Effective Strategies to Help Students
Struggling With Math
Learning Action Cell (LAC)
Start!
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Mathematics can leave W
some students feeling
helpless. T
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And when we see them with their head 2
in their hands or staring blankly at
yet another activity that just doesn’t
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make sense, teachers can start to feel
helpless, too.
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How do we get through to them?
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Math T
Intervention W
Strategies for
Struggling T
Students
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1. DIRECT INSTRUCTION
It is a teacher-directed teaching method.
It is also known as “explicit teaching” with
the teacher leading the students through the
content every step of the way.
Here’s how it works: 1
1. The teacher introduces a concept, connecting it with
previous content.
2. The teacher models the skill to be learned. 2
3. Students follow precise instructions to use the skill
themselves in a scaffolded, step-by-step way.
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4. The teacher checks for understanding at each step.
5. The above steps are repeated until students can practice
independently.
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TEACHER TIP 1
Use a think aloud strategy, talking through
everything you’re thinking even when you’re 2
not writing (“Now I think this would be
easier for me if I rounded 48 up to 50. I’ll do
that and remember at the end that I have 2
extra I need to take off”). 3
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2. VISUAL AIDS 1
A visual representation will
make it easier for a student 2
to wrap their head around a
math concept that would
otherwise be an abstract 3
mess.
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Examples of common visual aids and representations:
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Number lines:
These are straight lines with W
numbers sequenced in order
from end to end. They are useful
for developing students’ number
sense and counting skills. T
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Examples of common visual aids and representations:
2 T
Charts and graphs:
These can be used to indicate W
the relationship between
different sets of numbers, or to
visualize abstract concepts (eg a
pie chart for fractions). T
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Rock Restaurant surveyed a sample of customers on their favorite food. They
made a pie graph with the survey results. Read the pie graph and answer the
questions.
1) Which is the most favorite among the
customers?
2) How many customers like fried chicken?
3) Which is the least favorite food?
4) How many customers voted for burger as
their favorite?
5) How many customers participated in the
survey?
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Examples of common visual aids and representations:
3 T
Illustrations:
Illustrations of concrete, W
recognizable items can make
number sentences or word
problems seems less abstract. T
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Examples of common visual aids and representations:
4 T
Graphic organizers:
These are particularly useful W
for showing the relationship
between number sentences and
more literal representations.
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TEACHER TIP 1
Students might find visualizations
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help them in class, but they don’t
know how to use them independently.
Promote it as a working-out strategy
they can use on their own. 3
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3. SCHEMA INSTRUCTION 1
When a student has no idea about the word
problem that is asked them to do, schema
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instruction will help. It enables them to
decipher the underlying mathematical
operation (schema) being hinted at by the
words.
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Take the student through a range of word
problems that all work off the same schema,
and then help them devise a mathematical
sentence stem that they can fill in for
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problems of the same type.
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Let’s take the following two problems as an example:
1 2
Nicole is collecting money for a T
Jack has three lemons and friend’s birthday present. She has
Solomon has two. How many 10 pesos so far and now she adds
do they have altogether? five of her own. How much money W
does she have for the present?
In both cases, the underlying operation is addition. So the schema might look like: T
Number A + Number B = Total
You can then do this for other schema (eg subtraction, division, and so forth). It
gives students a formula so they don’t have to approach each word problem as if it
is asking something completely unfamiliar. F
4. TEACH METACOGNITIVE 1
STRATEGIES
Often when you ask a struggling student what they’re
having difficulty with, they’ll tell you one of the
following: 2
All of it.
I just don’t get it.
I don’t know.
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What this really means is that they have no
metacognitive ability – the ability to think about their
own mathematical thinking. Without this, they won’t
be able to identify where they’re having trouble or do 4
anything about it.
Two metacognitive skills struggling math learners M
will need to develop:
Self- T
the ability to internally talk oneself through a problem, step by
monitoring
step.
W
For example, a student might approach a problem by asking themselves the
following things as they proceed:
1. Did I understand the question? If not, reread.
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2. Does this remind me of a problem I have done before? Let’s try the
strategy I used for that one.
3. That didn’t work. What’s another thing I could try?
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Two metacognitive skills struggling math learners M
will need to develop:
Self-checking T
Struggling learners often wait until they’ve reached a final answer to
check their work, if at all. On the other hand, stronger students will
constantly check their thinking along the way to make sure they’re
on the right track. W
Teach students to ask such questions such as:
• Does this look right? T
• If I put my answer “back into” the problem, does it make sense?
• Have I made any mistakes along the way?
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TEACHER TIP 1
The best way to teach metacognitive skills
is via a think aloud. Whenever you’re 2
modeling a mathematical skill, talk aloud
so students hear each individual thinking
move you make to arrive at a final answer.
It’s best to step this out for yourself before 3
you do it in front of the class. You might be
surprised by how many quick steps you go
through to solve a basic word problem or
double-digit sum! 4
5. Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) 1
PALS allows you to make the most of this by
partnering high-ability students with those 2
who need extra support.
These students then work together for 20–30
mins a couple of times per week, taking turns
being the “coach” and the “player”. That way 3
they have the benefit of one-on-one support
and the opportunity to consolidate knowledge
through teaching.
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Give students the strategies they need to support
each other first. It’s a good idea to set a structure 1
or sequence of activities to guide them, for
example:
[Link] coach models to the player how they would solve a
word problem, thinking aloud the whole time. 2
[Link] player then works through another problem, thinking
aloud, with the coach guiding them.
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[Link] player completes a problem independently, which the
coach checks.
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TEACHER TIP 1
Rotating students through different
partners every week will expose them 2
to different ways of thinking and
approaching mathematical concepts.
With any luck, one of them will 3
trigger the light bulb moment a
struggling student is waiting for.
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6. One-on-one student support 1
If you have a student who is considerably far 2
behind, they may need one-on-one support in
addition to the above initiatives. See if you can
find a regular meeting time where you can
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work with them individually and take them
through math activities step by step.
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Give your learners the W
mathematics support they
need T
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7 Strategies for Struggling Math
Students
[Link] the 'why' Teaching students the underlying logic behind math
formulas and processes is always important. ...
[Link] review. ...
[Link] it out. ...
[Link], don't tell. ...
[Link] reinforcement. ...
[Link]. ...
[Link] guidance.
