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14 Effective Ways to Help Your Students Conquer Math Word Problems

If a train leaving Minneapolis is traveling at 87 miles an hour…

Word Problems WeAreTeachers

Word problems can be tricky for a lot of students, but they’re incredibly important to master. After all, in the real world, most math is in the form of word problems. “If one gallon of paint covers 400 square feet, and my wall measures 34 feet by 8 feet, how many gallons do I need?” “This sweater costs $135, but it’s on sale for 35% off. So how much is that?” Here are the best teacher-tested ideas for helping kids get a handle on these problems.

1. Solve word problems regularly

skills needed to solve math word problems

This might be the most important tip of all. Word problems should be part of everyday math practice, especially for older kids. Whenever possible, use word problems every time you teach a new math skill. Even better: give students a daily word problem to solve so they’ll get comfortable with the process.

Learn more: Teaching With Jennifer Findlay

2. Teach problem-solving routines

Word Problems Teacher Trap

There are a LOT of strategies out there for teaching kids how to solve word problems (keep reading to see some terrific examples). The important thing to remember is that what works for one student may not work for another. So introduce a basic routine like Plan-Solve-Check that every kid can use every time. You can expand on the Plan and Solve steps in a variety of ways, but this basic 3-step process ensures kids slow down and take their time.

Learn more: Word Problems Made Easy

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3. Visualize or model the problem

skills needed to solve math word problems

Encourage students to think of word problems as an actual story or scenario. Try acting the problem out if possible, and draw pictures, diagrams, or models. Learn more about this method and get free printable templates at the link.

Learn more: Math Geek Mama

4. Make sure they identify the actual question

skills needed to solve math word problems

Educator Robert Kaplinsky asked 32 eighth grade students to answer this nonsensical word problem. Only 25% of them realized they didn’t have the right information to answer the actual question; the other 75% gave a variety of numerical answers that involved adding, subtracting, or dividing the two numbers. That tells us kids really need to be trained to identify the actual question being asked before they proceed. 

Learn more: Robert Kaplinsky

5. Remove the numbers

skills needed to solve math word problems

It seems counterintuitive … math without numbers? But this word problem strategy really forces kids to slow down and examine the problem itself, without focusing on numbers at first. If the numbers were removed from the sheep/shepherd problem above, students would have no choice but to slow down and read more carefully, rather than plowing ahead without thinking. 

Learn more: Where the Magic Happens Teaching

6. Try the CUBES method

skills needed to solve math word problems

This is a tried-and-true method for teaching word problems, and it’s really effective for kids who are prone to working too fast and missing details. By taking the time to circle, box, and underline important information, students are more likely to find the correct answer to the question actually being asked.

Learn more: Teaching With a Mountain View

7. Show word problems the LOVE

Word Problems Jennifer Findlay

Here’s another fun acronym for tackling word problems: LOVE. Using this method, kids Label numbers and other key info, then explain Our thinking by writing the equation as a sentence. They use Visuals or models to help plan and list any and all Equations they’ll use. 

8. Consider teaching word problem key words

skills needed to solve math word problems

This is one of those methods that some teachers love and others hate. Those who like it feel it offers kids a simple tool for making sense of words and how they relate to math. Others feel it’s outdated, and prefer to teach word problems using context and situations instead (see below). You might just consider this one more trick to keep in your toolbox for students who need it.

Learn more: Book Units Teacher

9. Determine the operation for the situation

skills needed to solve math word problems

Instead of (or in addition to) key words, have kids really analyze the situation presented to determine the right operation(s) to use. Some key words, like “total,” can be pretty vague. It’s worth taking the time to dig deeper into what the problem is really asking. Get a free printable chart and learn how to use this method at the link.

Learn more: Solving Word Problems With Jennifer Findlay

10. Differentiate word problems to build skills

skills needed to solve math word problems

Sometimes students get so distracted by numbers that look big or scary that they give up right off the bat. For those cases, try working your way up to the skill at hand. For instance, instead of jumping right to subtracting 4 digit numbers, make the numbers smaller to start. Each successive problem can be a little more difficult, but kids will see they can use the same method regardless of the numbers themselves.

Learn more: Differentiating Math 

11. Ensure they can justify their answers

skills needed to solve math word problems

One of the quickest ways to find mistakes is to look closely at your answer and ensure it makes sense. If students can explain how they came to their conclusion, they’re much more likely to get the answer right. That’s why teachers have been asking students to “show their work” for decades now.

Learn more: Madly Learning

12. Write the answer in a sentence

skills needed to solve math word problems

When you think about it, this one makes so much sense. Word problems are presented in complete sentences, so the answers should be too. This helps students make certain they’re actually answering the question being asked… part of justifying their answer.

Learn more: Multi-Step Word Problems

13. Add rigor to your word problems

skills needed to solve math word problems

A smart way to help kids conquer word problems is to, well… give them better problems to conquer. A rich math word problem is accessible and feels real to students, like something that matters. It should allow for different ways to solve it and be open for discussion. A series of problems should be varied, using different operations and situations when possible, and even include multiple steps. Visit both of the links below for excellent tips on adding rigor to your math word problems.

Learn more: The Routty Math Teacher and Alyssa Teaches

14. Use a problem-solving rounds activity.

Word Problems Teacher Trap 3

Put all those word problem strategies and skills together with this whole-class activity. Start by reading the problem as a group and sharing important information. Then, have students work with a partner to plan how they’ll solve it. In round three, kids use those plans to solve the problem individually. Finally, they share their answer and methods with their partner and the class. Be sure to recognize and respect all problem-solving strategies that lead to the correct answer.

Learn more: Teacher Trap

Like these word problem tips and tricks? Learn more about Why It’s Important to Honor All Math Strategies .

Plus, 60+ Awesome Websites For Teaching and Learning Math .

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Education Corner

Strategies for Solving Math Word Problems

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Math word problems can be tricky and often challenging to solve. Employing the SQRQCQ method can make solving math word problems easier and less intimidating.

The SQRQCQ method is particularly useful for children with learning disabilities and can be used effectively in special education programs. SQRQCQ is an abbreviation for Survey, Question, Read, Question, Compute, and Question.

Step 1 – SURVEY the Math Problem

The first step to solving a math word problem is to read the problem in its entirety to understand what you are being asked to solve. After you read it, you can decide the most relevant aspects of the problem that need to be solved and what aspects are not relevant to solving the problem. The idea here is to get a general understanding.

Step 2 – QUESTION

Once you have an idea of what you’re attempting to solve, you need to determine what formulas, steps, or equations should be utilized in order to find the correct answer. It is impossible to find an answer if you can’t determine what needs to be solved. Basically, what are the questions being asked by the problem?

Step 3 – REREAD

Now that you’ve determined what needs to be solved, reread the problem and pay close attention to specific details. Determine which aspects of the problem are interrelated. Identify all relevant facts and information needed to solve the problem. As you do, write them down.

Step 4 – QUESTION

Now that you’re familiar with specific details and how different facts and information within the problem are interrelated, determine what formulas or equations must be used to set up and solve the problem. Be sure to write down what steps or operations you will use for easy reference.

Step 5 – COMPUTE

Use the formulas and/or equations identified in the previous step to complete the calculations. Be sure to follow the steps you outlined while setting up an equation or using a formula. As you complete each step, check it off your list.

Step 6 – QUESTION

Once you’ve completed the calculations, review the final answer and make sure it is correct and accurate. If it does not appear logical, review the steps you took to find the answer and look for calculation or set-up errors. Recalculate the numbers or make other changes until you get an answer that makes sense.

How does SQRQCQ help students with learning disabilities?

Math word problems tend to be especially challenging for Learning Disabled (LD) students. LD students often lack “Concept Imagery”, or the ability to visualize the whole problem by creating a complete mental image. They often jump right into calculations and computations without understanding what the problem is asking or what they’re looking for.

LD students may also struggle to understand the words or wording within math word problems correctly. The inability to correctly interpret and understand wording greatly impacts their math reasoning skills and often leads them to making the wrong calculations and arriving incorrect conclusions.

Remembering and manipulating information and details in their working memory is another challenge some LD students face as they try to see the whole picture. Slow processing of information, followed by frustration and anxiety, will often lead LD students to try and get through math word problems as quickly as possible – which is why they often jump straight into computations in their attempt to make it to the finish line as quickly as possible.

SQRQCQ is a metacognitive guide that provides LD students with a logical order for solving math word problems. It provides just enough direction to guide them through the reasoning process without overwhelming them. SQRQCQ is also a mnemonic that is easy for students to remember and which they can fall back on when completing homework or taking tests.

Read also: – A Guide for St u dying Math

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skills needed to solve math word problems

Strategies for Solving Word Problems – Math

skills needed to solve math word problems

It’s one thing to solve a math equation when all of the numbers are given to you but with word problems, when you start adding reading to the mix, that’s when it gets especially tricky.

The simple addition of those words ramps up the difficulty (and sometimes the math anxiety) by about 100!

How can you help your students become confident word problem solvers? By teaching your students to solve word problems in a step by step, organized way, you will give them the tools they need to solve word problems in a much more effective way.

Here are the seven strategies I use to help students solve word problems.

1. read the entire word problem.

Before students look for keywords and try to figure out what to do, they need to slow down a bit and read the whole word problem once (and even better, twice). This helps kids get the bigger picture to be able to understand it a little better too.

2. Think About the Word Problem

Students need to ask themselves three questions every time they are faced with a word problem. These questions will help them to set up a plan for solving the problem.

Here are the questions:

A. what exactly is the question.

What is the problem asking? Often times, curriculum writers include extra information in the problem for seemingly no good reason, except maybe to train kids to ignore that extraneous information (grrrr!). Students need to be able to stay focused, ignore those extra details, and find out what the real question is in a particular problem.

B. What do I need in order to find the answer?

Students need to narrow it down, even more, to figure out what is needed to solve the problem, whether it’s adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, or some combination of those. They’ll need a general idea of which information will be used (or not used) and what they’ll be doing.

This is where key words become very helpful. When students learn to recognize that certain words mean to add (like in all, altogether, combined ), while others mean to subtract, multiply, or to divide, it helps them decide how to proceed a little better

Here’s a Key Words Chart I like to use for teaching word problems. The handout could be copied at a smaller size and glued into interactive math notebooks. It could be placed in math folders or in binders under the math section if your students use binders.

One year I made huge math signs (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and divide symbols) and wrote the keywords around the symbols. These served as a permanent reminder of keywords for word problems in the classroom.

If you’d like to download this FREE Key Words handout, click here:

skills needed to solve math word problems

C. What information do I already have?

This is where students will focus in on the numbers which will be used to solve the problem.

3. Write on the Word Problem

This step reinforces the thinking which took place in step number two. Students use a pencil or colored pencils to notate information on worksheets (not books of course, unless they’re consumable). There are lots of ways to do this, but here’s what I like to do:

  • Circle any numbers you’ll use.
  • Lightly cross out any information you don’t need.
  • Underline the phrase or sentence which tells exactly what you’ll need to find.

4. Draw a Simple Picture and Label It

Drawing pictures using simple shapes like squares, circles, and rectangles help students visualize problems. Adding numbers or names as labels help too.

For example, if the word problem says that there were five boxes and each box had 4 apples in it, kids can draw five squares with the number four in each square. Instantly, kids can see the answer so much more easily!

5. Estimate the Answer Before Solving

Having a general idea of a ballpark answer for the problem lets students know if their actual answer is reasonable or not. This quick, rough estimate is a good math habit to get into. It helps students really think about their answer’s accuracy when the problem is finally solved.

6. Check Your Work When Done

This strategy goes along with the fifth strategy. One of the phrases I constantly use during math time is, Is your answer reasonable ? I want students to do more than to be number crunchers but to really think about what those numbers mean.

Also, when students get into the habit of checking work, they are more apt to catch careless mistakes, which are often the root of incorrect answers.

7. Practice Word Problems Often

Just like it takes practice to learn to play the clarinet, to dribble a ball in soccer, and to draw realistically, it takes practice to become a master word problem solver.

When students practice word problems, often several things happen. Word problems become less scary (no, really).

They start to notice similarities in types of problems and are able to more quickly understand how to solve them. They will gain confidence even when dealing with new types of word problems, knowing that they have successfully solved many word problems in the past.

If you’re looking for some word problem task cards, I have quite a few of them for 3rd – 5th graders.

This 3rd grade math task cards bundle has word problems in almost every one of its 30 task card sets..

There are also specific sets that are dedicated to word problems and two-step word problems too. I love these because there’s a task card set for every standard.

CLICK HERE to take a look at 3rd grade:

3rd Grade Math Task Cards Mega Bundle | 3rd Grade Math Centers Bundle

This 4th Grade Math Task Cards Bundle also has lots of word problems in almost every single of its 30 task card sets. These cards are perfect for centers, whole class, and for one on one.

CLICK HERE to see 4th grade:

th Grade 960 Math Task Cards Mega Bundle | 4th Grade Math Centers

This 5th Grade Math Task Cards Bundle is also loaded with word problems to give your students focused practice.

CLICK HERE to take a look at 5th grade:

5th Grade Math Task Cards Mega Bundle - 5th Grade Math Centers

Want to try a FREE set of math task cards to see what you think?

3rd Grade: Rounding Whole Numbers Task Cards

4th Grade: Convert Fractions and Decimals Task Cards

5th Grade: Read, Write, and Compare Decimals Task Cards

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4 Math Word Problem Solving Strategies

Solving Math Word Problems

5 Strategies to Learn to Solve Math Word Problems

A critical step in math fluency is the ability to solve math word problems. The funny thing about solving math word problems is that it isn’t just about math. Students need to have strong reading skills as well as the growth mindset needed for problem-solving. Strong problem solving skills need to be taught as well. In this article, let’s go over some strategies to help students improve their math problem solving skills when it comes to math word problems. These skills are great for students of all levels but especially important for students that struggle with math anxiety or students with animosity toward math.

Signs of Students Struggling with Math Word Problems

It is important to look at the root cause of what is causing the student to struggle with math problems. If you are in a tutoring situation, you can check your students reading level to see if that is contributing to the issue. You can also support the student in understanding math keywords and key phrases that they might need unpacked. Next, students might need to slow their thinking down and be taught to tackle the word problem bit by bit.

How to Help Students Solve Math Word Problems

Focus on math keywords and mathematical key phrases.

The first step in helping students with math word problems is focusing on keywords and phrases. For example, the words combined or increased by can mean addition. If you teach keywords and phrases they should watch out for students will gain the cues needed to go about solving a word problem. It might be a good idea to have them underline or highlight these words.

