Error Analysis Word Problems: Find and Fix the Mistake
Teach students to check a proposed solution against the question.
Teaching notes for parents and teachers
How to teach it
Read the friend's claim aloud. Have the student identify what the printed total includes and explain why the suggested operation does or does not fit.
Example to work through together
Use the model below as you explain the example. Have your student point to the quantities as you discuss them.
The friend’s calculation: 13 + 4 = 17.
The missing quantity: the number of cards before Maya arrived.
? + 4 = 13
13 − 4 = 9
Nine cards were there before. The final thirteen already includes Maya’s four cards.
Ask your student
Would this calculation find the starting amount or a new total?
If your student needs help
If the student corrects only the arithmetic, return to the meaning of the unknown.
Choosing and using the worksheet
These four questions repeat the same kind of mistaken claim with new numbers within twenty. The answer key provides an example explanation. Accept other correct wording or a clear labeled drawing. This is practice in one specific reasoning error, not a test of every possible addition or subtraction mistake.
Make a practice set
Select the worksheet, answer key, or both. When both are selected, the answer key prints after the questions. Keep it separate if you want your student to work independently.
After your student finishes
Ask the child to invent a different question for which adding the two printed numbers would be correct. Comparing that question with the original helps separate the calculation from the meaning of the quantities.
Word problemsFind the Starting Amount Word Problems
Work backward from a final total to find how many there were before.
6 problems · Answer key included
Word problemsSame Numbers, Different Questions Word Problems
Compare two stories with the same numbers: find the new total in one and the starting amount in the other.
2 pairs · 4 word problems · Answer key included
Word problemsExplain Your Thinking Word Problems
Explain why the equation fits a taking-away story.
4 problems · Answer key included
More about subtraction · Grade 1 worksheets
Grade 1 selected skill connection: 1.OA.A.1 (selected subtraction stories and reasoning support). See the Common Core standards for this grade. This worksheet does not cover every requirement in the standard.