One way to help struggling students learn new strategies is to provide multiple entry points to the same problem. In this type of challenge, students select a set of numbers at their own readiness level. For example: "Janelle sold [2, 9, 35] cups of lemonade. She charged [$1.50, $2, $3] per cup. How much money did she make?" One student might practice double-digit multiplication by choosing 35 cups at $2 apiece. Another student may draw a simple picture to show 2 cups at $3 apiece. Advanced students can practice multiplying decimals. As stated in "Making a Difference," an authoritative text on struggling learners, these types of problems allow different learners to engage with the same skill, but at an appropriate level for their development. As students become more confident, they can begin choosing more challenging numbers.
Open-ended questions also allow students to work on the same problems at their own level. This type of assignment has no single specific answer as the goal. Instead, students work on a part that interests and challenges them. An example: "Forty-five students from our school signed up for the Fun Run. Each entry cost $5. The fun run started at 10:00 A.M. and the slowest runner took 35 minutes. Seven students from our school did not make it to the finish line." Students could use multiplication to figure out the total cost to the school, addition and time to find out when the race was over, or subtraction to see how many students did complete the race. If students share their ideas to end the lesson (a recommended teaching strategy), each child can feel proud to contribute a different part.
Sometimes a real life question is enough to motivate a reluctant or struggling student to participate. If your class is going on a field trip, let your students figure out the total cost of entry fees, or the best time for arrival and departure. When it's time to add up a book order or results of a fundraiser, make it into a question the whole class can work on. Teachers, don't forget to share mistakes you've made with these types of calculations in real life - especially if you want your students to be comfortable taking risks too.
Students typically try a strategy, get stuck, and then wait for help. They often must be explicitly taught how to persevere. Empower your students by modeling many different "what next" steps. These can include drawing a picture to help visualize the problem, looking for patterns, making lists or tallys, dividing the question into parts they understand and don't understand, referring back to a textbook or help sheet, "guess-and-check" or asking a classmate. Different strategies may be more appropriate for different classes, but the key is making sure students understand they will inevitably get "stuck" if the problem is truly appropriate, and what steps to take when that happens. Keeping a large list on a bulletin board can be helpful.