Multi-Step Word Problems: All Four Operations

Grade level

Grades 4–5

Time

About 30 minutes

Topic

Math word problems

Answer key

Yes, page 2 of the PDF

Kids practice

Reading word problems, Choosing the operation, Showing work, Multi-step reasoning

What kids do

“Plan the steps first. Write a number sentence for each step. Then solve.”

Printed on the sheet:

1. 1 A teacher buys 4 boxes of 24 crayons and shares them equally among 8 tables. How many crayons does each table get?
2. 2 A farmer picks 345 apples. He keeps 45 and packs the rest in bags of 6. How many bags does he fill?
3. 3 Sam earns $15 a week for 8 weeks. Then he spends $38 on a game. How much money does he have left?
4. 4 A school has 18 classes with 25 students each. 120 students go on a trip.
5. How many students stay at school?
6. 5 A baker makes 12 trays of 16 cookies. She sells 150 cookies and puts the rest in boxes of 6. How many boxes does she fill?

Teacher tip

Have kids write a plan in words (“first find… then find…”) before any math.

How to use it

• Let kids act out a problem or draw it before they write a number sentence.
• Have partners solve the same problem two ways and compare.
• Do the first problem together under a document camera, then let kids finish on their own.

Watch for

Answers with no unit. Ask “Twelve what?”

Talk about it

• Which words in the story tell you what to do?
• Which problem was the hardest? What made it hard?

Take it further

Have kids write their own word problem about something from their day and trade with a partner.

US Letter, prints well in black and white. Free for home and classroom use: print as many copies as you need.