MATH 3rd Grade: Luther waited 50 minutes in line to buy tickets to a play. While waiting, Luther played his video game for 12 minutes and read a book for 25 minutes. The rest of the time, Luther talked to his best friend Chuck. How much time did Luther spend talking to Chuck?

S: Okay, so the first step in the STAR strategy is for me to search the word problem. That means I need to read the problem carefully, and write down what I know and what I need to find. T: My next step is to translate the problem using a strategy for organizing information. (picture form, look for a pattern, guess and check, etc.) A: Then I need to answer the problem. Write the number sentence and solve. R: Finally, I need to check my answer. OK, I’ll reread the word problem and check the reasonableness of my answer.

S: Okay, so the first step in the STAR strategy is for me to search the word problem. That means I need to read the problem carefully, and write down what I know and what I need to find. What I know: *Luther waited 50 minutes in line *While waiting, he played his video game for 12 minutes *read a book for 25 minutes *rest of the time talked to his best friend Chuck Need to find out: * How much time did Luther spend talking to Chuck

T: My next step is to translate the problem using a strategy for organizing information. (draw a picture (pictorial form, look for a pattern, guess and check, etc.) Total – 50 (base ten-block) l l l l l Video – 12 l.. Read book – 25 l l l l l..... time left spent - talking left means take away from/less/decrease/subtract

Take the total and subtract the video and the reading book. l l l l l regroup to l l l l Video – 12 cross out l.. Read book – 25 cross out l l..... What is not crossed out is what is left of the 50 minutes l... = 1 tens and 3 ones = 13

A: Then I need to answer the problem. Write the number sentence and solve. 50 = ? (the 50 minutes total equals 12 minutes for video game plus the 25 minutes reading a book and finally the unknown time for talking to Chuck) = 37 (I do know that 12 minutes went to video games and 25 went to reading and they both have the sum of 37 minutes) 50 – 37 = 13 (Of my total 50 minutes, I used 37 on video games and reading and was left with 13 minutes to talk to Chuck)

R: Finally, I need to check my answer. OK, I’ll reread the word problem and check the reasonableness of my answer. 12 minutes plus 25 minutes plus 13 minutes must equal 50 minutes = 50 or my total minutes less my 13 minutes of talking should equal the minutes spent on video game and reading 50 – 13 = 37