My students glued this visual into their math books as a reference.
In my Year 3-4 syndicate we have made lanyards with group jobs/roles, so that each child is included and participates fully. We have found that a group of three works well. The tasks above have been placed on coloured card (one side has the picture and the other the job) and laminated. Enlarge the PDF to copy.
Using a highlighter to identify key words and numbers helped my students when faced with a story problem:
The teacher bought 48 packs of pencils at the beginning of the year. There were 5 pencils in each pack. How many pencils did she buy?
What do you notice?
What do you wonder?
What connections can you make?
Why is the curved line shorter than the straight line?