Question

List five positive thoughts you can say to yourself that will help you approach word problems with

a positive attitude. You may want to copy them on a sheet of paper and put it in the front of your notebook, where you can read them often.

Short answer

The five thoughts are

1. Read the problem

2. Identify the unknown

3. Name the variable

4. Translate

5. Solve

Step-by-step solution

Step 1. First Thoughts

Read the problem.

Step 2. Second thoughts

Identify what you are looking for.

Step 3. Third Thoughts 

Name what you are looking for by choosing a variable to represent the first number.

Step 4. Forth Thought

Write as one sentence.

Translate into an equation.

Step 5. Fifth thoughts 

Solve the equation.

Combine like terms.