What are the best strategies to help a student who keeps making small mistakes in Algebra 1?

Question

I’m tutoring a student who understands Algebra 1 concepts but often makes small errors—sign mistakes, distributing errors, or incorrect arithmetic—that lower their grade. They rush through problems even though they know the steps. What strategies have helped your students build accuracy and attention to detail on multi-step equations?

Answer 1

The great thing about algebra is the ability to check your answers. For any equation, plus that answer back into the original equation and make sure it's correct.

For expressions, plug any value for the variable, both to the original problem and the answer. If they don't match, there's an error. It's best not to use 0 or 1 for this, though, since they have unique properties that could lead to a false conclusion.

Answer 2

One helpful strategy is to use a checklist or mnemonic as a mental “pause button” before moving on to the next step. For example, creating a simple acronym like SAD can help:

1. S – Signs: Double-check positive and negative signs
2. A – Arithmetic: Re-do any mental calculations to confirm accuracy
3. D – Distribute: Make sure the distributive property is applied to every term

Having the student jot this checklist in the corner of their paper and quickly review each step before finalizing an answer encourages them to slow down and focus on detail, which can reduce careless mistakes without slowing down problem-solving too much.

Having the student read their work aloud can also help catch errors they might miss when working silently. Changing how they process the problem—by hearing it—can improve attention to detail.