Cross out Extra Information

Along with highlighting important keywords students should also try to decipher the important from unimportant information. To help emphasize what is important in the problem, ask your students to cross out the unimportant distracting information.  This way, it will allow them to focus on what they can use to solve the problem.

Encourage Asking Questions

As you give them time to read, allow them to have time to ask questions on what they just read. Asking questions will help them understand what to focus on and what to ignore. Once they get through that, they can figure out the right math questions and add another item under their problem-solving strategies.

Draw the Problem

A fun way to help your students understand the problem is through letting them draw it on graph paper. For example, if a math problem asks a student to count the number of fruits that Farmer John has, ask them to draw each fruit while counting them. This is a great strategy for visual learners.

Check Back Once They Answer

Once they figured out the answer to the math problem, ask them to recheck their answer. Checking their answer is a good habit for learning and one that should be encouraged but students need to be taught how to check their answer. So the first step would be to review the word problem to make sure that they are solving the correct problem. Then to make sure that they set it up right. This is important because sometimes students will check their equation but will not reread the word problem and make sure that the equation is set up right. So always have them do this first! Once students believe that they have read and set up the correct equation, they should be taught to check their work and redo the problem, I also like to teach them to use the opposite to double check, for example if their equation is 2+3=5, I will show them how to take 5 which is the whole and check their work backwards 5-3 and that should equal 2. This is an important step and solidifies mathematical thinking in children.

Mnemonic Devices

Mnemonic devices are a great way to remember all of the types of math strategy in this post. The following are ones that I have heard of and wanted to share:

Solving Math Word Problems

CUBES Word Problem Strategy

Cubes is a mnemonic to remember the following steps in solving math word problems:

C: Circle the numbers

U: Underline the question

B: Box in the key words

E: Eliminate the information

S: Solve the problem & show your work

RISE Word Problem Strategy

Rise is another way to explain the steps needed to solve problems:

R: Read and reread

I: Illustrate what is being asked

S: Solve by writing your equation or number sentences

E: Explain your thinking

RISE Math Word Problem Strategy

COINS Word Problem Strategy

C: Comprehend the questions

O: Observe the data

I: Illustrate the problem

N: Write the number sentence (equation)

Understand -Plan – Solve – Check Word Problem Strategy

This is a simple step solution to show students the big picture. I think this along with one of the mnemonic devices helps students with better understanding of the approach.

Understand: What is the question asking? Do you understand all the words?

Plan: What would be a reasonable answer? In this stage students are formulating their approach to the word problem. 

Solve: What strategies will I use to solve this problem? Am I showing my thinking? Here students use the strategies outlined in this post to attack the problem.

Check: Students will ask themselves if they answered the question and if their answer makes sense. 

Understand -Plan - Solve - Check Word Problem Strategy

If you need word problems to use with your classroom, you can check out my word problems resource below.

Math Word Problems

Teaching students how to approach and solve math word problems is an important skill. Solving word problems is the closest math skill that resembles math in the real world. Encouraging students to slow their thinking, examine and analyze the word problem and encourage the habit of answer checking will give your students the learning skills that can be applied not only to math but to all learning. I also wrote a blog post on a specific type of math word problem called cognitively guided instruction you can read information on that too. It is just a different way that math problems are written and worth understanding to teach problem solving, click here to read .

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Praxis Core Math

Course: praxis core math   >   unit 1.

  • Algebraic properties | Lesson
  • Algebraic properties | Worked example
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Algebraic word problems | Lesson

  • Algebraic word problems | Worked example
  • Linear equations | Lesson
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  • Quadratic equations | Lesson
  • Quadratic equations | Worked example

What are algebraic word problems?

What skills are needed.

  • Translating sentences to equations
  • Solving linear equations with one variable
  • Evaluating algebraic expressions
  • Solving problems using Venn diagrams

How do we solve algebraic word problems?

  • Define a variable.
  • Write an equation using the variable.
  • Solve the equation.
  • If the variable is not the answer to the word problem, use the variable to calculate the answer.

What's a Venn diagram?

  • Your answer should be
  • an integer, like 6 ‍  
  • a simplified proper fraction, like 3 / 5 ‍  
  • a simplified improper fraction, like 7 / 4 ‍  
  • a mixed number, like 1   3 / 4 ‍  
  • an exact decimal, like 0.75 ‍  
  • a multiple of pi, like 12   pi ‍   or 2 / 3   pi ‍  
  • (Choice A)   $ 4 ‍   A $ 4 ‍  
  • (Choice B)   $ 5 ‍   B $ 5 ‍  
  • (Choice C)   $ 9 ‍   C $ 9 ‍  
  • (Choice D)   $ 14 ‍   D $ 14 ‍  
  • (Choice E)   $ 20 ‍   E $ 20 ‍  
  • (Choice A)   10 ‍   A 10 ‍  
  • (Choice B)   12 ‍   B 12 ‍  
  • (Choice C)   24 ‍   C 24 ‍  
  • (Choice D)   30 ‍   D 30 ‍  
  • (Choice E)   32 ‍   E 32 ‍  
  • (Choice A)   4 ‍   A 4 ‍  
  • (Choice B)   10 ‍   B 10 ‍  
  • (Choice C)   14 ‍   C 14 ‍  
  • (Choice D)   18 ‍   D 18 ‍  
  • (Choice E)   22 ‍   E 22 ‍  

Things to remember

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Effective Strategies to Help Students Solve Math Word Problems

word problems

Ah, math word problems – these tricky equations can be the bane of a math teacher’s existence. While difficult for many children to master, math word problems are incredibly important as most of the real world’s math is in the form of a question. For example, “How many gallons of paint do I need to buy if one gallon covers 300 square feet, and my wall is 35 feet long by 8 feet tall?”

The challenging part about teaching word problems is the fact that reading comprehension is a big part of understanding the problem. Even the most mathematically gifted student may have issues solving story problems if their reading skills aren’t up to par. As such, it can be a struggle to find a one-size-fits-all strategy for teaching how to solve math word problems.

Let’s take a look at some of the most effective math problem-solving strategies to help students tackle math word problems.

Make Solving Word Problems a Daily Activity

Problem of the day

One of the best ways to get students accustomed to solving word problems is to have them solve them regularly.

Practice makes perfect, after all, so every time you teach a new skill, present a word problem that encourage your students to use that skill to solve the problem.

You can also give your students a daily word problem to solve at home with time at the beginning of each class to discuss the problem and how they reached their answers.

Teach a Plan of Attack

Cubes

One of the most common strategies for solving word problems is teaching a plan of attack that gives students a step-by-step method for reaching the right answer. There are a lot of attack strategies you can teach, with the most popular being:

  • CUBES – Circle the numbers, Underline the question, Box the keywords, Evaluate the problem, Solve
  • RDW – Read the problem, Draw a model, Write the Equation
  • FOPS – Find the problem, Organize the information, Plan how to solve the problem, Solve the problem
  • RUN – Read the Problem, Underline the question, Name the problem type

Teaching attack strategies for solving math story problems is helpful because it gives students a clear plan to follow to find the answer. It makes them focus on reading and understanding the problem rather than just picking out numbers and trying to solve them.

Of course, there is no one-size-fits-all attack strategy. What works for one student may not work for another. It’s a good idea to give kids a basic plan to follow such as Plan, Solve, Check, which will help them slow down and take their time to solve the problem using whatever attack strategy works best for them.

Visualize the Problem

Visualize the Problem

To help students understand the problem better, encourage them to visualize the words. Have them act out the scenario or draw pictures or diagrams to show what’s happening in the problem. Often, seeing the problem spelled out in this manner helps kids see the problem-solving path better.

Take the Numbers Out of the Equation

Numbers Out of the Equation

Another math problem-solving strategy that works well to help students understand what a word problem is really asking is to take all the numbers out of the equation.

It sounds counter-intuitive, but without numbers to worry about, kids are forced to focus on the words and what they’re saying rather than trying to solve the problem without fully comprehending the task.

This strategy is effective because it encourages reading comprehension, which is vital to solving word problems correctly.

At some point, you’ll need to add the numbers back in to solve the problem, but not until you’re sure your students understand exactly what the problem is asking.

Teach Students to Identify Keywords or Context Clues

math vocab

This strategy is one that teachers either love or hate. Some feel it is an outdated approach to math word problem solving, while others feel it gives students a simple way to make sense of what the problem is saying.

For example, the word “more” usually means to add, while the word “fewer” means to subtract. Another example is the word “each,” which typically means to multiply. The problem with teaching keywords in this manner is that these actions aren’t always the right path for solving the problem.

If you teach your students to look for keywords in word problems, it’s a good idea not to mention that certain words mean certain operations, but rather, that certain words are important clues to how the problem should be solved. Refer to these words as context clues and have your students identify these clues to figure out the right operation for the correct solution.

Psst…shameless plug time! I have a cool chart that works as an English to math translator. This translation wall chart is great for setting up the math sentences and equations required for solving word problems. You can find it at my Teachers Pay Teachers store ! It has bright colors that are hard for your students to miss, especially if you use your chart for wall art.

I also have a bingo game that can students matches word descriptions with math expressions. You can check that out in my i nfinity math creations.com store !

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Ask Students to Justify Their Answers

Justify Your Answer

Teachers have demanded that students show their work for years. As frustrating as it is for students to show their work, it’s a vital part of understanding and solving word problems. The better a student can justify their answer, the more likely they are to get the answer right.

Implement a 4-step process for justifying their work when solving a math word problem.

  • Outline the steps you took to solve the problem
  • Tell what math problem-solving strategies and operations you used
  • Label your work
  • Write a sentence that answers the problem’s question and includes your answer

Your students may question why they need to write their answer in sentence form, but if you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Math word problems are written in sentences, so the answer should be written as such, too. It’s a great way to help students know they are definitely answering the question the word problem is asking.

Solving math word problems can be challenging for students and just as frustrating for teachers, but because much of the real world’s math comes in the form of a question, learning to solve word problems is important.

With these math problem-solving strategies, however, hopefully, both you and your students will solve math word problems much easier and with less intimidation than before.

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A Game-Changing Practice Fuses Math and Literacy

A program that scaffolds math with reading and writing has a formerly struggling elementary school in the Bronx dramatically outperforming the state in math.

When Concourse Village Elementary School (CVES) opened in 2013 in the wake of the planned phaseout of P.S. 385, which the New York City Department of Education had tagged with a D, students were struggling academically.

“When we arrived, we found a major deficit across all content areas,” said incoming principal and school founder Alexa Sorden, who was particularly alarmed by the reading scores. “The first year was challenging because we were trying to come up with a plan and say, ‘OK, how are we going to make sure that all the children are reading on grade level so that they’re prepared?’”

Sorden, a former literacy specialist and teacher, felt that a strong foundation in reading and writing underpinned success across all content areas—and she made it the school’s mission to be literacy-first. Today, students employ collaborative literacy strategies to support science and social studies units, for example, and bring their narrative skills to bear while making predictions and inferences as they analyze artwork .

In mathematics, a subject area not traditionally associated with literacy, Concourse Village has developed an especially innovative model that reinforces both reading and computational skills. Students tackle tough mathematical word problems through two literacy strategies: a group reading exercise that relies on what Sorden calls “the power of repeated reading,” and a problem-solving procedure developed by Exemplars, Inc , along with the problems, that requires students to produce an organized body of written artifacts.   

Despite the statistics stacked against them—the school is situated in the poorest congressional district in the nation , and 96 percent of children at CVES are on free and reduced lunch, while 15 percent are homeless—students are now outperforming the averages in both New York State English and math exams by over 40 percent .

What are the details of the math program? We visited the school and spoke to Sorden and fourth-grade mathematics teacher Blair Pacheco at length, and we provide an outline and some video of the school’s practices below.

Translating Math Into Words, and Back Into Numbers

In math classes, CVES students approach challenging word problems by reading, annotating, and writing to tease out the meaning—breaking the problems down into smaller parts and using the power of storytelling and narrative to bolster their insights. Word problems are above grade level to ensure that students are stretching to master difficult concepts.

Before considering solutions to a problem, the students start small by trying to clarify what it is actually saying. Numbers and questions are stripped out, and the class uses a three-read protocol that fosters both group and individual learning: The teacher reads the problem, then the students read it, and then everyone reads it together.

“Sometimes when kids see numbers, they start to get confused,” said Pacheco. “If we take out those numbers for a brief moment, they’re reading it as a story and they’re getting that understanding. It’s no longer just about math.”

For example, in one of Pacheco’s classes, students read: “Jaci and Emma are playing a game on their computer where a player earns points.” Students relay the gist of the story back to the teacher, who writes it on the board for reference.

The word problem—now with numbers included, but still without the questions that ask students to perform calculations or mathematical comparisons—is then shown on the interactive whiteboard, and the students read it aloud and process the information together.

One student annotates the word problem on the board with input from the class—underlining important information, including numbers and key words. In the example from Pacheco’s class, students underline the repeated word round  to indicate that there will likely be several rounds of numbers that might require a comparison or a computation.

Based on the annotations, students then create a “What I Know” chart as a class. For example, Pacheco’s students agree on how many points each player made in each round.

Using the information they have already identified, students hypothesize about what questions might be asked. For example, Pacheco’s students might guess that the question would ask the total number of points for all rounds. Brainstorming possible questions requires students to call on prior knowledge about what they can do with the numbers—compare through greater or lesser than or equal signs, for example, or compute by adding or subtracting.

Finally, the actual question is revealed on the board—and the class reads the whole problem aloud.

From Group to Independent Problem-Solving

After rereading the above-grade-level problem as a class, each student receives a word problem printout differentiated based on their ability. Students work through a five-step problem-solving procedure based on the reading protocol they use as a class. They work independently, or in small groups if they need more support. A checklist of the steps guides them through the problem.

Students scaffold their understanding—and make it visible to themselves and their teachers—by underlining important words, circling the question the problem is asking, and then writing an “I Have To” statement that clarifies what the student must do to arrive at the answer. For example, a student might write, “I have to find out who made the most points in each round.”

Then each student devises a mathematical strategy to solve the problem. They might write, “I will use addition,” “I will multiply,” or “I will use the comparison strategy.”

Finally students solve the problem and double-check their work. They write their answer in a complete sentence, put a box around it, and label it “answer.” They write out an explanation of how they solved the problem using at least two math words, like multiply  and add , and then write a complete sentence making connections to previous math they have learned. They might comment on an observation they made, a pattern or rule they found, a different strategy they could have used, or a comparison they noticed. Writing their takeaways in words reinforces their prior knowledge and how it can be applied in new ways.

