No+Numbers

Strategy 5: The "No Numbers" Strategy
Sometimes students can conceptualize a problem more easily when the numbers are removed. Try it with this problem:  //Leroy paid a total of $23.95 for a pair of pants. That included the sales tax of 6%. What was the price of the pants before the sales tax?//

 A reading of this problem without the numbers might be something like this:  //Leroy bought some pants. The sales tax was included in total price. How much did the pants cost before the tax?//  Then a student might say “I see that we need to subtract!”