If a student cant identify distance, time, or velocity from a word problem, i would wonder if they really dont understand what these things are.
Alan Van Heuvelen developed some materials called ALPS (i think it stands for Active Learning Problem Solving sheets). These materials ask problems in a variety of ways. The student is asked to draw diagrams that represent the situation. For a different set of problems, students are to draw vectors that represent the situation. Separately, students will work on writing N2L in component form. Students are asked to do these separately from solving problems in order to encourage them to see the value in doing these things themselves, not just to get to the number at the end of a word problem.
Paul Lulai
Physics Teacher
St Anthony Village S.H.
3303 33rd Ave NE
St Anthony Village, MN 55418