly/LosliNWP
“They can complicate it more than I
ever would.”
--Leilani Losli, Instructional Coach,
Round Rock ISD
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Rationale for Numberless Word Problems
Numberless problems allow students the opportunity to access the problem
situation:
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●
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use their reading strategies as they notice and wonder about the language;
use their visual processing when they notice and wonder as they view any charts,
diagrams, graphs, and/or equations;
use their own wonderings and curiosities as they begin to think mathematically to
understand the relationships in the problem before any specific quantity is
considered.
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Constructing
Numberless Word
Problems
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Could be as simple as this:
Mr. Garcia was building a fence.
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Stephanie planted some tomato plants in her
garden. She planted the tomato plants in rows
with the same number of plants in each row.
Stephanie planted 24 tomato plants in her garden.
She planted the tomato plants in rows with the
same number of plants in each row.
Stephanie planted 24 tomato plants in her garden.
She planted the tomato plants in rows with the
same number of plants in each row. How many
different arrangements of rows could Stephanie
have planted her tomato plants?
Another Version
Stephanie planted some tomato plants in her
garden. She planted the tomato plants in rows
with the same number of plants in each row.
Stephanie planted 24 tomato plants in her garden.
She planted the tomato plants in rows with the
same number of plants in each row.
Stephanie planted 24 tomato plants in her garden.
She planted the tomato plants in rows with 6
plants in each row.
Stephanie planted 24 tomato plants in her garden.
She planted the tomato plants in rows with 6
plants in each row. How many rows of tomato
plants are there?
Another example with Fractions
A farmer gives some hay to his horse everyday.
A farmer gives part of a bale of hay to his horse
everyday.
A farmer gives ¼ of a bale of hay to his horse
everyday.
A farmer gives ¼ of a bale of hay to his horse
everyday. How many bales of hay does the farmer
give his horse per week?
A farmer gives ¼ of a bale of hay to his horse
everyday. How many days would 6 bales of hay
last?
Resources - https://bit.ly/NumberlessWP
● Brian’s blog posts
○ The link above includes:
@bstockus
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Resources - https://bit.ly/NumberlessWP
● Problem Banks
○ Click link above to see the
following items:
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Resources - https://bit.ly/NumberlessWP
● Blog Post Collection
○ The link above takes you
to these items
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Resources - https://bit.ly/NumberlessWP
● Other Resources
○ The link above takes you
to the following items:
@bstockus
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@EMathRRISD
Brian Bushart and Regina Payne
Elementary Mathematics Curriculum Department