To teach word problems one should appreciate the difficulty of the students. One way to gain this appreciation is to attempt problems that are not the standard curriculum. So look for puzzle books.
Ball, W.W. Rouse,
A Short Account of the History of Mathematics
. New York, NY: Dover, 1960 reprint 1908 edition. Histories may be used to show the students that the difficulties they may be having are analogues to the experiences of mathematicians. Ball discusses “Rhetorical” Algebra.
Ball, W.W. Rouse and H.S.M. Coxeter,
Mathematical Recreations and Essays
. Hong Kong: for University of Toronto Press, copyright Trinity College, Cambridge, 1974. A problem book. If puzzles or more difficult “PickaNumber” examples can be used here is one source.
Biggs, Edith,
Mathematics for Older Children
. New York, NY: Citation Press, 1972. Directed towards discovery teaching. Something to read as one is teaching word problems it will remind one to ask not to tell.
Jacobs Harold R.,
Mathematics a Human Endeavor
. San Francisco, CA: W. H. Freeman and Co., 1970. A text, has a more elementary example of “PickaNumber”. A book for the anxious.
Kogelman, Stanley and Joseph Warren,
Mind over Math
. New York, NY: McGrawHill Book Co., 1978. See the text.
Polya, George,
How to Solve It
. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press, 1973. See text.
Tobias, Sheila,
Overcoming Math Anxiety
. Boston’ MA: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1978. See text.