Addition and Subtraction Word Problems Worksheets
Steps to Take When Solving Addition and Subtraction Word Problems Word problems can scare away the kids because they seem very complicated for young minds. Many kids struggle to solve these problems and look for shortcuts to find the answer. These shortcuts might help the kids, but these do not work in all addition and subtractions word problems. Here is a five-step guide to help the kids overcome the fear of solving word problems. Step 1: Read - Before starting a solution to a word problem, reading it is the most important step. Begin with reading the problem slowly and carefully. Read it more than once for maximum understanding. Step 2: Underline - After you have understood the words, start underlining the important facts in the problem. It will help you focus on the important numbers in the problem. Step 3: Draw - Visualization is the next step in solving the word problem. Draw a picture of the problem, and it will help you understand the problem better. Step 4: Write a Sentence - Use the drawing and the underlined information to write a number sentence. Step 5: Solve - Read the sentence and solve it! These five steps can help you solve even the most complicated addition or subtraction word problem with ease! In this worksheet set students are introduced to the concept of word problems and how to spot and perform addition and subtraction within word problems.
Aligned Standard: Grade 1 - 1.OA.2 and 1.OA.3
- Reading Word Problems Step-by-step Lesson- This lesson looks like it requires great deal of reading but it's just a large number of unneeded details to test reader endurance.
- Addition Subtraction Word Problems Practice 5 Pack- A nice quick pack of problems to work with to go over this skill.
- Penguins, Horses, and Pucks Guided Lesson - We walk you through three unique problems, each with their own story to follow.
- Guided Lesson Explanation - I used visual subtraction to make it a bit easier for students to follow.
- Practice Worksheet - We give you 10 problems to work out. Complete all the problems. Make sure to draw pictures to help you solve the problems.
- Matching Problems to Answers Worksheet - Match the sentences to the outcome of the word problems.
- Answer Keys - These are for all the unlocked materials above.
Guided Lessons
These are great for children who are having a hard time grasping the concepts.
- Chicken Exercise - We work through this problem in this exercise: Matt has two poultry sheds. He gives the hens a safe place to live and plenty of food. He currently has 7 hens in the first shed. He plans to move 5 of those hens to his second shed. How many hens will be left in the 1st shed when 5 hens leave?
- Find the Exact Image - Students will match a visual diagram to sum problem.
- Juice Box Adding - This is a step by step walk through of the problem: Tom and Bruce are friends. They went on a picnic. Tom brought 3 juice packs. Bruce brought 2 juice packs. How many juice packs did they bring all together?
- Pizza Addition - The age-old question: Who has more pizza? Got to love friends that will share lots of pizza with you.
- Sandwich Subtraction - Denise eats some sandwiches. How many are left behind?
Practice Worksheets
I went in a lot of different directions with these to help teachers and students see different angles.
- Addition Word Problems Worksheet - Cold drinks and a pencil collection.
- Independent Word Problems - This is a more visual approach than a word problem set.
- Matching Equations - Match the numbers to the equations.
- Subtraction Word Problems - Frogs and mice have busy schedules.
Quick Tips for Solving Questions Like This:
The first tip is pretty obvious. Start by pay attention to the keywords in the language that you are provided with. If you see the following phrases or words: altogether, and, combine, increase, more than, plus, sum, or total; you can quickly understand that you will be adding two or more values together. Likewise, if you see the phrases or words: decrease, difference, fewer than, left with, less than, minus, or take away; you will need to subtract two or more values. Some problems may use words to indicate numbers. We would encourage you to write those words as numbers. To make the problems more real for you, we would encourage you to draw the problems into simple diagrams for yourself. It is much easier to see if something makes sense visually. You will not be able to do this with problems that involve very large numbers, but a general guided drawing can go a long way in those cases. The more practice you get with this, the easier it will be for you.
Example Addition Word Problem
Greg Guacamole and Peter Pineapple went out and bought a few slices of pizza for dinner. Greg had 4 slices of pizza and Peter had 3 pieces of pizza. They put all their pizza into a pizza box. How many slices of pizza were in that box?
Solution: The "all their pizza" tells us they we are looking for a total. To this we just find the sum of all of the slices of pizza that we have. Greg has 4 slices and Peter has 3, so the total would be equal to their sum.
4 + 3 = 7
The answer would therefore be 7 slices of pizza in total.
Example Subtraction Word Problem
Working off of the previous word problem (above). Later that same day, Peter Pineapple went in the refrigerator and grabbed that box of pizza and there were only 2 slices of pizza left in box. Greg Guacamole ate those slices. If there were originally 7 slices in the box, how many slices did Greg eat?
Solution: The box started with 7 slices and after Greg ate, there were only 2 slices left. This means that we need to find the difference between the number of slices remaining (2) and how many slices we started with (7). To put this in math terms:
7 - 2 = 5.
So, Greg must have eaten 5 slices in total. Man, that is a lot of pizza.