Maths Fraction word problems 1

Class 5-5 did problem sums in class today. There is supposed to be an activity for them to play, however, due to time constraints, I had to postphone the activity till tomorrow.

While doing problem sums, this question occured in my mind.
"Does the students understand why they need to show the number sentences, final statements while doing problem solving?" "Did any teacher mention to them before?"

Hence, I grabbed the opportunity to let them be aware of this reasoning.
Firstly, to answer this question, we have to ask ourselves.
"How do we communicate?"

While talking, we communicate in English or Chinese, while writing, we pen our thoughts down. But what about in Mathematics? How are we able to communicate?

Hence, the reason for pupils doing and showing their workings, number sentences, etc... is not to get extra marks which is a possiblity and a bonus for them. The main reason is to communicate. We need to show all these things to "show" whomever is marking our papers/questions that we understand what the problem is asking us. Hence, the most straightforward way to "show" him or her is to work out the solution instead of explaining it in words.

I hope that class 5-5 understands this and will never makes mistakes like omitting any important parts while attempting problem sums.

Mr Xie.