Mini-Lesson

Objective: Students will write and solve word problems based on the information in a news story.

1. Tell students that on Tuesday, the Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers to become the 2008 NBA champions. Ask: What other kinds of details might a basketball fan want to know about the winning game? Chart students' ideas on the board. (Examples may include: By how many points did the Celtics win? How many times have the Celtics won in the past? How many years have passed since their last championship win? )

2. Point out that in sports, numbers are very important. Sports fans do calculations to keep track of their favorite team's progress all the time. Pass out the timeforkids.com news story, href="http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids/news/story/0,28277,1815808,00.html">Boston Bounces Back, and read aloud the first paragraph. Direct students' attention to the final scores: 131-92, and have students calculate the difference in points. Tell students that they have just solved a real-life word problem.

3. Divide the class into groups of three or four. Challenge each group to come up with two word problems based on information in the article. Then, have groups trade and solve one another's problems.