This study describes a conceptual teaching approach that helps students make connections between their everyday activities and mathematical word problems. It includes a brief review of the importance of teaching for understanding and describes four principles of conceptual teaching: (1) use cooperative groups; (2) allow students enough time to act out and work out problem solutions; (3) encourage students to reflect on the reasonableness of their answers; and (4) accept alternative solutions. This type of teaching allows teachers to regularly evaluate students' understanding of problem-solving situations and their thinking processes. Most of all, helping students make sense of story problems through the conceptual teaching approach builds their confidence in their ability to make appropriate decisions and to blend computational with common-sense answers.