5 Tangible Ways to Support Productive Struggle in Elementary Math

One of my favorite challenges in teaching math is finding different ways to support productive struggle for our students. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing ALL learners persevere as they work out a math problem.

But this is no easy feat, right?

Over the years, I’ve learned some concrete ways to support my math students as they work through word problems and complex algorithms. Today I want to share these ideas because they’ve been a great help in the work towards supporting productive struggle.

And the best part? These are all tangible things you can try in your next math lesson!

I’m also sharing a free resource to support productive struggle at the end of this post.

Unpack Problems Before Solving

Tackling a new word problem? One of the easiest ways to support productive struggle is unpacking the problem with your students.

We are fortunate to use Ready Math in our district and this structure is embedded into the word problems we solve in each lesson.

But there are other tangible ways to unpack any word problems with students.

One of my favorites is a strategy I learned about at several workshops over the years…covering the numbers in a word problem:

It sounds so simple…but the moment those numbers are covered, your students will be able to read the problem and focus on the meaning.

Hiding the numbers also helps with those instant problem solvers, which can be a deterrent to other students who could use more time to work things out.

As well as those students who always add the numbers given in the problem.

With the numbers covered, your class will be able to read for meaning. They can visual the problem, consider important information, and get to the heart of how they will tackle the problem…before solving.

This is such an easy way to support productive struggle and I use it EVERY time I work on word problems with my students.

Provide a Starting Point

Ok, it’s time to start solving that problem!

But there are still students who are completely stuck, unsure of where to even begin.

And so begins the uncomfortable moments with students looking around, hoping to find inspiration from a classmate.

Or a completely blank paper (or whiteboard) and a defeated student just sitting there.

Which leads to a lot of pressure for the teacher. And sometimes too much support is then given to the students…despite our best intentions.

But we truly want our students to persevere and tackle those problems on their own!

To help with this struggle, I have learned it is important to provide my students with a starting point: math mats.

We use math mats for ALL concepts.

Math mats are open-ended visuals and models designed for students to use as a springboard for their math thinking:

I have a post sharing how math mats help and ideas to set them up.

And this is the set we use every day of the school year: Math Mats

Use Manipulatives

As I write this, I am wondering if I should have listed this first.

Why?

Because manipulatives are hands-down one of the BEST ways to support productive struggle.

Manipulatives provide an entry point for all learners to tackle a problem, no matter their skill in math.

They allow our students to represent problems in a concrete way and to truly understand what they are solving.

I firmly believe manipulatives should be incorporated into math work every single day…not just pulled out now and then for if students need them.

But out on the tables, desks, and shelves…ready to access the moment our students would like to build with them.

And you don’t even need a ton of manipulatives! Even the basics will make a HUGE difference in supporting productive struggle.

In fact, I’ve been realizing that less is more when it comes to manipulatives.

And using just a few manipulatives that apply to LOT of math concepts is so helpful, such as base-ten blocks and place value disks.

As well as one of our most-used manipulatives: color tiles!

(I have a post and free resource all about introducing them to your class here: Introducing Color Tiles with 4 Open-Ended Questions)

I have a post sharing all the ways we use this one manipulative, across so many different concepts:

How to Use Color Tiles in Math: 20 Easy Photo Ideas

Provide Reference Charts

My other favorite tangible support for productive struggle is providing reference charts.

Just like manipulatives, a visual chart can truly help students as they persevere through challenging tasks.

Our favorite (and most-used) reference charts are multiples charts.

We use these for so many concepts, from multi-digit multiplication and division to all kinds of operations with fractions:

And my younger math students like to use these hundreds charts to find patterns and solve addition and subtraction word problems and algorithms.

(I even see my older students using these now and then!)

I like to laminate these colorful reference charts so my students can write directly on them as they solve.

Use Open-Ended Questions

Of all the tangible ideas to support productive struggle, I think this one is my favorite.

A carefully-constructed question shared at the right time can make all the difference for a student who is struggling to solve a problem.

I strive to embed these questions in everything we do, such as rounding to the nearest ten and rounding to the nearest hundred:

(this is from a lesson in my Math Intervention Kits series).

And these questions are so important to use during hands-on explorations, such as our Prime and Composite Numbers Project:

Whenever I see my students stuck while solving, I try to guide them with an open-ended question. This can help shift their thinking into a new direction and it saves me from giving too much information and telling them how to solve the problem.

And here’s the great thing about asking open-ended questions: once you start trying this, it becomes a habit over time.

This has been such a help that I created a set of visuals for students featuring questions they can ask themselves to try new strategies when unsure of what to do next.

This resource features digital slides that can be used to open lessons with a goal or learning target: