Solving math word problems can pose a significant challenge for students. While various processes and strategies exist for solving these problems, not all are equally effective.

There is, however, a strategy called R.I.E.D.S. that’s a game-changer when it comes to solving math word problems. I tried it out with my fourth-grade students, and in just six weeks, their problem-solving skills shot up by 22 percentage points, according to the school district’s benchmark assessment.

In my 20+ years as an educator, I’ve tried many word problem-solving strategies. I have also seen many implemented; some were effective, while others, not so much.

In all honesty, though, strategies are only as effective as the teacher’s implementation. I say this because I’ve seen teachers implement tried-and-true strategies ineffectively, and then blame the students or the strategy for the lack of success, instead of their implementation and execution.

Now, I know you don’t know anything about R.I.D.E.S, so I’m curious about the word problem solving strategy you’re teaching to your students.

If I had to guess, I’d say CUBES. Am I correct?

CUBES: A Popular Strategy for Solving Math Word Problems

Within the last decade (maybe a little longer), I’ve noticed that CUBES has become the go-to strategy for many teachers when it comes to teaching students how to tackle word problems.

CUBES isn’t a bad strategy it’s just that before you go teaching it to your students, you’ve got to tweak a few things.

So, what’s the problem? I had this ongoing debate with some fellow teachers about CUBES not being as effective when you stick too strictly to the steps.

Although there was much evidence suggesting that CUBES wasn’t working for their students, they were adamant that it was an effective strategy. But more than that, they were reluctant to try a new strategy.

I wanted to settle this collegial debate with a bit of outside-school evidence, so I threw a math word problem at my son to see his approach to problem solving.

I couldn’t believe what I was observing.

My Son Too!

Before even reading the word problem, my son began going through a routine. He started by circling all of the numbers.

The whole time he’s circling, I’m sitting there thinking…WTF!

After circling the numbers, he underlined the question. I knew where he was going next, so I stopped him. I couldn’t sit back and watch him reinforce a bad habit.

To confirm my assumption about the strategy he was using, I asked him why he circled the numbers first.

His response? “That’s what you’re supposed to do first. Circle the numbers.” 

I had to break it to him — circling numbers shouldn’t be the first thing you do.

Now, my son being the argumentative person he is, disagreed. He explained that he was following his teacher’s directions and that his work would be marked wrong if he didn’t stick to the steps.

So, I asked him flat out, “Are you using the CUBES strategy?”

“Yep!” he proudly responded.

Instantly, I thought about the teacher at my school who was emotionally attached to CUBES, despite it not working for her students.

Guess what? It wasn’t working for my son either.

As educators, we need to keep in ming — it’s not about what we like and our preferences; it’s about what works for our students.

A Directive to Stop Using Cubes

So, picture this: The math coordinator from the district swings by our school for a visit, doing the whole walkthrough and support thing. Afterward, during our debrief, she sings music to my ears and tells me that the CUBES posters plastered on the walls gotta go.

Turns out, she wasn’t a fan of CUBES either, echoing my sentiments. The minute she walked out the door, I made a beeline for every classroom with those posters and broke the news about the district directive.

Now, I get it, if you’re a teacher, you might be side-eyeing me for bossing other teachers around and reducing teacher autonomy. But hey, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

I believe in teacher autonomy and buy-in, but not when it adversely impacts students’ learning. 

See, if a strategy isn’t cutting it for the students, no matter how much we like it, there are only two moves: either give it a makeover or kick it to the curb. Why? ‘Cause that’s what 1 thing highly effective teachers do.

Here’s the real reason why we had to ditch CUBES:

1. It wasn’t working for our students – they problem skills were below grade-level.
2. Teachers were clinging to it without giving it a facelift, stuck in their ways.
3. There were more effective methods in the toolbox.

So, What is CUBES?

CUBES is a math word problem-solving strategy, with each letter representing an actionable step. 

If you search the web, you’ll discover several variations of CUBES. Some variations strengthen the strategy, but holes still remain. For example, the Caffeine Queen Teacher discusses CUBES in her blog titled How to Teach Math Word Problems – CUBES Math Strategy. She refined the strategy by adding a critical and necessary component: read to understand the problem. Everything else, though, stayed the same. After they read, they began circling numbers.

3 Holes in the CUBES Strategy

Issue #1: The initial step instructs students to circle key numbers.

This poses a challenge because it’s impossible to determine which numbers are crucial without first reading the problem and pinpointing the question and/or task.

Problem #2: CUBES advises students to circle, underline, and box various types of information.

This implies that students have to recall what to circle, underline, and box.

While it might not seem like a big deal, it results in inconsistencies in how students approach coding word problems. For instance, when I asked students in one class about the specific actions for each letter, they provided different responses.

Let me throw a scenario at you: Do students need to circle all numbers in the following word problem?

“Danielle had 5 red apples, 3 shirts, and 3 green apples. How many apples did Danielle have?”

No, they don’t—which is precisely why circling all numbers from the get-go is futile and a waste of time.

The Hole That Leads to Frustration

Issue #3: When it comes to the “B” in CUBES, many teachers advise students to box key words and phrases (e.g., altogether, in all, and how many more) that suggest the operation to perform.

This becomes problematic because key words and phrases are not always present in word problems.

Consider this problem:

“Maria saw three yellow butterflies. She also saw eight orange butterflies. How many butterflies did Maria see?”

When students exclusively tackle problems containing key words, they face difficulties when approaching problems lacking them. This leads to frustration and a tendency for students to give up when they encounter unfamiliar scenarios.

Another snag with this strategy is that students often end up boxing irrelevant words.