“We ask them to make their thinking visible,” says Sorden, explaining the rationale behind all the writing in her school’s math courses. “Create a plan. Make your thinking visible and clear on paper so that anyone that picks it up is able to make meaning about what you were trying to share. We want them to be able to communicate orally and in writing so that their ideas are clearly communicated with the world.”

The problem-solving procedure and math tasks that CVES uses were developed by Exemplars , a company that provides a library of rich performance tasks and professional development for K-12 schools.

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How to Tackle Math Word Problems & Make Sense of Operations

Do your students struggle to make sense of math word problems? They’re not alone! Using meaningful word problem strategies can help kids make sense of operations & have confidence solving word problems.

As students learn the four math operations, it’s imperative that they learn to apply the operations to show higher level thinking.  Students should be able to determine which one to use and apply it to real-life situations , especially considering that our end goal is to create productive thinkers who can change the world.

One way we do this is by providing students with word problems that highlight the math operation and include problems that may happen in the real world .  Let’s explore some common reasons why students struggle with math word problems and learn two word problem strategies to help them overcome these challenges.

*This is a guest post from Jessica at Math with Purpose .

skills needed to solve math word problems

Common Reasons Students Struggle with Word Problems:

1. they’re developing reading comprehension skills.

It’s no surprise that word problems can be a challenge for many students.  After all, many of these students are developing their own reading skills and then being asked to read and interpret informational text in a word problem.

Many word problems include multiple steps which require students to infer what to do first.  In fact, the National Foundation for Educational Research found that poor inferring skills lead to poor comprehension.

It is a skill that students must be explicitly taught and is usually one of the later skills due to its complexity. That means our students are expected to do a higher level of reading comprehension every time they read that short word problem in math class !

2. They’re Relying Only On Keywords (Rather than the Meaning of Operations)

Students can encounter difficulty when translating words into mathematical symbols or equations. They may struggle to identify which mathematical operations are needed to solve the problem and how to represent the problem in a mathematical format.  Many teachers teach students to circle key words and memorize them to determine which operation to use.

Students may learn that addition means to “add to” or “make a total” while subtraction is an action of “taking away”.  Students look for keywords that they can circle to determine whether adding or subtracting.   But what happens when the action is there, but students actually need to solve using a different math operation? Here’s an example:

Gabbi had some stickers.  She earned 12 more stickers for completing her homework.  Now she has 56 stickers.  How many stickers did she have at first?

In this problem, it’s clearly an “add to” situation.  Gabbi is adding to her collection.  However, to solve the problem, a student would need to subtract from the total to find the missing part .

While keywords can help with some problems, they don’t actually work for the variety of word problems students will encounter .

In fact, according to the University of Arizona, students will solve 15 different addition and subtraction problem types by the end of Grade 2 and 9 different multiplication and division problem types by the end of Grade 4.

Read more about the problems with relying on key words in word problems here .

Word Problem Strategies to Help Students Comprehend Operations Before Solving

In order to help students comprehend and solve complicated word problems, math educators have to think like a reading teacher and acknowledge there is a whole set of skills required for students to do the mathematics.

Instead of using basic strategies such as circling key words and plugging in numbers that may work some of the time, teachers can push for greater depth and understanding using two easy word problem strategies .

1. Make connections to prior knowledge and experiences:

One of the first reading strategies students learn is to make a movie of the text in their head and make real-world connections to the story.  The most meaningful connections are text to self connections where students relate the text to their own lives.

Students can do the same thing with a word problem!  They can read the story and make a picture of what’s happening – maybe even act it out with real life objects .

Teachers can also change the nouns in the word problem to be more relatable for each class including student names in the problems and objects that they enjoy doing each day.  This one simple change will help students engage with the text and want to find out more.

2. Visualize the problem by drawing a picture:

Once students are connected to the story of the word problem, it’s time to connect it to mathematics .

Instead of relying on keywords, students can draw visuals of the part-whole, comparison or equal groups models to show what operation will be needed to solve the problem.

Through drawing bar models , students will identify the variable and lay the strong foundation for algebra even beginning in Grade 2.

These visuals aren’t complicated and can be taught easily while students are comprehending the word problem.  You can find out more about these visual models for word problems in this blog post and even snag free posters for each representation for your classroom.

Solving math word problems is a valuable skill that empowers students to apply mathematical knowledge in real-life situations , but it also requires students to use a variety of skills to accomplish.  By thinking like a reading teacher, math educators can employ the skills they use during reading to truly help students master word problems by making connections and visualizing the problem .

If you are looking for more support to help students walk through the variety of word problems they will encounter, consider The Problem Solving Handbook .

It includes 3 video lessons for each problem type, plus practice and challenge problems for students to truly master word problems.

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Reading Comprehension and Math Word Problems: Enhancing Problem-Solving Skills

Reading comprehension and math word problems are two key components of a solid educational foundation. Many students often face challenges when understanding complex texts and solving word problems. This article explores the relationship between reading comprehension and math word problems and how students can develop efficient strategies to excel in both areas.

skills needed to solve math word problems

Understanding the basics of reading comprehension is crucial for learners, as it equips them with the necessary skills to decipher meaning from age-appropriate texts. Similarly, when solving mathematical word problems, students must utilize their comprehension abilities to interpret and extract relevant information from the problem. By applying reading comprehension strategies to word problems, learners can boost their problem-solving skills and excel in subjects that require textual analysis.

Bridging the gap between reading comprehension and word problem-solving is achievable by equipping students with the right tools and techniques. Students can benefit from learning strategies that can be applied across different subjects, ensuring a well-rounded education. The following sections of the article offer valuable insights into using these strategies and commonly asked questions.

Key Takeaways

Strengthening reading comprehension skills supports success in math word problems.

Application of comprehension strategies improves problem-solving across various subjects.

Learners should focus on versatile techniques for a well-rounded education.

Understanding the Basics of Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension is a critical skill for all students, as it enables them to grasp the meaning and significance of text. Students can develop their reading comprehension by focusing on accuracy, understanding the context, and applying the acquired information.

In the context of reading comprehension, accuracy refers to the ability of students to read words and sentences correctly. It is essential for students to have a solid foundation in phonics and vocabulary in order to improve their reading accuracy. To achieve this, they can frequently practice reading texts that are appropriate to their level and gradually increase the difficulty as they gain confidence.

The next aspect of reading comprehension is understanding the context in which a text is written. This requires the students to comprehend the meaning of individual words and phrases and their relationships within the text. To enhance their contextual understanding, students should learn to identify the main ideas, supporting details, and implicit information present in a text.

Additionally, students should consciously try to apply the information they have comprehended. This can be achieved by summarizing, discussing, or even responding to questions related to the text. By actively engaging with the material, students are more likely to retain the information and improve their overall reading comprehension.

Providing students with various types of texts, such as fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, can help them enhance their comprehension skills. Exposure to different genres allows them to encounter diverse language styles, themes, and structures, which in turn contributes to the development of their cognitive abilities.

Reading comprehension is an essential skill that not only improves a student’s academic performance but also contributes to their overall development. With continued practice, patience, and effort, students are capable of enhancing their comprehension skills, enabling them to better understand and appreciate the world around them.

Understanding Word Problems

Mathematics in word problems.

Word problems are essential in mathematics, as they present real-life situations where math is required to find a solution. They involve various mathematical operations, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Geometry word problems may also include concepts like area, volume, or angle measures. Solving these problems is crucial for developing a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts and enhancing problem-solving skills.

Relevance of Word Problems

Math word problems are highly relevant in daily life as well as in various professions. They help students develop critical thinking and decision-making abilities. In subjects like science, engineering, and finance, mathematical word problems often serve as the foundation for complex problem-solving tasks. Thus, mastering word problems is critical for success in both academic and professional settings.

Challenges in Word Problems

Solving word problems can be challenging for multiple reasons:.

  • Language Processing: Students must first understand the problem’s context, which sometimes requires them to process challenging vocabulary or complex sentence structures.
  • Identifying Operations: Once the problem is understood, students need to identify the appropriate mathematical operation(s) (add, subtract, multiply, divide) and apply them to the given numbers.
  • Working with Fractions: Dividing fractions and solving problems that involve fractions can be particularly tricky for some learners.
  • Decoding: Translation of a problem from words to mathematical notation may be an obstacle for certain students.

Despite the challenges, learning to solve mathematical word problems is essential in developing mathematical literacy and problem-solving abilities. By practicing and mastering various types of word problems, students can build confidence in their mathematical skills and apply them in real-life situations.

Strategies to Solve Word Problems Identifying Key Words

To effectively solve mathematical word problems, it is important to identify key words within the text. These words often indicate the operation to perform or provide crucial information for solving the problem. Common key words for addition include sum , total , more , and added to , while subtraction problems often include words like difference , less , fewer , and minus . Multiplication and division problems may contain key words like times , product , divided by , and quotient . Recognizing these words can help guide the problem-solving process.

Problem-Solving Framework

A structured problem-solving framework can aid in approaching these types of problems systematically. Following a simple four-step process can improve students’ ability to find solutions:

  • Understand the problem: Read the problem carefully, identifying the key information and unknowns.
  • Devise a plan: Determine the appropriate operation(s), using the key words and other contextual clues.
  • Implement the plan: Perform the necessary calculations, ensuring accuracy and understanding of each step.
  • Review the solution: Check the solution against the original problem statement to ensure it is reasonable and complete.

Applying this framework to each word problem will build confidence and increase success in problem-solving.

Using Visual and Manipulative Resources

Visual representations and manipulatives can be extremely beneficial in helping students understand and solve word problems. For example, using diagrams, tables, or number lines can help visualize the problem, making it easier to identify the necessary steps for solving.

  • Diagrams : Sketching simple diagrams can clarify relationships between values and simplify complex problems. Examples include bar models, area models, and Venn diagrams.
  • Tables : Organizing data into a table can illustrate patterns, highlight relationships, and streamline calculations.
  • Number Lines : Using a number line can help visualize addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division operations, making it easier to grasp the concept of a given problem.

Similarly, manipulatives such as counters, fraction strips, or base-ten blocks can provide a hands-on approach to understanding abstract concepts and visualizing mathematical relationships. Students can physically manipulate these tools to explore, discover, and demonstrate their understanding of the problem-solving process.

In conclusion, using strategic approaches like identifying key words, employing a problem-solving framework, and incorporating visual representations and manipulatives can greatly enhance the ability to tackle complex math word problems, ultimately leading to a more successful and enjoyable learning experience.

Reading Comprehension and Word Problem Solving in Different Subjects

Math and science.

Reading comprehension is crucial in math and science subjects, as it involves understanding complex concepts and word problems. Students must be able to interpret the information given and apply mathematical and scientific principles to solve problems accurately. This involves breaking down the problem into smaller parts, identifying key terms and variables, and selecting the appropriate formulas or methods to use.

  • Math: In math, word problems can involve a wide range of topics, such as algebra, geometry, and calculus. Students need to decipher the context, translate it into mathematical expressions, and solve for the desired variables.
  • Science: Science subjects like physics, chemistry, and biology also require reading comprehension skills. Students need to understand scientific texts, grasp experiment procedures, and analyze data presented in various formats (tables, graphs, etc.).

Narrative and Social Studies

Reading comprehension and word problem-solving skills are also essential in understanding the context and drawing accurate conclusions in narrative and social studies subjects.

  • Narrative: In literature, reading comprehension involves analyzing the plot, characters, and themes, as well as understanding the author’s purpose and perspective. Additionally, it requires deciphering figurative language, symbolism, and other literary devices.
  • Social Studies: In subjects like history and geography, students need to read and comprehend texts about different cultures, political systems, and historical events. They may need to analyze primary and secondary sources, compare different perspectives, and evaluate the reliability of the information provided.

Both math/science and narrative/social studies subjects require strong reading comprehension skills to navigate and solve word problems or understand complex concepts successfully. By honing these skills, students can improve their overall academic performance and develop a more comprehensive understanding of various topics across different disciplines.

Application of Reading Comprehension Strategies

Reading comprehension strategies are essential for understanding and solving math word problems. By applying these strategies, students can significantly improve their ability to analyze and solve complex problems.

Firstly, identifying the main idea of a problem helps students focus on the most important information. This involves recognizing the key elements of the given problem and disregarding any unnecessary details. For example, in a problem about calculating the total price of items, the main idea is to find the product of the quantity and the unit price.

Visualizing the problem is another effective strategy. By creating a mental or physical image of the problem, students can better understand the relationships between the different elements involved. This may include drawing a diagram or sketch, or even using physical objects to represent the components of the problem.

Utilizing context clues can help students infer meaning and fill in any gaps in their understanding. Context clues can come in the form of definitions, examples, or descriptions that help to clarify unfamiliar terms or concepts. This is particularly helpful for problems with complex or technical language.

Making connections to prior knowledge or experiences allows students to apply previously learned concepts to new problems. This encourages critical thinking and fosters a deeper understanding of the subject matter. When confronted with a math word problem that uses similar concepts or ideas, students can draw on their past experiences to approach the problem confidently.

Another strategy is asking questions while reading through the problem. This practices active engagement with the text and promotes comprehension. Students should pose questions to themselves, such as “What is the problem asking?” or “What information is necessary for solving this problem?”. By doing so, they are better equipped to identify important information and organize their approach in a logical manner.

 In summary, incorporating reading comprehension strategies into math word problems enables students to better decipher complex problems, recognize important information, and develop critical thinking skills. By mastering these strategies, students are well on their way to becoming confident and proficient problem solvers.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are effective strategies for solving math word problems.

To solve math word problems effectively, try the following strategies:

  • Read the problem carefully and identify critical information.
  • Visualize the problem by drawing a model or diagram.
  • Translate words into mathematical expressions or equations.
  • Determine the proper operations to apply.
  • Solve the equation step by step, continuously checking for accuracy.
  • Verify the solution by plugging it back into the original problem.

How can I improve my child's reading comprehension skills for math?

To help your child enhance their reading comprehension skills in math, consider these approaches:

  • Encourage regular reading to develop vocabulary and language skills.
  • Discuss word problems, exploring how language and math concepts are connected.
  • Practice breaking problems down into smaller, more manageable parts.
  • Teach strategies for identifying key words and phrases that signal mathematical operations.
  • Provide opportunities to practice problem-solving in a variety of contexts.

What is the impact of reading comprehension on problem-solving in mathematics?

Reading comprehension greatly impacts problem-solving in mathematics, as it enables students to understand and interpret word problems accurately. Strong reading comprehension skills allow students to identify relevant information, choose appropriate strategies, and apply mathematical concepts to arrive at the correct solution.

How can teachers support special education students with word problems?

