Write an Equation with a Letter

Grade level

Grades 3–4

Time

About 25 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

“Write an equation with the letter for the number you don’t know. Then find the letter.”

Printed on the sheet:

1. 1 Sara had n marbles. She got 7 more, and now she has 15. Write an equation and find n.
2. 2 A pack has 6 juice boxes. Mr. Lee buys p packs and gets 42 juice boxes.
3. Write an equation and find p.
4. 3 Tom had 50 stickers. He gave away s stickers and has 32 left. Write an equation and find s.
5. 4 36 kids sit in equal rows of 9 kids. There are r rows. Write an equation and find r.
6. 5 A ribbon L inches long is cut into 5 equal pieces. Each piece is 8 inches long.
7. Write an equation and find L.
8. 6 Ana saved $12 each week for w weeks. She saved $96. Write an equation and find w.

Teacher tip

Ask kids to say what the letter stands for in words before they write the equation.

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

• What label goes with your answer?
• Which problem was the hardest? What made it hard?

Take it further

Use the class lunch count, weather chart or library books to make real word problems.

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