Take this problem, for example:

“Justin baked two pies for his first baking contest. Unfortunately, the testers said the pies weren’t sweet enough, and he lost. The second time he entered the contest, he added 1 cup of lemon juice and twice the amount of sugar. How much sugar did he put in the first recipe if he put 4 cups of sugar in the second recipe?”

In such problems, I’ve observed students boxing words like “added” and “twice.” While “twice” is relevant and necessary to solve the problem, “added” is not. However, students box it because they perceive it as a math clue word, leading to unnecessary misconceptions.

A Better Strategy For Solving Word Problems: R.I.E.D.S.

As I mentioned earlier, R.I.E.D.S. is tried-and-true After giving it a shot for just six weeks, my students’ word problem skills shot up by 22 percentage points, soaring from 54% to a solid 76%.

Now, you’re probably curious about what sets R.I.E.D.S. apart from CUBES, right? Let me break it down.

First off, while reading might be implied in CUBES, R.I.E.D.S. explicitly tells students to read the problem for understanding. This is crucial because, from my experience, some students don’t dive into the reading until after they’ve already done the first three steps in the CUBES strategy, which is a gap in the strategy.

Only after students have read and fully grasped the problem should they start digging in.

Secondly, it’s not about boxing key words with R.I.E.D.S. It’s all about identifying the relevant info needed to crack the problem.

Thirdly, with R.I.E.D.S., students use the question or task in the problem to guide their decision-making, from spotting relevant details to figuring out which operation(s) to use.

Fourthly, R.I.E.D.S. calls out developing a plan, a crucial step to solving word problems. A step that engages students in metacognitive thinking

Solving Word Problems Using R.I.E.D.S.

R.I.E.D.S. is a simple five-step strategy for cracking word problems. Let me break it down for you:

Step 1: Read and Understand the Problem

The goal here is to get students reading and truly getting what the problem is about. We want them to explain the situation in the problem without diving into the numbers. For example, look at this problem:

“There are 15 cupcakes. The first-grade students ate 7 of the cupcakes. How many cupcakes are left?”

If your students tackle this problem, you want them to say something like, “There are some cupcakes, and the students ate some.”

Teachers often tell me that their students struggle with determining what operation is needed to solve the problem. When students focus on the situation instead of the numbers, the operation needed to solve the problem sometimes becomes obvious.

Just think about it. If there were some cupcakes and the students ate some, it’s obvious that the subtracting is the operation needed to solve the problem.

Step 2: Identify the Question/Task

This step is the engine of the whole process. It’s crucial that students pinpoint (box, underline, highlight, etc.) the question/task and understand what’s being asked.

Step 3: Extract Relevant Information

After identifying the question or task, students need to read and reread each sentence, grabbing the info they need to solve the problem. They should keep going back to the question/task, asking themselves: “Are there any details from this sentence that can help me solve the problem?”

Step 4: Develop a Plan

During this step, students think about how to tackle the problem, considering different problem-solving strategies, such as make a table, work backwards, use logical reasons, find a pattern, solve a simpler problem, etc.

It’s crucial that students are exposed to a variety of problem solving strategies and given opportunities to solve problems that require the use of various strategies.

Step 5: Solve

This step is straightforward; students simply record their answer.

Recommendations for Success

To help your students master this strategy and become skillful at solving math word problems, I have a few recommendations for you:

1. Devote Dedicated Time: Set aside a chunk of your math block specifically for problem-solving, around 10-15 minutes. For real proficiency, students need daily chances to dive into problem-solving, tackling at least two problems each day.
2. Diversify Word Problems: Mix it up! Ensure that the word problems your students tackle cover various types, such as take-away, add-to, end unknown, change unknown, etc. When all problems involve the same operation, things get too predictable, and the critical thinking needed takes a hit. Check out this link for a variety of word problem types to keep things fresh.
3. Reasoning Matters: Ask your students to explain why they chose certain details to help them solve the problem. Spend time discussing why those details matter in the context of the problem.
4. Start Simple, Go Gradual: Kick off with single-step problems before diving into the complexity of multiple-step word problems.
5. Gradual Release and Think Aloud: Use the gradual release model until students begin showing mastery with the strategy and various types of word problems. When modeling problem-solving, think aloud. Let your students in on your thought process. It’s like giving them a backstage pass to your brain.
6. Teach Strategies and Foster Thinking: Equip your students with problem-solving strategies. Encourage them to ponder the methods they could use to crack a problem, supporting both flexible and metacognitive thinking. These are key skills for becoming adept problem-solvers.

Remember, to ace many word problems, students need a plan before they dive into computation. So, expose them to a variety of problem-solving strategies – it’s the roadmap to success!

How Did R.I.E.D.S. Come About?

Here’s how R.I.E.D.S. came into the picture.

Back in the 2008-2009 school year, we got our fall benchmark scores and were handed the mission to pick a standard to boost student achievement by the next benchmark assessment. I went with a math standard: solving word problems using the four operations.

Now, once I committed to leveling up my students’ word problem-solving game, I needed something that actually worked. I had tried two problem-solving strategies (I don’t recall their names), but they just weren’t cutting it.

So, I started thinking about the way I personally tackled word problems and wondered, “How can I turn this into a step-by-step, kid-friendly process?” And that’s when the magic of R.I.E.D.S. started brewing.

Word Problems and End-of-Grade Assessments

Let me tell you about our End-of-Grade state math assessment here in Georgia – it’s like a word problem marathon.

They don’t just throw isolated computations at our students. Nope. It’s all about diving into word problems.

Now, picture this – even if your students can crunch numbers like math wizards, without a solid strategy for tackling word problems, they might just miss the mark on that math assessment.

And that’s where R.I.E.D.S. comes in.

It’s the key to unlocking math success in the world of word problems.