Solve Word Problems with Money

Students use addition and subtraction to solve real-world word problems involving dollar bills and coins. Students practice selecting the correct operation, computing the total or change, and writing their answer with the correct money symbol.

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Grade 2 · Money · question 1 of 3

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12 rungs. A star at the top.

Sam buys gum for 9¢ and a mint for 6¢. He pays with 20¢. How much change should he get?

How it is taught

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Money problems join amounts, then take some away.

Cents stay in cents.

Left over is what remains after you spend.

Read it: Money stories: add or take away

Lin has 80¢. She spends 35¢ and 25¢. Spending takes money away: 80¢ − 35¢ − 25¢ = 20¢.

Find what the story asks: in all, change or left.
In all means add. Change and left mean take away.
Write it with ¢ and solve: 20¢ left.

A story about what 2 things cost in all puts the prices together.

Change is what you get back, so it is what you paid take away the price.

Money left is what you had take away everything you spent.

Add for in all. Take away for change and for money left.

Adding every number in the story: 80¢ + 35¢ + 25¢ = 140¢.

Lin spends 35¢ and 25¢, so take them away: 20¢ left.

Ana has 70¢. She buys a ball for 40¢. How much money is left? — 30. Spending takes money away: 70¢ − 40¢ = 30¢.

Maya has 75¢. She buys a sticker for 40¢. How much is left?

Maya has seventy-five cents in her pocket. She wants to buy a sticker that costs forty cents.

How much money will Maya have left after she buys the sticker?

She is spending money, so the amount goes down. That means we subtract.

Let's write seventy-five cents minus forty cents in columns.

Line up the tens and the ones, just like with regular numbers.

Start with the ones. Five minus zero.

Five! Write five in the ones place.

Now the tens. Seven minus four.

Three! Write three in the tens place.

Don't forget the cents symbol so we know it's money.

Grade 2 · Subtract to find the change

Maya has thirty-five cents left. Great work solving a money word problem!

What you see

While they climb, your page writes one true line to ask about tonight, and a short note each Sunday.

MayaGrade 3 · Mathematics

Did you know?

A chessboard has 64 squares — share them out between the 8 rows and each row holds exactly 8.

Today’s goal: 1 star — one skill mastered, every rung of its ladder climbed
Climbing now: Divide within 100

An example student.

MayaGrade 3 · Mathematics

Maya earned 2 stars this week — Interpret multiplication as equal groups, which took 6 answers over 3 days before its star landed 3 days ago and Multiply by 6, 7, 8 and 9. Next up: Divide within 100.

An example week.

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