Feel free to use the following format for your child to practice creating an image of the important details

in a story problem. Limit the amount of time that your child has to draw the picture (1 2 minutes) so that he/she has to focus on drawing the key details first. This activity will build your childs ability to create a mental image to accompany a math problem (whether it be a number sentence problem or a story problem). Strong mathematical thinkers are able to rely on mental images to help them solve challenging problems. Below is an example of a story problem. Please get creative and change the details in the story in order to provide your child with a variety of problems with which to practice this skill.

Example: Ben had four pieces of candy. He gave his little brother two
Draw this story:

pie ces of his can dy. Ho w ma ny pie

ces does Ben have left?

Show this story on a ten frame:

Write the number sentence for this story:

Answer: Ben has ____ pieces of candy left.