| Math Mojo - Making Math Meaningful |
This was the question:
Word Problems
Hi, I am 12 years old and I am going into 8th grade but first I have to pass this math test this math test has word problems and I have trouble understanding them and writing them out. Can you help me please?? Thank you!
Professor Homunculus' answer:
The key to the stuff is to relax, and don't think of "word problems" as some damn school problem.
If you are having problems with them, join the club. Most teachers teach math as though it is some "big-deal, difficult" thing.
It is simply getting friendly with the language of how we describe quantity, size, and order. There is no "secret way" to do word problems, because they are all different.
There are some hints and methods, though, and you can find some of them at these sites:
Here is another hint: There is a secret part of every library which almost nobody uses. It is the recreational math section. It is near the magic section (about 798.6) or ask your librarian where it is. There are great books about math, which are fun, as opposed to those lousy, boring textbooks the uninspired teachers use.
You will find some of
those books in about every school library in the world. Go to that section
and look through those books, and find one that you like, then read it.Puzzle
books are great for your understanding of language and math.
It will help you more than your teachers. They obviously didn't help you
that much so far. It is not your fault, though, because you were smart enough
to go out somewhere and ask for help.
Hi-Ho!
Professor Homunculus
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