Teachers can support special education students in tackling math word problems by:

  • Providing clear instructions and explanations.
  • Using visual aids and manipulatives to represent mathematical concepts.
  • Breaking problems down into smaller steps.
  • Encouraging students to use personal strategies, such as highlighting keywords or drawing diagrams.
  • Offering additional practice opportunities and targeted interventions as needed.

What is the correlation between reading comprehension competence and mathematical problem-solving skills?

There is a strong correlation between reading comprehension competence and mathematical problem-solving skills. Improved reading comprehension fosters better understanding of word problems and the ability to select appropriate strategies to solve them. Consequently, increased proficiency in reading comprehension contributes to enhanced math performance.

Can you provide examples of common math word problems and their solutions?

Sure, here are two examples:

  • Problem: Sarah has 12 apples, and she wants to share them equally between her and two friends. How many apples does each person get?

Solution: Divide the total number of apples (12) by the number of people (3):

12 ÷ 3 = 4.

Each person gets 4 apples.

  • Problem: A rectangular garden is 18 meters long and 4 meters wide. What is the perimeter of the garden?

Solution: Add the lengths of all sides:

(18 + 4) x 2 = 22 x 2 = 44.

The perimeter of the garden is 44 meters.

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Solving Word Problems

Solving math word problems can be a difficult skill both to teach and to learn. While word problems may be challenging, they give students the opportunity to apply and practice the skills they have learned in real-world situations. Adults are regularly called upon to solve mathematical problems in both personal and professional lives. The following suggestions can be used to help students develop the skills needed to tackle and solve word problems in math.

Sound Steps for Solving Word Problems:

1. Take a break before you begin the word problems. The brain actually processes word problems differently than computational math. Giving the student a short mental break between computation and word problems allows for a reset.

2. Read the word problem ALL THE WAY THROUGH first. Do not worry about the

numbers. Then ask yourself, “What do I understand?”

3. Re-read it OUT LOUD again and “BEEP” out the numbers.  This allows the student’s brain to focus on what is being asked instead of trying to capture the process.

4. Are there keywords? Circle them if it helps in understanding. Cross through any unnecessary information.

5. Word problems need to be answered in words. Can you plug your answer in and it makes sense?

6. Alleviate the anxiety. You can reduce anxiety about word problems by helping your child learn to craft their own. Understanding how to construct word problems allows a student to apply their mathematical thinking skills and translate those skills into application.

7. Relax. This is a skill that takes time to develop.

More Observations for the Parent:

Do They Understand?

Ask your student if they understand what the problem is asking for. Underline the sentence that is asking for a solution. 

Which Operation to Use

Students often wonder which operation to use (addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division). Are quantities being put together, or will the result be a greater amount? Then addition or multiplication will most likely be used. Is an amount being separated from a whole, or will the result be less? Subtraction or division are your top choices.

Keywords are Not a Shortcut

Some teachers recommend finding keywords to determine the appropriate operation. While Math-U-See does refer to this technique, it should not be used as the primary means for solving a problem. Depending on keywords alone does not encourage students to think mathematically about a problem or use logic to reason toward a solution. Furthermore, it is not a foolproof method. Sometimes keywords do not appear in problems, or additional operations may be required to find the final answer. Keywords should only be used to support the student’s rationale for choosing a particular operation and not be the determining factor.

Check the Solution

First, the student should make sure the question posed has been answered. Sometimes the result of a calculation is only one step to finding the final solution, and additional work must be done. Second, make sure the answer is reasonable. It would not make sense, for example, to have a bedroom with an area of 2 square centimeters. 

Finally, if the solution is given in an answer key and the student’s response does not match, take the time to find out why. Discuss the problem and the student’s solution, and adjust any misunderstandings. Share with the student other ways to solve the problem that might be more efficient. 

Word problems can be challenging, but learning how to solve them is well worth the effort. As you utilize the suggestions listed above, your student will become more skillful and successful in applying mathematical reasoning to real-life situations.

Be sure to check the Index in the back of the Instruction Manual to find additional word problem tips, strategies, and cautions.

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, the complete guide to sat math word problems.

feature_words-1

About 25% of your total SAT Math section will be word problems, meaning you will have to create your own visuals and equations to solve for your answers. Though the actual math topics can vary, SAT word problems share a few commonalities, and we’re here to walk you through how to best solve them.

This post will be your complete guide to SAT Math word problems. We'll cover how to translate word problems into equations and diagrams, the different types of math word problems you’ll see on the test, and how to go about solving your word problems on test day.

Feature Image: Antonio Litterio /Wikimedia

What Are SAT Math Word Problems?

A word problem is any math problem based mostly or entirely on a written description. You will not be provided with an equation, diagram, or graph on a word problem and must instead use your reading skills to translate the words of the question into a workable math problem. Once you do this, you can then solve it.

You will be given word problems on the SAT Math section for a variety of reasons. For one, word problems test your reading comprehension and your ability to visualize information.

Secondly, these types of questions allow test makers to ask questions that'd be impossible to ask with just a diagram or an equation. For instance, if a math question asks you to fit as many small objects into a larger one as is possible, it'd be difficult to demonstrate and ask this with only a diagram.

Translating Math Word Problems Into Equations or Drawings

In order to translate your SAT word problems into actionable math equations you can solve, you’ll need to understand and know how to utilize some key math terms. Whenever you see these words, you can translate them into the proper mathematical action.

For instance, the word "sum" means the value when two or more items are added together. So if you need to find the sum of a and b , you’ll need to set up your equation like this: a+b.

Also, note that many mathematical actions have more than one term attached, which can be used interchangeably.

Here is a chart with all the key terms and symbols you should know for SAT Math word problems:

Now, let's look at these math terms in action using a few official examples:

body_sat_math_sample_question_1

We can solve this problem by translating the information we're given into algebra. We know the individual price of each salad and drink, and the total revenue made from selling 209 salads and drinks combined. So let's write this out in algebraic form.

We'll say that the number of salads sold = S , and the number of drinks sold = D . The problem tells us that 209 salads and drinks have been sold, which we can think of as this:

S + D = 209

Finally, we've been told that a certain number of S and D have been sold and have brought in a total revenue of 836 dollars and 50 cents. We don't know the exact numbers of S and D , but we do know how much each unit costs. Therefore, we can write this equation:

6.50 S + 2 D = 836.5

We now have two equations with the same variables ( S and D ). Since we want to know how many salads were sold, we'll need to solve for D so that we can use this information to solve for S . The first equation tells us what S and D equal when added together, but we can rearrange this to tell us what just D equals in terms of S :

Now, just subtract S from both sides to get what D equals:

D = 209 − S

Finally, plug this expression in for D into our other equation, and then solve for S :

6.50 S + 2(209 − S ) = 836.5

6.50 S + 418 − 2 S = 836.5

6.50 S − 2 S = 418.5

4.5 S = 418.5

The correct answer choice is (B) 93.

body_sat_math_sample_question_2

This word problem asks us to solve for one possible solution (it asks for "a possible amount"), so we know right away that there will be multiple correct answers.

Wyatt can husk at least 12 dozen ears of corn and at most 18 dozen ears of corn per hour. If he husks 72 dozen at a rate of 12 dozen an hour, this is equal to 72 / 12 = 6 hours. You could therefore write 6 as your final answer.

If Wyatt husks 72 dozen at a rate of 18 dozen an hour (the highest rate possible he can do), this comes out to 72 / 18 = 4 hours. You could write 4 as your final answer.

Since the minimum time it takes Wyatt is 4 hours and the maximum time is 6 hours, any number from 4 to 6 would be correct.

body_Latin

Though the hardest SAT word problems might look like Latin to you right now, practice and study will soon have you translating them into workable questions.

Typical SAT Word Problems

Word problems on the SAT can be grouped into three major categories:

  • Word problems for which you must simply set up an equation
  • Word problems for which you must solve for a specific value
  • Word problems for which you must define the meaning of a value or variable

Below, we look at each world problem type and give you examples.

Word Problem Type 1: Setting Up an Equation

This is a fairly uncommon type of SAT word problem, but you’ll generally see it at least once on the Math section. You'll also most likely see it first on the section.

For these problems, you must use the information you’re given and then set up the equation. No need to solve for the missing variable—this is as far as you need to go.

Almost always, you’ll see this type of question in the first four questions on the SAT Math section, meaning that the College Board consider these questions easy. This is due to the fact that you only have to provide the setup and not the execution.

body_sat_math_sample_question_3

To solve this problem, we'll need to know both Armand's and Tyrone's situations, so let's look at them separately:

Armand: Armand sent m text messages each hour for 5 hours, so we can write this as 5m —the number of texts he sent per hour multiplied by the total number of hours he texted.

Tyrone: Tyrone sent p text messages each hour for 4 hours, so we can write this as 4 p —the number of texts he sent per hour multiplied by the total number of hours he texted.

We now know that Armand's situation can be written algebraically as 5m , and Tyrone's can be written as 4 p . Since we're being asked for the expression that represents the total number of texts sent by Armand and Tyrone, we must add together the two expressions:

The correct answer is choice (C) 5m + 4 p

Word Problem Type 2: Solving for a Missing Value

The vast majority of SAT Math word problem questions will fall into this category. For these questions, you must both set up your equation and solve for a specific piece of information.

Most (though not all) word problem questions of this type will be scenarios or stories covering all sorts of SAT Math topics , such as averages , single-variable equations , and ratios . You almost always must have a solid understanding of the math topic in question in order to solve the word problem on the topic.

body_sat_math_sample_question_4

Let's try to think about this problem in terms of x . If Type A trees produced 20% more pears than Type B did, we can write this as an expression:

x + 0.2 x = 1.2 x = # of pears produced by Type A

In this equation, x is the number of pears produced by Type B trees. If we add 20% of x (0.2 x ) to x , we get the number of pears produced by Type A trees.

The problem tells us that Type A trees produced a total of 144 pears. Since we know that 1.2 x is equal to the number of pears produced by Type A, we can write the following equation:

1.2 x = 144

Now, all we have to do is divide both sides by 1.2 to find the number of pears produced by Type B trees:

x = 144 / 1.2

The correct answer choice is (B) 120.

You might also get a geometry problem as a word problem, which might or might not be set up with a scenario, too. Geometry questions will be presented as word problems typically because the test makers felt the problem would be too easy to solve had you been given a diagram, or because the problem would be impossible to show with a diagram. (Note that geometry makes up a very small percentage of SAT Math . )

body_SAT_word_problem_5

This is a case of a problem that is difficult to show visually, since x is not a set degree value but rather a value greater than 55; thus, it must be presented as a word problem.

Since we know that x must be an integer degree value greater than 55, let us assign it a value. In this case, let us call x 56°. (Why 56? There are other values x could be, but 56 is guaranteed to work since it's the smallest integer larger than 55. Basically, it's a safe bet!)

Now, because x = 56, the next angle in the triangle—2 x —must measure the following:

Let's make a rough (not to scale) sketch of what we know so far:

body_triangle_ex_1

Now, we know that there are 180° in a triangle , so we can find the value of y by saying this:

y = 180 − 112 − 56

One possible value for y is 12. (Other possible values are 3, 6, and 9. )

Word Problem Type 3: Explaining the Meaning of a Variable or Value

This type of problem will show up at least once. It asks you to define part of an equation provided by the word problem—generally the meaning of a specific variable or number.

body_sat_math_sample_question_6

This question might sound tricky at first, but it's actually quite simple.

We know tha t P is the number of phones Kathy has left to fix, and d is the number of days she has worked in a week. If she's worked 0 days (i.e., if we plug 0 into the equation), here's what we get:

P = 108 − 23(0)

This means that, without working any days of the week, Kathy has 108 phones to repair. The correct answer choice, therefore, is (B) Kathy starts each week with 108 phones to fix.

body_juggle

To help juggle all the various SAT word problems, let's look at the math strategies and tips at our disposal.

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SAT Math Strategies for Word Problems

Though you’ll see word problems on the SAT Math section on a variety of math topics, there are still a few techniques you can apply to solve word problems as a whole.

#1: Draw It Out

Whether your problem is a geometry problem or an algebra problem, sometimes making a quick sketch of the scene can help you understand what exactly you're working with. For instance, let's look at how a picture can help you solve a word problem about a circle (specifically, a pizza):

body_sat_math_sample_question_7_2

If you often have trouble visualizing problems such as these, draw it out. We know that we're dealing with a circle since our focus is a pizza. We also know that the pizza weighs 3 pounds.

Because we'll need to solve the weight of each slice in ounces, let's first convert the total weight of our pizza from pounds into ounces. We're given the conversion (1 pound = 16 ounces), so all we have to do is multiply our 3-pound pizza by 16 to get our answer:

3 * 16 = 48 ounces (for whole pizza)

Now, let's draw a picture. First, the pizza is divided in half (not drawn to scale):

body_sat_math_sample_question_7_diagram_1

We now have two equal-sized pieces. Let's continue drawing. The problem then says that we divide each half into three equal pieces (again, not drawn to scale):

body_sat_math_sample_question_7_diagram_2

This gives us a total of six equal-sized pieces. Since we know the total weight of the pizza is 48 ounces, all we have to do is divide by 6 (the number of pieces) to get the weight (in ounces) per piece of pizza:

48 / 6 = 8 ounces per piece

The correct answer choice is (C) 8.

As for geometry problems, remember that you might get a geometry word problem written as a word problem. In this case, make your own drawing of the scene. Even a rough sketch can help you visualize the math problem and keep all your information in order.

#2: Memorize Key Terms

If you’re not used to translating English words and descriptions into mathematical equations, then SAT word problems might be difficult to wrap your head around at first. Look at the chart we gave you above so you can learn how to translate keywords into their math equivalents. This way, you can understand exactly what a problem is asking you to find and how you’re supposed to find it.

There are free SAT Math questions available online , so memorize your terms and then practice on realistic SAT word problems to make sure you’ve got your definitions down and can apply them to the actual test.

#3: Underline and/or Write Out Important Information

The key to solving a word problem is to bring together all the key pieces of given information and put them in the right places. Make sure you write out all these givens on the diagram you’ve drawn (if the problem calls for a diagram) so that all your moving pieces are in order.

One of the best ways to keep all your pieces straight is to underline your key information in the problem, and then write them out yourself before you set up your equation. So take a moment to perform this step before you zero in on solving the question.

#4: Pay Close Attention to What's Being Asked

It can be infuriating to find yourself solving for the wrong variable or writing in your given values in the wrong places. And yet this is entirely too easy to do when working with math word problems.

