How to Successfully Teach Eureka Math (Engage NY Math): The Application Problem

Now that you’ve mastered the fluency practice portion of Eureka lessons, we’ll talk about one of the next major components of the lesson -  the Application Problem. ​

The Application problem, along with the concept development make up the majority of your math lesson.

Typically, the application problem (if there is one) will take about 5-10 minutes, and the concept development between 30 and 40 minutes.
​
In most lessons, the application problem happens prior to the concept development. It provides students with quick word problem practice in which they will use their prior knowledge to solve.

Eureka employs a 3 part strategy to solve word problems which students will use on the application problems. The 3 part strategy is Read, Draw, Write - or RDW.​​

• ​​Read: Students read the problem at least once to gain an understanding of what the question is asking.
• Draw: Students will draw a picture or diagram to represent what is happening in the problem.
• Write: Students will solve and write their answer in a complete sentence.

Application Problem page from the workbook I created to help students write in complete sentences and improve their penmanship.

If you are using the student workbooks from Eureka, then the application problem is found in the Learn workbook and includes a space for working each of the 3 steps. If you are not using the physical books, then the application problem will need to be read aloud or displayed on your projector. Students may need to be reminded of the steps to solve, and can use whiteboards or a math journal to show their work.

I always include all the application problems in my math lesson PowerPoint presentations so that I don't forget to address them (see slide below for a fourth grade example).  

My school didn't order workbooks, leaving us to make our own copies. I figured if I was going to make my own copies, I should have exactly what I needed to help my students meet as many learning goals as possible. Therefore, I created my own Application Problem workbooks to solve a few issues I was having in my own classroom.

 My students were able to solve the problems, but were consistently forgetting to write their answers in a complete sentence. Additionally, I noticed that several of my students were struggling with their penmanship and needed additional practice. 

​To help with these issues, I created workbooks  that included the problems, ample space to draw, AND sentence stems. The  sentence stems were complete sentences (minus the actual answer) for the students to trace - that way they were BOTH writing in complete sentences AND practicing their penmanship! I love efficiency!

...they were BOTH writing in complete sentences AND practicing their penmanship!

If you think these Application Problem Workbooks would help in your classroom, I have them for sale in my TpT Store. 

I had many students who didn't need as much support, so for those students I created two options with blank lines - both with and without a dotted center line.

​When I began creating these for teachers with older students in fourth and 5th grade, I included a sentence stem option in cursive and manuscript as well as blank lines. I like to ensure that my students have a "just right" option if I can. All of this while still allowing the students to choose their own strategy to solve the problem.

When teaching the application problem, allow a few minutes for students to solve independently, then go over the problem together so students can check their work. I recommend showing them different strategies for solving when applicable so students can see how different methods work.

If you are short on time, consider moving the Application Problem to your morning work time or insert it at some other point during the day but try not to skip it. The application problem is important because it provides daily practice with word problems. It also gives students a chance to apply the skills and strategies they have previously learned and encourages them to make connections to the new content they are about to learn.

Next time, we'll dive into the meat and potatoes of the Eureka Math/Engage NY Math lessons - the Concept Development.