1. Make sure everyone participates.
CONNECTOR
Read the problem carefully. Have everyone read the problem again silently.
Ask group members:
Do you understand what you have read?
Are there any words that you do not understand?
Does this remind you of any other math problems?
How have you solved similar problems in the past?
Make sure everyone participates.
IDENTIFIER
Make sure your team UNDERSTANDS what the problem is asking.
Ask group members to:
Circle or underline key phrases or words
Scratch out information that is not needed to solve the problem
Determine what the solution should look like:
Is there more than one question being asked?
Should the answer include units? If so, what are they?
Make sure everyone participates.

2. PLANNER
Work with your team to make a PLAN. There may be more than one way to solve the problem.
Ask group members:
What kind of strategies could we use?
What operations will be necessary?
Make sure everyone participates.
CHECKER
Make sure your team has checked their work, using inverse operations.
Ask group members:
Do we all have the same answer? (even if we didn’t use the same strategy)
If we have different answers, how can we determine which is correct?
Is our answer reasonable?
You will need to work through the problem together until you agree on a solution.
Make sure everyone participates.

3. EVERYONE SOLVES THE PROBLEM
RECIPROCAL PROBLEM-SOLVING 1 2 3 5 4
EVERYONE SOLVES THE PROBLEM