Make sure you pay strict attention to exactly what you’re meant to be solving for and exactly what pieces of information go where. Are you looking for the area or the perimeter? The value of x, 2x, or y?

It’s always better to double-check what you’re supposed to find before you start than to realize two minutes down the line that you have to begin solving the problem all over again.

#5: Brush Up on Any Specific Math Topic You Feel Weak In

You're likely to see both a diagram/equation problem and a word problem for almost every SAT Math topic on the test. This is why there are so many different types of word problems and why you’ll need to know the ins and outs of every SAT Math topic in order to be able to solve a word problem about it.

For example, if you don’t know how to find an average given a set of numbers, you certainly won’t know how to solve a word problem that deals with averages!

Understand that solving an SAT Math word problem is a two-step process: it requires you to both understand how word problems work and to understand the math topic in question. If you have any areas of mathematical weakness, now's a good time to brush up on them—or else SAT word problems might be trickier than you were expecting!

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All set? Let's go!

Test Your SAT Math Word Problem Knowledge

Finally, it's time to test your word problem know-how against real SAT Math problems:

Word Problems

1. No Calculator

body_sat_math_test_question_1

2. Calculator OK

body_sat_math_test_question_2

3. Calculator OK

body_sat_math_test_question_3

4. Calculator OK

body_sat_math_test_question_4

Answers: C, B, A, 1160

Answer Explanations

1. For this problem, we have to use the information we're given to set up an equation.

We know that Ken spent x dollars, and Paul spent 1 dollar more than Ken did. Therefore, we can write the following equation for Paul:

Ken and Paul split the bill evenly. This means that we'll have to solve for the total amount of both their sandwiches and then divide it by 2. Since Ken's sandwich cost x dollars and Paul's cost x + 1, here's what our equation looks like when we combine the two expressions:

Now, we can divide this expression by 2 to get the price each person paid:

(2 x + 1) / 2

But we're not finished yet. We know that both Ken and Paul also paid a 20% tip on their bills. As a result, we have to multiply the total cost of one bill by 0.2, and then add this tip to the bill. Algebraically, this looks like this:

( x + 0.5) + 0.2( x + 0.5)

x + 0.5 + 0.2 x + 0.1

1.2 x + 0.6

The correct answer choice is (C) 1.2 x + 0.6

2. You'll have to be familiar with statistics in order to understand what this question is asking.

Since Nick surveyed a random sample of his freshman class, we can say that this sample will accurately reflect the opinion (and thus the same percentages) as the entire freshman class.

Of the 90 freshmen sampled, 25.6% said that they wanted the Fall Festival held in October. All we have to do now is find this percentage of the entire freshmen class (which consists of 225 students) to determine how many total freshmen would prefer an October festival:

225 * 0.256 = 57.6

Since the question is asking "about how many students"—and since we obviously can't have a fraction of a person!—we'll have to round this number to the nearest answer choice available, which is 60, or answer choice (B).

3. This is one of those problems that is asking you to define a value in the equation given. It might look confusing, but don't be scared—it's actually not as difficult as it appears!

First off, we know that t represents the number of seconds passed after an object is launched upward. But what if no time has passed yet? This would mean that t = 0. Here's what happens to the equation when we plug in 0 for t :

h (0) = -16(0)2 + 110(0) + 72

h (0) = 0 + 0 + 72

As we can see, before the object is even launched, it has a height of 72 feet. This means that 72 must represent the initial height, in feet, of the object, or answer choice (A).

4. You might be tempted to draw a diagram for this problem since it's talking about a pool (rectangle), but it's actually quicker to just look at the numbers given and work from there.

We know that the pool currently holds 600 gallons of water and that water has been hosed into it at a rate of 8 gallons a minute for a total of 70 minutes.

To find the amount of water in the pool now, we'll have to first solve for the amount of water added to the pool by hose. We know that 8 gallons were added each minute for 70 minutes, so all we have to do is multiply 8 by 70:

8 * 70 = 560 gallons

This tells us that 560 gallons of water were added to our already-filled, 600-gallon pool. To find the total amount of water, then, we simply add these two numbers together:

560 + 600 = 1160

The correct answer is 1160.

body_sleepy-1

Aaaaaaaaaaand time for a nap.

Key Takeaways: Making Sense of SAT Math Word Problems

Word problems make up a significant portion of the SAT Math section, so it’s a good idea to understand how they work and how to translate the words on the page into a proper expression or equation. But this is still only half the battle.

Though you won’t know how to solve a word problem if you don’t know what a product is or how to draw a right triangle, you also won’t know how to solve a word problem about ratios if you don’t know how ratios work.

Therefore, be sure to learn not only how to approach math word problems as a whole, but also how to narrow your focus on any SAT Math topics you need help with. You can find links to all of our SAT Math topic guides here to help you in your studies.

What’s Next?

Want to brush up on SAT Math topics? Check out our individual math guides to get an overview of each and every topic on SAT Math . From polygons and slopes to probabilities and sequences , we've got you covered!

Running out of time on the SAT Math section? We have the know-how to help you beat the clock and maximize your score .

Been procrastinating on your SAT studying? Learn how you can overcome your desire to procrastinate and make a well-balanced prep plan.

Trying to get a perfect SAT score? Take a look at our guide to getting a perfect 800 on SAT Math , written by a perfect scorer.

Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points?

Check out our best-in-class online SAT prep program . We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your SAT score by 160 points or more.

Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your strengths and weaknesses . If you liked this Math strategy guide, you'll love our program. Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get thousands of practice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next.

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Courtney scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT in high school and went on to graduate from Stanford University with a degree in Cultural and Social Anthropology. She is passionate about bringing education and the tools to succeed to students from all backgrounds and walks of life, as she believes open education is one of the great societal equalizers. She has years of tutoring experience and writes creative works in her free time.

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6 Tips for Teaching Kids to Solve Word Problems in Math

Dec. 18, 2017

For many kids, math word problems are painful, and often looked upon as drudgery that kids dread in math class. Word problems are challenging for kids because they mix math with literacy, and special thinking skills are needed to break down a word problem in order to solve it. 

Let us take some of the pain out of solving word problems by exploring some strategies for making this difficult, but necessary math task easier to work with and solve.

skills needed to solve math word problems

Find Key Phrases in Word Problems

To start, kids and parents alike need to understand what the word problem is asking. To do this, the first step is to look for common words often used in word problems. Certain key words and phrases indicate the type of operation to be used in the problem.

To help your child further, create flashcards or a chart of commonly used words by operation. On the flashcards or on a chart, break up the keywords by operation: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. 

Add or Subtract, Divide or Multiply?

As mentioned above, be on the lookout for words that indicate which operation should be used to solve the problem. Certain words and phrases, like: “sum”, “all together”, “total”, or “both” indicate that the problem is an addition problem. Other words, like “half”, or “percent” tell students to use division.

After creating a chart or flashcards, help your child with the problem at hand. Read the problem together and look for the words to determine which operation your child should use to solve that problem.  

Identify the Type of Word Problem 

The next step is to determine what type of word problem is in front of your child. This is different from the operation used to solve the problem. Word problems come in four main types:

  • Join problems
  • Part-part-whole problems
  • Separate, and compare problems .

All of these word problem types have their own unique sub-types. Certain types, like join problems, are usually used as addition problems. With loads of information and tips and tricks online to master each type, study the different categories to help your child differentiate between problems. 

Break Down Math Problem

Problems are easier to solve when they’re broken up into small, manageable parts. One way to do this is to distinguish between the facts that are given in the problem, and the facts that are not. Help your child to identify what facts are known before attempting to solve a word problem. Additionally, make sure that your child knows what each word in the problem means, and define any word as necessary. 

Visualize Elements of the Problem

Many kids are visual learners, and are able to solve a tricky problem when they can see it laid out before them. For this technique, simply help your child to draw out the items and amounts listed in the problems. They can draw the pictures that are described in the problem itself, or they can use dots or counters to serve as a visual while they work.

After practicing math word problems using pictures enough times, students will eventually train their brains to visualize the facts of the problem in their heads. As kids grow older and gain the necessary cognitive skills and practice, kids will be able to visualize parts of word problems in their mind quickly, and without the need of paper.

Repeated Exposure to Word Problems

You’ve probably heard the familiar expression that “practice makes perfect!” While word problems are difficult for many children, the only way to increase competence is through repeated exposure. With a plethora of online resources, it’s easy to find printable math worksheets on the web!

PDF worksheets are great because they’re widely available and easily accessible, even over school breaks and weekends. Regardless of the homework your child is bringing home on a daily basis, if your child needs more practice with word problems, they are easily found online.

Word problems are tough, and has caused many kids to become frustrated! But never fear, with enough practice and the right techniques, your child can master math word problems to hone their problem-solving skills! Be sure to work at your child’s own pace, and allow for breaks and variety in their studies.

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How To Use Literacy Skills To Solve Math Word Problems

Literacy Skills To Solve Math Word Problems

As a teacher, it is mandatory to come up with new plans and strategies to teach students mathematics. Sometimes, students get confused when learning equations , word problems , and other concepts . In order to make students confident in solving problems , it is the responsibility of the teacher to explain them in such a way that they can understand the applicable skills. Therefore, teachers should implement some strategies covering math word problems to prepare a layout for the students. If the basics are clear to the students, they can comfortably solve any math word problems.

For this purpose, literacy skills are the best option to choose. Literacy skills comprise reading, listening, speaking, and writing. These are the skills used by the teachers to teach the students math and its word problems. With the help of literacy skills, teachers can easily explain their lessons to the students and enhance their problem-solving abilities \ literacy skills are essential to solving problems of math . Let’s understand more about this concept.

  • 9 literacy skills to solve math word problems:

Allow students to read aloud

  • Encourage students to think about the word problems:

Make students write often

Allow students to ask questions, create good listening skills, explain word problems by drawing pictures, classroom activities, assigning projects related to math, play games in the classroom.

Literacy Skills To Solve Math Word Problems

100+ Free Math Worksheets, Practice Tests & Quizzes

Reading aloud is the best key to understanding any word problem and solving it effortlessly. Teachers should let the students read the problems carefully before they start writing.

With the help of good reading habits, students can recognize what the problem is about and which formula they should use to solve it. In addition, the teacher should encourage the students to read the problem aloud multiple times.

Encourage students to think about the word problems :

Literacy Skills To Solve Math Word Problems thinking

After reading the math word problems , the next step toward the solution is to think about word problems. In this step of literacy skills, teachers should teach the students how to think about the problems so that they can reach near solutions. 

  • What does the word problem say? – After reading the problem, students should think about what the problem is and what it is all about. To do further tasks, students must ignore the extra information and grab only the main points. Students can underline the necessary parts so that they can remember them to solve the problem. Let’s understand with the help of an illustration: Ram and Shyam are good friends. Ram has 2 mangoes, and Shyam has 3 apples. How many fruits do they have altogether? In this problem, Ram and Shyam are good friends and are unnecessary pieces of information. Students should avoid it and underline the other main part of the problem.
  • What are the focus keywords? – After underlining the focus points, now the time is to collect the keywords of the problem. If the students can recognize the keywords of the problems, they can solve them easily. Thus the teachers must teach the students about the keywords. It helps the students a lot to solve the problem. For example, if the problem is about addition, it includes altogether, combined, sum, plus, total, and so forth. If the problem is about subtraction, it includes minus, left, remaining, and many other keywords. 
  • What can I do for the solution? – When the students reach the right conclusion, they can solve problems easily. Thus after finding the keywords, the students should have an idea about the problem, and now they can put a suitable equation to get the correct solution. 

Check if you can solve these quizzes.

Literacy Skills To Solve Math Word Problems writing

Just like reading and thinking, writing is also a necessary part to learn about word problems quickly. With the help of good writing habits, students can easily memorize the main concept .

For this purpose, teachers should take the initiative to make the students write a lot about the problems. In the beginning, students read the math word problems and write all the necessary information in their notebooks. They can circle the keywords and cross all the unnecessary information. This way, students can get a good hold of the word problems and solve them without making so much effort.

Therefore, writing practice will make the students more confident and provide them with satisfactory problem-solving skills.

Can you solve these math problems ?

Reading and writing work wonders if all the concepts are clear. Teachers should allow the students to ask all the queries and doubts related to any math word problem .

All doubts should be cleared to solve any problem perfectly. Therefore, teachers should be available for the students to provide the answers to their questions.

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skills needed to solve math word problems

This literacy skill is very helpful to make the students confident and comfortable to solve math problems .

Clear your concepts by attempting these quizzes !

In this step of literacy skills, teachers should manage some time to explain the students to the math concepts . Students must listen to these lessons carefully so that they can understand the problems and focus on solving them.

To do the same, teachers can take the help of videos and other activities to make students become good listeners. With the help of this set of skills, teachers can explain all the instructional pieces of information in the form of videos and other activities to the students .

This way, students can quickly get to the main concept and become familiar with the problems. It helps the students to enhance their understanding of the problem and they can confidently solve any difficult word problem .

Literacy Skills To Solve Math Word Problems drawing

Word problems can become easier with the help of pictures . Teachers should opt out of this way to explain any word problem to the students. This way, students can easily get to the point and understand the main concept. For this purpose, teachers can use any shape, such as circles, squares, and various other pictures that look interesting.

Students do this practice as fun and easily grasp the concept. Let’s understand with an example: Meena has 2 apples and 3 oranges. How many fruits does Meena have altogether?

In this word problem, teachers can draw pictures of apples and oranges. With the help of this way, students can easily count the objects and solve problems.

Download free 7th-grade worksheets here .

In order to teach the student word problems , teachers can organize classroom activities . In these activities, they can choose any topic that explains the importance of word problems .

This way, teachers can easily teach the concept of the problem with the help of props. For example, if the word problem is Ram has 5 pens, and Shyam has 6 pens.

How many pens do they have altogether? Teachers can use ice cream sticks here to explain the problem. It is the easiest way to make the students understand the problems and get accurate solutions.

Attempt the challenging math quiz here .

Project-making can be fun for the students and encourage them to show their skills. The teacher should use different project-making activities related to the math word problems after every few days.

Students can showcase their skills in making the activities, and this way, they can become more familiar with the concept. With the help of math projects, they can easily grasp the actual concept of the problems.

Having project-making activities can help the students to explore their hidden talents and make them confident. Therefore, it is a good idea to apply literacy skills to teach the students all the concepts of math problems.

You can explore more math practice questions here .

Provided these games are related to math word problems, teachers should come up with the best idea to teach the students fun games in the classroom.

Here is an example: The teacher can divide the students into different teams and let them draw some pictures. Then, allow the students to count how many pictures are there.

