Bar Modeling ~ Bringing Word problems to life!

Students have worked hard over the past month to learn how to use bar modeling as a tool to solve word problems pictorially. By analyzing word problems sentence by sentence and using our reading strategies to understand the problem, students can then draw models to represent what they know from the word problem and from that determine what they need to solve. Although this can be a difficult strategy to learn initially, students will benefit from this strategy for years to come. Especially as they encounter longer more difficult word problems, it is the stepping stone to algebraic equations. Here is some more information about bar modeling and practice problems.  We will continue to use this strategy all year and will introduce the multiplication and division bar models over the next few months.  Watch the videos below to see and hear some amazing explanations of problem solving using bar modeling. Everyone is growing so much using their ipads to explain and show their thinking!