Grades 3-5 Math Problem Solving in Action_ Getting Students to Love Word Problems

Figure 10.7 Fourth Grade Example: Level 6

Read the problem below and make a picture in your head.

Mike had 4 boxes of marbles. Each box had 15 marbles. For his birthday, his

brother gave him 7 more marbles. His sister gave him twice as many as his

brother. How many marbles does Mike have now?

What are we looking for first?

What are we looking for second?

What are we looking for next?

Model the problem.

Answer: _______________________units

Figure 10.8 Fifth Grade Example: Level 7

Write a word problem for the equation below.

(^30) ⁄ 5
Write the problem.
Model the problem.
Answer: ___units
Figure 10.9 Fifth Grade Example: Level 8
Read the word problems below and decide what type of problem they are.
Circle the type.
Bob had 50
marbles. He
got some
more. Now he
has 78. How
many did he
get?
There were
10 rows of
cookies in
the bakery.
Each row
had 7 cookies
in it. How
many cookies
were there
altogether?
Maria had 20
marbles. Her
cousin had 4
times as many
as Maria.
How many
did her cousin
have?
There were
456 kids in
the cafeteria:
289 were girls
and the rest
were boys.
Some more
boys came.
Now there are
200 boys in
the cafeteria.
How many
boys came?
Mark had 15
marbles. He
had 3 times as
many as his
friend. How
many does his
friend have?
Addition,
Subtraction
Multiplication
or Division
Additive
Comparison
Multiplicative
Comparison
One-step
Two-step
Two-step
Multistep