Or teachers can tell the 10 students to draw circles and 10 students to draw rectangles, and so on. Then, tell the students to count all the circles and fewer rectangles from the circles.

Through these types of activities, students can easily learn concepts and formulas. Thus teachers must hold these fun activities or games in the classroom to enhance the problem-solving skills of the students.

Also read: How To Turn Math Word Problems Into Engaging Comics?

Takeaway 

Literacy skills are an essential tool to encourage students to understand problems and confidently solve them. Every teacher should use literacy skills in order to make the word problems easy and comfortable to understand by the students. If the students are familiar with reading and writing skills, they can understand what the word problem is all about. This way, they can write the solutions by themselves just by reading the problem. Therefore, literacy skills are an indispensable part of teaching students how to solve world problems.

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  • Math Tips, Tricks, and Games

4 Tips for Solving 2nd Grade Math Word Problems

skills needed to solve math word problems

Last Updated on August 31, 2021 by Thinkster

Math word problems are challenging for students at any age, but particularly for second graders who have barely mastered their reading skills. Becoming proficient in math word problems is crucial in 2nd grade because it sets children up for success in the grades to come. Fortunately, math word problems at this age are less complex than the ones they will see in later years, so you can implement the following common strategies to help your child become an expert . Here are some tips to help with these math problems.

1. Read the problem aloud

Because students this age read at varied levels, not every second-grader will fully understand a word problem on his first pass through. Reading the problem aloud can be quite helpful, especially with a child who hasn’t completely mastered reading. Of course, there will be times when a student won’t be allowed to speak (for example, during tests), but when at home working on word problems, encourage your child to read the story aloud and actually hear what the problem is asking. And for tests, even mouthing the words silently will give a student a better mental image of the problem.

2. Circle the numbers

Ultimately, every word problem will include the numbers necessary to arrive at an answer. Students should circle these numbers so they are easier to find during the solving process. If a number is spelled out, kids can circle the words and write the numeral above or near it so she is just dealing with digits. Once she devises a strategy to solve the problem, the numbers are already standing out for her to insert into whichever operation she’s using.

3. Look for keywords

Certain words give clues to what operation is being asked for, and second-grade math word problems are no exception. For example, total, sum, together , and how many all suggest addition; difference, how many more, take away , and fewer all point to subtraction. As your child learns these keywords and spots them in word problems, she will be able to arrive at a solution strategy more quickly.

4. Draw it out

If the structure and information of a word problem are too confusing, illustrating the problem in her own terms may help your child figure out the math and come up with an answer. Bar graphs, pie charts, tally marks, or whatever works for a particular student can do wonders toward solving a word problem. Even just writing out the numbers from the text again can help establish her own space and parameters that will make a solution easier to reach.

Do 2nd grade math word problems confuse your child? Check out our Thinkster math worksheets for some extra practice to help your child master math word problems .

4 Common Strategies for Solving 2nd Grade Math Word Problems

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120 Math Word Problems To Challenge Students Grades 1 to 8

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Written by Marcus Guido

Hey teachers! 👋

Use Prodigy to spark a love for math in your students – including when solving word problems!

  • Teaching Tools
  • Subtraction
  • Multiplication
  • Mixed operations
  • Ordering and number sense
  • Comparing and sequencing
  • Physical measurement
  • Ratios and percentages
  • Probability and data relationships

You sit at your desk, ready to put a math quiz, test or activity together. The questions flow onto the document until you hit a section for word problems.

A jolt of creativity would help. But it doesn’t come.

Whether you’re a 3rd grade teacher or an 8th grade teacher preparing students for high school, translating math concepts into real world examples can certainly be a challenge.

This resource is your jolt of creativity. It provides examples and templates of math word problems for 1st to 8th grade classes.

There are 120 examples in total.

The list of examples is supplemented by tips to create engaging and challenging math word problems.

120 Math word problems, categorized by skill

Addition word problems.

A teacher is teaching three students with a whiteboard happily.

Best for: 1st grade, 2nd grade

1. Adding to 10: Ariel was playing basketball. 1 of her shots went in the hoop. 2 of her shots did not go in the hoop. How many shots were there in total?

2. Adding to 20: Adrianna has 10 pieces of gum to share with her friends. There wasn’t enough gum for all her friends, so she went to the store to get 3 more pieces of gum. How many pieces of gum does Adrianna have now?

3. Adding to 100: Adrianna has 10 pieces of gum to share with her friends. There wasn’t enough gum for all her friends, so she went to the store and got 70 pieces of strawberry gum and 10 pieces of bubble gum. How many pieces of gum does Adrianna have now?

4. Adding Slightly over 100: The restaurant has 175 normal chairs and 20 chairs for babies. How many chairs does the restaurant have in total?

5. Adding to 1,000: How many cookies did you sell if you sold 320 chocolate cookies and 270 vanilla cookies?

6. Adding to and over 10,000: The hobby store normally sells 10,576 trading cards per month. In June, the hobby store sold 15,498 more trading cards than normal. In total, how many trading cards did the hobby store sell in June?

7. Adding 3 Numbers: Billy had 2 books at home. He went to the library to take out 2 more books. He then bought 1 book. How many books does Billy have now?

8. Adding 3 Numbers to and over 100: Ashley bought a big bag of candy. The bag had 102 blue candies, 100 red candies and 94 green candies. How many candies were there in total?

Subtraction word problems

Best for: 1st grade, second grade

9. Subtracting to 10: There were 3 pizzas in total at the pizza shop. A customer bought 1 pizza. How many pizzas are left?

10. Subtracting to 20: Your friend said she had 11 stickers. When you helped her clean her desk, she only had a total of 10 stickers. How many stickers are missing?

11. Subtracting to 100: Adrianna has 100 pieces of gum to share with her friends. When she went to the park, she shared 10 pieces of strawberry gum. When she left the park, Adrianna shared another 10 pieces of bubble gum. How many pieces of gum does Adrianna have now?

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Join millions of teachers using Prodigy to make learning fun and differentiate instruction as they answer in-game questions, including math word problems from 1st to 8th grade!

12. Subtracting Slightly over 100: Your team scored a total of 123 points. 67 points were scored in the first half. How many were scored in the second half?

13. Subtracting to 1,000: Nathan has a big ant farm. He decided to sell some of his ants. He started with 965 ants. He sold 213. How many ants does he have now?

14. Subtracting to and over 10,000: The hobby store normally sells 10,576 trading cards per month. In July, the hobby store sold a total of 20,777 trading cards. How many more trading cards did the hobby store sell in July compared with a normal month?

15. Subtracting 3 Numbers: Charlene had a pack of 35 pencil crayons. She gave 6 to her friend Theresa. She gave 3 to her friend Mandy. How many pencil crayons does Charlene have left?

16. Subtracting 3 Numbers to and over 100: Ashley bought a big bag of candy to share with her friends. In total, there were 296 candies. She gave 105 candies to Marissa. She also gave 86 candies to Kayla. How many candies were left?

Multiplication word problems

A hand holding a pen is doing calculation on a pice of papper

Best for: 2nd grade, 3rd grade

17. Multiplying 1-Digit Integers: Adrianna needs to cut a pan of brownies into pieces. She cuts 6 even columns and 3 even rows into the pan. How many brownies does she have?

18. Multiplying 2-Digit Integers: A movie theatre has 25 rows of seats with 20 seats in each row. How many seats are there in total?

19. Multiplying Integers Ending with 0: A clothing company has 4 different kinds of sweatshirts. Each year, the company makes 60,000 of each kind of sweatshirt. How many sweatshirts does the company make each year?

20. Multiplying 3 Integers: A bricklayer stacks bricks in 2 rows, with 10 bricks in each row. On top of each row, there is a stack of 6 bricks. How many bricks are there in total?

21. Multiplying 4 Integers: Cayley earns $5 an hour by delivering newspapers. She delivers newspapers 3 days each week, for 4 hours at a time. After delivering newspapers for 8 weeks, how much money will Cayley earn?

Division word problems

Best for: 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade

22. Dividing 1-Digit Integers: If you have 4 pieces of candy split evenly into 2 bags, how many pieces of candy are in each bag?

23. Dividing 2-Digit Integers: If you have 80 tickets for the fair and each ride costs 5 tickets, how many rides can you go on?

24. Dividing Numbers Ending with 0: The school has $20,000 to buy new computer equipment. If each piece of equipment costs $50, how many pieces can the school buy in total?

25. Dividing 3 Integers: Melissa buys 2 packs of tennis balls for $12 in total. All together, there are 6 tennis balls. How much does 1 pack of tennis balls cost? How much does 1 tennis ball cost?

26. Interpreting Remainders: An Italian restaurant receives a shipment of 86 veal cutlets. If it takes 3 cutlets to make a dish, how many cutlets will the restaurant have left over after making as many dishes as possible?

Mixed operations word problems

A female teacher is instructing student math on a blackboard

27. Mixing Addition and Subtraction: There are 235 books in a library. On Monday, 123 books are taken out. On Tuesday, 56 books are brought back. How many books are there now?

28. Mixing Multiplication and Division: There is a group of 10 people who are ordering pizza. If each person gets 2 slices and each pizza has 4 slices, how many pizzas should they order?

29. Mixing Multiplication, Addition and Subtraction: Lana has 2 bags with 2 marbles in each bag. Markus has 2 bags with 3 marbles in each bag. How many more marbles does Markus have?

30. Mixing Division, Addition and Subtraction: Lana has 3 bags with the same amount of marbles in them, totaling 12 marbles. Markus has 3 bags with the same amount of marbles in them, totaling 18 marbles. How many more marbles does Markus have in each bag?

Ordering and number sense word problems

31. Counting to Preview Multiplication: There are 2 chalkboards in your classroom. If each chalkboard needs 2 pieces of chalk, how many pieces do you need in total?

32. Counting to Preview Division: There are 3 chalkboards in your classroom. Each chalkboard has 2 pieces of chalk. This means there are 6 pieces of chalk in total. If you take 1 piece of chalk away from each chalkboard, how many will there be in total?

33. Composing Numbers: What number is 6 tens and 10 ones?

34. Guessing Numbers: I have a 7 in the tens place. I have an even number in the ones place. I am lower than 74. What number am I?

35. Finding the Order: In the hockey game, Mitchell scored more points than William but fewer points than Auston. Who scored the most points? Who scored the fewest points?

Fractions word problems

A student is drawing on a notebook, holding a pencil.

Best for: 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade

36. Finding Fractions of a Group: Julia went to 10 houses on her street for Halloween. 5 of the houses gave her a chocolate bar. What fraction of houses on Julia’s street gave her a chocolate bar?

37. Finding Unit Fractions: Heather is painting a portrait of her best friend, Lisa. To make it easier, she divides the portrait into 6 equal parts. What fraction represents each part of the portrait?

38. Adding Fractions with Like Denominators: Noah walks ⅓ of a kilometre to school each day. He also walks ⅓ of a kilometre to get home after school. How many kilometres does he walk in total?

39. Subtracting Fractions with Like Denominators: Last week, Whitney counted the number of juice boxes she had for school lunches. She had ⅗ of a case. This week, it’s down to ⅕ of a case. How much of the case did Whitney drink?

40. Adding Whole Numbers and Fractions with Like Denominators: At lunchtime, an ice cream parlor served 6 ¼ scoops of chocolate ice cream, 5 ¾ scoops of vanilla and 2 ¾ scoops of strawberry. How many scoops of ice cream did the parlor serve in total?

41. Subtracting Whole Numbers and Fractions with Like Denominators: For a party, Jaime had 5 ⅓ bottles of cola for her friends to drink. She drank ⅓ of a bottle herself. Her friends drank 3 ⅓. How many bottles of cola does Jaime have left?

42. Adding Fractions with Unlike Denominators: Kevin completed ½ of an assignment at school. When he was home that evening, he completed ⅚ of another assignment. How many assignments did Kevin complete?

43. Subtracting Fractions with Unlike Denominators: Packing school lunches for her kids, Patty used ⅞ of a package of ham. She also used ½ of a package of turkey. How much more ham than turkey did Patty use?

44. Multiplying Fractions: During gym class on Wednesday, the students ran for ¼ of a kilometre. On Thursday, they ran ½ as many kilometres as on Wednesday. How many kilometres did the students run on Thursday? Write your answer as a fraction.

45. Dividing Fractions: A clothing manufacturer uses ⅕ of a bottle of colour dye to make one pair of pants. The manufacturer used ⅘ of a bottle yesterday. How many pairs of pants did the manufacturer make?

46. Multiplying Fractions with Whole Numbers: Mark drank ⅚ of a carton of milk this week. Frank drank 7 times more milk than Mark. How many cartons of milk did Frank drink? Write your answer as a fraction, or as a whole or mixed number.

Decimals word problems

Best for: 4th grade, 5th grade

47. Adding Decimals: You have 2.6 grams of yogurt in your bowl and you add another spoonful of 1.3 grams. How much yogurt do you have in total?

48. Subtracting Decimals: Gemma had 25.75 grams of frosting to make a cake. She decided to use only 15.5 grams of the frosting. How much frosting does Gemma have left?

49. Multiplying Decimals with Whole Numbers: Marshall walks a total of 0.9 kilometres to and from school each day. After 4 days, how many kilometres will he have walked?

50. Dividing Decimals by Whole Numbers: To make the Leaning Tower of Pisa from spaghetti, Mrs. Robinson bought 2.5 kilograms of spaghetti. Her students were able to make 10 leaning towers in total. How many kilograms of spaghetti does it take to make 1 leaning tower?

51. Mixing Addition and Subtraction of Decimals: Rocco has 1.5 litres of orange soda and 2.25 litres of grape soda in his fridge. Antonio has 1.15 litres of orange soda and 0.62 litres of grape soda. How much more soda does Rocco have than Angelo?

52. Mixing Multiplication and Division of Decimals: 4 days a week, Laura practices martial arts for 1.5 hours. Considering a week is 7 days, what is her average practice time per day each week?

Comparing and sequencing word problems

Four students are sitting together and discussing math questions

Best for: Kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd grade

53. Comparing 1-Digit Integers: You have 3 apples and your friend has 5 apples. Who has more?

54. Comparing 2-Digit Integers: You have 50 candies and your friend has 75 candies. Who has more?

55. Comparing Different Variables: There are 5 basketballs on the playground. There are 7 footballs on the playground. Are there more basketballs or footballs?

56. Sequencing 1-Digit Integers: Erik has 0 stickers. Every day he gets 1 more sticker. How many days until he gets 3 stickers?

