Solve Two-Step Word Problems Using Addition and Subtraction

Students solve two-step word problems that require two separate addition and/or subtraction calculations. They practice reading problems carefully to determine the sequence of operations and represent the problem with equations, using a letter for any unknown quantity.

Try three of them

Real questions from this skill, graded here. No account, and nothing is saved.

Grade 3 · Two-Step Word Problems · question 1 of 3

0 of 12

12 rungs. A star at the top.

Nia had 15 stamps. She got 8 more, then used 6. How many stamps does she have now?

How it is taught

0:00 of 4:59

A two-step problem needs two calculations.

The story has two changes that both matter.

Read it: Two steps, in order

Sam buys 5 packs of 4 cards and gives 3 away. First 5 × 4 = 20, then 20 − 3 = 17.

Work the first step: 5 packs of 4 is 5 × 4 = 20.
Carry 20 down into the second step: he gives 3 away.
Work the second step: 20 − 3 = 17 cards left.

The story asks about the end, so one step is not enough.

The first answer is the starting number of the second step.

Working the steps in the story's order keeps each number where it belongs.

Work the first step, carry its answer down, then work the second step.

Stopping at 20, the answer to the first step.

20 is how many he bought. He gives 3 away, so 20 − 3 = 17.

Lee reads 156 pages, then 87 more. The book has 300 pages. How many pages are left? — 57. 156 + 87 = 243, then 300 − 243 = 57.

Maya: 24 stickers, gives away 9, then gets 15 more

Let's solve a two-step word problem. Maya has twenty-four stickers.

She gives nine stickers to her brother.

Then her aunt gives her fifteen more stickers.

How many stickers does Maya have now?

Two steps! First subtract what she gave away. Then add what she got.

Step one: twenty-four minus nine equals a. The letter a stands for the unknown.

Twenty-four minus nine is fifteen. So a equals fifteen.

Step two: fifteen plus fifteen equals b. We use b for this new unknown.

Fifteen plus fifteen is thirty. So b equals thirty.

Grade 3 · Two steps, one answer

Maya has thirty stickers now. Two small steps solved one big 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.

More of the library

Every skill has a page

Standard

CCSS.3.OA.D.8

Solve two-step word problems using the four operations; represent these problems using equations with a letter standing for the unknown quantity

Grade 3

Quoted from the Common Core State Standards.

Where this sits

Comes after

Leads to

What a star here means

A star here is the top of a twelve-rung ladder, in four blocks of equal length — three of facts and one of the skill used in a real question — where a right answer climbs one rung and a wrong one drops back to the start of the block, never below it. The star is kept for good. How we grade

All of Grade 3

This is one rung of 104 in Grade 3 mathematics, in the order they build on each other.

Practise this skill free

14 days of every skill, practice packets, Fluency sheets and up to four students. No card.

Start free