Choosing the Right Tool
📋 What it is
A skilled solver recognises which strategy fits — draw a diagram, work backwards, try a smaller case, or set up equations.
🗣️ Coach says
You now have a toolbox: draw it, work backwards, try small, guess-and-adjust, set up equations. The master skill is RECOGNISING which one fits. End result given? Work backwards. Feels too big? Try small. Match the tool to the problem.
🧠 Memory hook
Match the strategy to the problem — end given? work backwards; too big? try small.
😂 Giggle
Why did the square number look so balanced?
Because it's a number times itself — perfectly matched!
😲 Whoa!
Expert problem-solvers aren’t faster at arithmetic — they’re faster at RECOGNISING which strategy a problem needs, so they start down the right path immediately.
✅ Quick check: A problem gives the final amount and asks for the start. Which strategy fits best?
Say your answer out loud first — then reveal.
Work backwards — reverse the steps from the known end; it’s far easier than guessing the start forward.
Matching the strategy to the problem’s shape is the key meta-skill.
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Take two different word problems and name which strategy each needs. Notice how naming it helps you start.
🔎 How did you work this?