57. Skip-Counting by Odd Numbers: Natalie began at 5. She skip-counted by fives. Could she have said the number 20?

58. Skip-Counting by Even Numbers: Natasha began at 0. She skip-counted by eights. Could she have said the number 36?

59. Sequencing 2-Digit Numbers: Each month, Jeremy adds the same number of cards to his baseball card collection. In January, he had 36. 48 in February. 60 in March. How many baseball cards will Jeremy have in April?

Time word problems

66. Converting Hours into Minutes: Jeremy helped his mom for 1 hour. For how many minutes was he helping her?

69. Adding Time: If you wake up at 7:00 a.m. and it takes you 1 hour and 30 minutes to get ready and walk to school, at what time will you get to school?

70. Subtracting Time: If a train departs at 2:00 p.m. and arrives at 4:00 p.m., how long were passengers on the train for?

71. Finding Start and End Times: Rebecca left her dad’s store to go home at twenty to seven in the evening. Forty minutes later, she was home. What time was it when she arrived home?

Money word problems

Best for: 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade

60. Adding Money: Thomas and Matthew are saving up money to buy a video game together. Thomas has saved $30. Matthew has saved $35. How much money have they saved up together in total?

61. Subtracting Money: Thomas has $80 saved up. He uses his money to buy a video game. The video game costs $67. How much money does he have left?

62. Multiplying Money: Tim gets $5 for delivering the paper. How much money will he have after delivering the paper 3 times?

63. Dividing Money: Robert spent $184.59 to buy 3 hockey sticks. If each hockey stick was the same price, how much did 1 cost?

64. Adding Money with Decimals: You went to the store and bought gum for $1.25 and a sucker for $0.50. How much was your total?

65. Subtracting Money with Decimals: You went to the store with $5.50. You bought gum for $1.25, a chocolate bar for $1.15 and a sucker for $0.50. How much money do you have left?

67. Applying Proportional Relationships to Money: Jakob wants to invite 20 friends to his birthday, which will cost his parents $250. If he decides to invite 15 friends instead, how much money will it cost his parents? Assume the relationship is directly proportional.

68. Applying Percentages to Money: Retta put $100.00 in a bank account that gains 20% interest annually. How much interest will be accumulated in 1 year? And if she makes no withdrawals, how much money will be in the account after 1 year?

Physical measurement word problems

A girl is doing math practice

Best for: 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade

72. Comparing Measurements: Cassandra’s ruler is 22 centimetres long. April’s ruler is 30 centimetres long. How many centimetres longer is April’s ruler?

73. Contextualizing Measurements: Picture a school bus. Which unit of measurement would best describe the length of the bus? Centimetres, metres or kilometres?

74. Adding Measurements: Micha’s dad wants to try to save money on gas, so he has been tracking how much he uses. Last year, Micha’s dad used 100 litres of gas. This year, her dad used 90 litres of gas. How much gas did he use in total for the two years?

75. Subtracting Measurements: Micha’s dad wants to try to save money on gas, so he has been tracking how much he uses. Over the past two years, Micha’s dad used 200 litres of gas. This year, he used 100 litres of gas. How much gas did he use last year?

A tablet showing an example of Prodigy Math's battle gameplay.

76. Multiplying Volume and Mass: Kiera wants to make sure she has strong bones, so she drinks 2 litres of milk every week. After 3 weeks, how many litres of milk will Kiera drink?

77. Dividing Volume and Mass: Lillian is doing some gardening, so she bought 1 kilogram of soil. She wants to spread the soil evenly between her 2 plants. How much will each plant get?

78. Converting Mass: Inger goes to the grocery store and buys 3 squashes that each weigh 500 grams. How many kilograms of squash did Inger buy?

79. Converting Volume: Shad has a lemonade stand and sold 20 cups of lemonade. Each cup was 500 millilitres. How many litres did Shad sell in total?

80. Converting Length: Stacy and Milda are comparing their heights. Stacy is 1.5 meters tall. Milda is 10 centimetres taller than Stacy. What is Milda’s height in centimetres?

81. Understanding Distance and Direction: A bus leaves the school to take students on a field trip. The bus travels 10 kilometres south, 10 kilometres west, another 5 kilometres south and 15 kilometres north. To return to the school, in which direction does the bus have to travel? How many kilometres must it travel in that direction?

Ratios and percentages word problems

Best for: 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade

82. Finding a Missing Number: The ratio of Jenny’s trophies to Meredith’s trophies is 7:4. Jenny has 28 trophies. How many does Meredith have?

83. Finding Missing Numbers: The ratio of Jenny’s trophies to Meredith’s trophies is 7:4. The difference between the numbers is 12. What are the numbers?

84. Comparing Ratios: The school’s junior band has 10 saxophone players and 20 trumpet players. The school’s senior band has 18 saxophone players and 29 trumpet players. Which band has the higher ratio of trumpet to saxophone players?

85. Determining Percentages: Mary surveyed students in her school to find out what their favourite sports were. Out of 1,200 students, 455 said hockey was their favourite sport. What percentage of students said hockey was their favourite sport?

86. Determining Percent of Change: A decade ago, Oakville’s population was 67,624 people. Now, it is 190% larger. What is Oakville’s current population?

87. Determining Percents of Numbers: At the ice skate rental stand, 60% of 120 skates are for boys. If the rest of the skates are for girls, how many are there?

88. Calculating Averages: For 4 weeks, William volunteered as a helper for swimming classes. The first week, he volunteered for 8 hours. He volunteered for 12 hours in the second week, and another 12 hours in the third week. The fourth week, he volunteered for 9 hours. For how many hours did he volunteer per week, on average?

Probability and data relationships word problems

Two students are calculating on a whiteboard

Best for: 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade, 7th grade

89. Understanding the Premise of Probability: John wants to know his class’s favourite TV show, so he surveys all of the boys. Will the sample be representative or biased?

90. Understanding Tangible Probability: The faces on a fair number die are labelled 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. You roll the die 12 times. How many times should you expect to roll a 1?

91. Exploring Complementary Events: The numbers 1 to 50 are in a hat. If the probability of drawing an even number is 25/50, what is the probability of NOT drawing an even number? Express this probability as a fraction.

92. Exploring Experimental Probability: A pizza shop has recently sold 15 pizzas. 5 of those pizzas were pepperoni. Answering with a fraction, what is the experimental probability that he next pizza will be pepperoni?

93. Introducing Data Relationships: Maurita and Felice each take 4 tests. Here are the results of Maurita’s 4 tests: 4, 4, 4, 4. Here are the results for 3 of Felice’s 4 tests: 3, 3, 3. If Maurita’s mean for the 4 tests is 1 point higher than Felice’s, what’s the score of Felice’s 4th test?

94. Introducing Proportional Relationships: Store A is selling 7 pounds of bananas for $7.00. Store B is selling 3 pounds of bananas for $6.00. Which store has the better deal?

95. Writing Equations for Proportional Relationships: Lionel loves soccer, but has trouble motivating himself to practice. So, he incentivizes himself through video games. There is a proportional relationship between the amount of drills Lionel completes, in x , and for how many hours he plays video games, in y . When Lionel completes 10 drills, he plays video games for 30 minutes. Write the equation for the relationship between x and y .

Geometry word problems

Best for: 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade

96. Introducing Perimeter:  The theatre has 4 chairs in a row. There are 5 rows. Using rows as your unit of measurement, what is the perimeter?

97. Introducing Area: The theatre has 4 chairs in a row. There are 5 rows. How many chairs are there in total?

98. Introducing Volume: Aaron wants to know how much candy his container can hold. The container is 20 centimetres tall, 10 centimetres long and 10 centimetres wide. What is the container’s volume?

99. Understanding 2D Shapes: Kevin draws a shape with 4 equal sides. What shape did he draw?

100. Finding the Perimeter of 2D Shapes: Mitchell wrote his homework questions on a piece of square paper. Each side of the paper is 8 centimetres. What is the perimeter?

101. Determining the Area of 2D Shapes: A single trading card is 9 centimetres long by 6 centimetres wide. What is its area?

102. Understanding 3D Shapes: Martha draws a shape that has 6 square faces. What shape did she draw?

103. Determining the Surface Area of 3D Shapes: What is the surface area of a cube that has a width of 2cm, height of 2 cm and length of 2 cm?

104. Determining the Volume of 3D Shapes: Aaron’s candy container is 20 centimetres tall, 10 centimetres long and 10 centimetres wide. Bruce’s container is 25 centimetres tall, 9 centimetres long and 9 centimetres wide. Find the volume of each container. Based on volume, whose container can hold more candy?

105. Identifying Right-Angled Triangles: A triangle has the following side lengths: 3 cm, 4 cm and 5 cm. Is this triangle a right-angled triangle?

106. Identifying Equilateral Triangles: A triangle has the following side lengths: 4 cm, 4 cm and 4 cm. What kind of triangle is it?

107. Identifying Isosceles Triangles: A triangle has the following side lengths: 4 cm, 5 cm and 5 cm. What kind of triangle is it?

108. Identifying Scalene Triangles: A triangle has the following side lengths: 4 cm, 5 cm and 6 cm. What kind of triangle is it?

109. Finding the Perimeter of Triangles: Luigi built a tent in the shape of an equilateral triangle. The perimeter is 21 metres. What is the length of each of the tent’s sides?

110. Determining the Area of Triangles: What is the area of a triangle with a base of 2 units and a height of 3 units?

111. Applying Pythagorean Theorem: A right triangle has one non-hypotenuse side length of 3 inches and the hypotenuse measures 5 inches. What is the length of the other non-hypotenuse side?

112. Finding a Circle’s Diameter: Jasmin bought a new round backpack. Its area is 370 square centimetres. What is the round backpack’s diameter?

113. Finding a Circle's Area: Captain America’s circular shield has a diameter of 76.2 centimetres. What is the area of his shield?

114. Finding a Circle’s Radius: Skylar lives on a farm, where his dad keeps a circular corn maze. The corn maze has a diameter of 2 kilometres. What is the maze’s radius?

Variables word problems

A hand is calculating math problem on a blacboard

Best for: 6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade

115. Identifying Independent and Dependent Variables: Victoria is baking muffins for her class. The number of muffins she makes is based on how many classmates she has. For this equation, m is the number of muffins and c is the number of classmates. Which variable is independent and which variable is dependent?

116. Writing Variable Expressions for Addition: Last soccer season, Trish scored g goals. Alexa scored 4 more goals than Trish. Write an expression that shows how many goals Alexa scored.

117. Writing Variable Expressions for Subtraction: Elizabeth eats a healthy, balanced breakfast b times a week. Madison sometimes skips breakfast. In total, Madison eats 3 fewer breakfasts a week than Elizabeth. Write an expression that shows how many times a week Madison eats breakfast.

118. Writing Variable Expressions for Multiplication: Last hockey season, Jack scored g goals. Patrik scored twice as many goals than Jack. Write an expression that shows how many goals Patrik scored.

119. Writing Variable Expressions for Division: Amanda has c chocolate bars. She wants to distribute the chocolate bars evenly among 3 friends. Write an expression that shows how many chocolate bars 1 of her friends will receive.

120. Solving Two-Variable Equations: This equation shows how the amount Lucas earns from his after-school job depends on how many hours he works: e = 12h . The variable h represents how many hours he works. The variable e represents how much money he earns. How much money will Lucas earn after working for 6 hours?

How to easily make your own math word problems & word problems worksheets

Two teachers are discussing math with a pen and a notebook

Armed with 120 examples to spark ideas, making your own math word problems can engage your students and ensure alignment with lessons. Do:

  • Link to Student Interests:  By framing your word problems with student interests, you’ll likely grab attention. For example, if most of your class loves American football, a measurement problem could involve the throwing distance of a famous quarterback.
  • Make Questions Topical:  Writing a word problem that reflects current events or issues can engage students by giving them a clear, tangible way to apply their knowledge.
  • Include Student Names:  Naming a question’s characters after your students is an easy way make subject matter relatable, helping them work through the problem.
  • Be Explicit:  Repeating keywords distills the question, helping students focus on the core problem.
  • Test Reading Comprehension:  Flowery word choice and long sentences can hide a question’s key elements. Instead, use concise phrasing and grade-level vocabulary.
  • Focus on Similar Interests:  Framing too many questions with related interests -- such as football and basketball -- can alienate or disengage some students.
  • Feature Red Herrings:  Including unnecessary information introduces another problem-solving element, overwhelming many elementary students.

A key to differentiated instruction , word problems that students can relate to and contextualize will capture interest more than generic and abstract ones.

Final thoughts about math word problems

You’ll likely get the most out of this resource by using the problems as templates, slightly modifying them by applying the above tips. In doing so, they’ll be more relevant to -- and engaging for -- your students.

Regardless, having 120 curriculum-aligned math word problems at your fingertips should help you deliver skill-building challenges and thought-provoking assessments.

The result?

A greater understanding of how your students process content and demonstrate understanding, informing your ongoing teaching approach.

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literacy strategies with a depiction of the same

1. Phonics Instruction

2. graphic organizers, 3. think-pair-share, 4. vocabulary instruction, 5. story mapping, 6. kwl charts (know, want to know, learned), 7. interactive read-alouds, 8. guided reading, 9. writing workshops, 10. literature circles.

Today, literacy is not just about learning to read and write ; it’s a crucial tool that opens doors to a world of knowledge and opportunities. It’s the foundation upon which we build our ability to communicate, understand, and interact with the world around us. It is the cornerstone that supports all other learning.

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SplashLearn inspires lifelong curiosity with its game-based PreK-5 learning program loved by over 40 million children. With over 4,000 fun games and activities, it’s the perfect balance of learning and play for your little one.

But how do we ensure every student learns to read and write, loves the process, and excels in it? This is where literacy strategies for teachers come into play. 

In the modern classroom, literacy strategies are essential for several reasons. They help cater to diverse learning styles , engage students more effectively, and promote a deeper understanding of the material.

These strategies are vital in an era of abundant information and attention spans are challenged. They equip teachers with innovative methods to make reading and writing more interactive and meaningful. 

In this blog, we will talk about some of the best literacy strategies that can make a significant difference in your classroom!

Literacy Strategy Definition

Literacy strategies are various methods and approaches used in teaching reading and writing. These are not just standard teaching practices but innovative, interactive, and tailored techniques designed to improve literacy skills. They include activities like group discussions, interactive games , and creative writing exercises, all part of a broader set of literacy instruction strategies.

The Role of Literacy Strategies in Enhancing Reading and Writing Skills

Teaching literacy strategies enhance students’ reading and writing skills. These strategies help break down complex texts, making them more understandable and relatable for students. They encourage students to think critically about what they read and express their thoughts clearly in writing. Teachers can use literacy strategies to address different learning styles, helping students find their path to literacy success.

15 Best Literacy Strategies for Teachers

Phonics Instruction is fundamental in building foundational reading skills , especially for young learners. This method teaches students the relationships between letters and sounds , helping them decode words. Through phonics, students learn to sound out words, which is crucial for reading fluency and comprehension. Phonics Instruction can be fun and interactive with games, songs, and puzzles , making it an enjoyable learning experience for students.

You can begin here:

Card Image

Graphic organizers are powerful visual tools that aid in better comprehension and organization of information. As part of literacy practices examples, they help students visually map out ideas and relationships between concepts. This can include charts, diagrams, or concept maps. Using graphic organizers, teachers can help students structure their thoughts, making complex ideas more accessible and understandable. It’s an effective way to break down reading materials or organize writing drafts visually.

Think Pair Share worksheet

Think-Pair-Share is an essential literacy strategy that fosters collaborative learning. In this activity, students first think about a question or topic individually, then pair up with a classmate to discuss their thoughts, and finally share their ideas with the larger group. This strategy encourages active participation and communication, allowing students to learn from each other. It’s a simple yet powerful way to engage students in critical thinking and discussion.

Vocabulary Instruction is crucial in expanding language comprehension. This strategy involves teaching students new words and phrases in terms of their definitions, context, and usage. Effective vocabulary instruction can include word mapping , sentence creation , and word games. By enriching students’ vocabulary , teachers equip them with the tools to understand and articulate ideas more effectively, enhancing their overall literacy.

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Story Mapping is a technique where students break down the narrative elements of a story, such as characters, setting, plot, and conflict. This strategy helps in enhancing comprehension and analytical skills. By visually organizing the elements of a story, students can better understand the structure and themes of the text. It’s an engaging way to dissect stories and can be done individually or as a group activity .

A KWL chart

KWL Charts are an effective tool for structuring learning objectives. This strategy involves creating a chart with three columns: What students already Know, What they Want to know, and What they have Learned. This approach helps activate prior knowledge, set learning goals , and reflect on new information. It’s a great way to engage students in the learning process from start to finish, making them active participants in their education. KWL Charts can be used across various subjects, making them versatile and essential in the classroom.

Kids in a classroom

Interactive read-alouds are a cornerstone among literacy instructional strategies. In this activity, the teacher reads a story aloud, using expressive tones and gestures to bring the story to life. This method engages students in dynamic storytelling , sparking their imagination and interest. It’s an essential literacy strategy that enhances listening skills, vocabulary, and comprehension. Teachers can pause to ask questions, encouraging students to think and predict, making it an interactive and inclusive learning experience.

kids in guided reading session

Guided Reading is a tailored approach that addresses the diverse reading levels within a classroom. In this strategy, teachers work with small groups of students, providing focused reading instruction at their specific level of development. This allows for more personalized attention and support, helping students progress at their own pace. Guided Reading improves reading skills and boosts confidence as students feel more capable and supported in their learning journey.

Kids in a writing workshop

Writing Workshops are a dynamic way to foster creative expression among students. These workshops provide a platform for students to write , share, and receive feedback on their work. It’s an interactive process where students learn to develop their writing style, voice, and technique. Writing Workshops encourage creativity, critical thinking, and peer collaboration, making them a vital part of literacy development.

Depiction of collaborative learning

Literature Circles are a collaborative and student-centered approach to reading and discussing books. In these circles, small groups of students choose and read a book together, then meet to discuss it, often taking on different roles like discussion leader or summarizer. This strategy promotes discussion, critical thinking, and a deeper understanding of literature. It’s an engaging way for students to explore texts and share their perspectives, enhancing their analytical and communication skills.

11. Scaffolding

Scaffolding technique

Scaffolding is a teaching method that provides students with step-by-step guidance to help them better understand new concepts. This approach breaks down learning into manageable chunks, gradually moving students towards stronger comprehension and greater independence. Scaffolding can include techniques like asking leading questions, providing examples, or offering partial solutions. It’s especially effective in building confidence and skill in students, as they feel supported throughout their learning journey.

12. Word Walls

A word board

Word Walls are a visual and interactive way to display vocabulary in the classroom . As one of the essential literacy strategy examples, they help students learn new words and reinforce their spelling and meaning. Teachers can add words related to current lessons or themes, encouraging students to use and explore these words in their writing and speaking. Word Walls are educational and serve as a reference tool that students can continually interact with.

13. Reader’s Theater

Kids in a readers theatre

Reader’s Theater is an engaging literacy activity that combines reading and performance. In this strategy, students read scripts aloud, focusing on expression rather than memorization or props. This method helps improve reading fluency, comprehension, and confidence as students practice reading with emotion and emphasis. Reader’s Theater is also a fun way to bring literature to life and encourage a love for reading and storytelling.

14. Dramatization of Text

Kids dramatizing text

Dramatization of Text involves bringing stories and texts to life through acting and role-play. This strategy allows students to interpret and enact narratives, deepening their understanding of the characters, plot, and themes. It’s an interactive way to engage students with literature, encouraging them to explore texts creatively and collaboratively. Dramatization can enhance comprehension, empathy, and public speaking skills.

15. Inquiry-Based Learning

Inquiry based learning wallpaper

Inquiry-Based Learning is a student-centered approach that promotes curiosity-driven research and exploration. In this method, learning starts with questions, problems, or scenarios, rather than simply presenting facts. Students are encouraged to investigate topics, ask questions , and discover answers through research and discussion. This strategy fosters critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and a love for learning .

In conclusion, these literacy strategies for teachers offer a diverse and dynamic toolkit for teachers to enhance reading, writing, and comprehension skills in their classrooms. By incorporating these methods, educators can create a more engaging, inclusive, and effective learning environment , paving the way for students to become confident and proficient learners.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are the key benefits of using literacy strategies in the classroom.

Literacy strategies enhance classroom engagement, improve comprehension, and foster critical thinking skills. They make learning more interactive and meaningful, helping students to connect with the material more deeply.

How can teachers effectively integrate literacy strategies into existing curricula?

Teachers can integrate literacy strategies by aligning them with current lesson objectives, using them as complementary tools for existing content. Start small, incorporating strategies gradually, and tailor them to fit the lesson’s context.

Are these literacy strategies suitable for all age groups?

Yes, these strategies can be adapted for different age groups and learning levels. The key is to modify the complexity and delivery of the strategy to suit the developmental stage and abilities of the students.

How do digital literacy strategies for teachers differ from traditional ones?

Digital literacy strategies incorporate technology, focusing on skills like navigating online information, digital communication, and critical evaluation of online content, which are essential in the digital age.

Can literacy strategies be used in subjects other than language arts?

Absolutely, literacy strategies can be applied cross-curricularly. For example, graphic organizers can be used in science for hypothesis mapping, or story mapping can be used in history to outline events.

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  1. 14 Effective Ways to Help Your Students Conquer Math Word Problems

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  2. FREEBIE: How to solve math word problems poster by 4TheLoveofPi

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  3. Math Operations and Key Words to Solve Math Word Problems by Kids N D Know

    skills needed to solve math word problems

  4. Solving Math Word Problems Step by Step. Learn how to solve math

    skills needed to solve math word problems

  5. 3 Strategies to Conquer Math Word Problems

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  6. Literacy & Math Ideas: How to Solve Multi-Step Word Problems

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  4. (Tagalog) Word Problems, Multiplication and Division

  5. Step 2 Estimate the Answer to the Word Problems

  6. Class 2 Math Word Problems on Multiplication & Division|Online Quiz| Math Olympiad class 2

COMMENTS

  1. 10 Best Strategies for Solving Math Word Problems

    1. Understand the Problem by Paraphrasing 2. Identify Key Information and Variables 3. Translate Words into Mathematical Symbols 4. Break Down the Problem into Manageable Parts 5. Draw Diagrams or Visual Representations 6. Use Estimation to Predict Answers 7. Apply Logical Reasoning for Unknown Variables 8. Leverage Similar Problems as Templates 9.

  2. A Strategy for Teaching Math Word Problems

    Is the task open or closed? Open tasks provide multiple pathways to foster a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts and skills. Closed tasks can still provide a deep understanding of mathematical concepts and skills if the task requires a high level of cognitive demand. Does the task encourage critical thinking and problem-solving skills?

  3. 14 Effective Ways to Help Your Students Conquer Math Word Problems

    1. Solve word problems regularly This might be the most important tip of all. Word problems should be part of everyday math practice, especially for older kids. Whenever possible, use word problems every time you teach a new math skill. Even better: give students a daily word problem to solve so they'll get comfortable with the process.

  4. Strategies for Solving Math Word Problems

    Step 1 - SURVEY the Math Problem The first step to solving a math word problem is to read the problem in its entirety to understand what you are being asked to solve. After you read it, you can decide the most relevant aspects of the problem that need to be solved and what aspects are not relevant to solving the problem.

  5. Strategies for Solving Word Problems

    1. Read the Entire Word Problem Before students look for keywords and try to figure out what to do, they need to slow down a bit and read the whole word problem once (and even better, twice). This helps kids get the bigger picture to be able to understand it a little better too. 2. Think About the Word Problem

  6. 6 Tips for Teaching Math Problem-Solving Skills

    1. Link problem-solving to reading. When we can remind students that they already have many comprehension skills and strategies they can easily use in math problem-solving, it can ease the anxiety surrounding the math problem. For example, providing them with strategies to practice, such as visualizing, acting out the problem with math tools ...

  7. PDF From Stress to Success Solving Math Word Problems

    Biographies, Surveys, and Other Writing Activities Math biographies, surveys, and other writing activities can help students Overcome the negative feelings they have toward math. They can help students clearly see where their strengths and weaknesses are, and where they are already successful in solving math problems.

  8. 4 Math Word Problem Solving Strategies

    October 31st, 2021 5 Strategies to Learn to Solve Math Word Problems A critical step in math fluency is the ability to solve math word problems. The funny thing about solving math word problems is that it isn't just about math. Students need to have strong reading skills as well as the growth mindset needed for problem-solving.

  9. Algebraic word problems

    How do we solve algebraic word problems? Solving algebraic word problems requires us to combine our ability to create equations and solve them. To solve an algebraic word problem: Define a variable. Write an equation using the variable. Solve the equation.

  10. Solving Math Word Problems

    What information is already provided? What information is still needed, if any? S - Solve it, step by step. ( source) OXFORD LEARNING HAS A SOLUTION If your child is still struggling with math word problems, we can help! Our personalized math programs put an end to math frustration.

  11. Effective Strategies to Help Students Solve Math Word Problems

    There are a lot of attack strategies you can teach, with the most popular being: CUBES - Circle the numbers, Underline the question, Box the keywords, Evaluate the problem, Solve. RDW - Read the problem, Draw a model, Write the Equation. FOPS - Find the problem, Organize the information, Plan how to solve the problem, Solve the problem.

  12. Using Literacy Skills to Solve Math Word Problems

    Student Work. A completed 5th-grade math word problem. pdf 273.47 KB. Finally students solve the problem and double-check their work. They write their answer in a complete sentence, put a box around it, and label it "answer.". They write out an explanation of how they solved the problem using at least two math words, like multiply and add ...

  13. Two Math Word Problem Strategies to Help Kids Succeed

    Do your students struggle to make sense of math word problems? They're not alone! Using meaningful word problem strategies can help kids make sense of operations & have confidence solving word problems. As students learn the four math operations, it's imperative that they learn to apply the operations to show higher level thinking.

  14. Reading Comprehension and Math Word Problems: Enhancing Problem-Solving

    Geometry word problems may also include concepts like area, volume, or angle measures. Solving these problems is crucial for developing a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts and enhancing problem-solving skills. Relevance of Word Problems. Math word problems are highly relevant in daily life as well as in various professions.

  15. Word Problem Tips

    The following suggestions can be used to help students develop the skills needed to tackle and solve word problems in math. Sound Steps for Solving Word Problems: 1. Take a break before you begin the word problems. The brain actually processes word problems differently than computational math. Giving the student a short mental break between ...

  16. The Complete Guide to SAT Math Word Problems

    Word Problem Type 1: Setting Up an Equation. This is a fairly uncommon type of SAT word problem, but you'll generally see it at least once on the Math section. You'll also most likely see it first on the section. For these problems, you must use the information you're given and then set up the equation.

  17. 6 Strategies for Teaching Kids to Solve Math Word Problems

    Word problems are challenging for kids because they mix math with literacy, and special thinking skills are needed to break down a word problem in order to solve it. Let us take some of the pain out of solving word problems by exploring some strategies for making this difficult, but necessary math task easier to work with and solve.

  18. How To Use Literacy Skills To Solve Math Word Problems

    Literacy skills comprise reading, listening, speaking, and writing. These are the skills used by the teachers to teach the students math and its word problems.

  19. 5 Effective Strategies to Solve Math Word Problems for Kids

    Nov 10, 2023 Author: BYJU'S Math Companion Tutor Math word problems can often seem intimidating and confusing for kids. The complexity of the language used, and the presence of unnecessary information can easily throw them off track.

  20. 4 Tips for Solving 2nd Grade Math Word Problems

    3. Look for keywords. Certain words give clues to what operation is being asked for, and second-grade math word problems are no exception. For example, total, sum, together, and how many all suggest addition; difference, how many more, take away, and fewer all point to subtraction. As your child learns these keywords and spots them in word ...

  21. 5 Effective Strategies to Solve Math Word Problems for Kids

    These strategies can help them become more comfortable with word problems and develop the skills needed to excel at math. Table of Contents. 5 Effective Ways to Solve Math Word Problems for Kids ... and kids are able to assess their own thinking skills and come up with better ideas to advance their problem-solving skills. Math word problems don ...

  22. 120 Math Word Problems To Challenge Students Grades 1 to 8

    Feature Red Herrings: Including unnecessary information introduces another problem-solving element, overwhelming many elementary students. A key to differentiated instruction, word problems that students can relate to and contextualize will capture interest more than generic and abstract ones. Final thoughts about math word problems

  23. Skills to Solve Real World Math Word Problems ...

    The goal is to meet students where they are academically and provide scaffolds and differentiation that fit the learning needs. The overall goal is for students to gain confidence and understanding that can be applied across various areas of Mathematics to solve word problems. Teaching Experience: Current 7th grade Math Educator, Former Math ...

  24. 15 Best Literacy Strategies for Teachers to Use in Classroom

    In this method, learning starts with questions, problems, or scenarios, rather than simply presenting facts. Students are encouraged to investigate topics, ask questions, and discover answers through research and discussion. This strategy fosters critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and a love for learning.