Please look at the different types of math stories (word problems).
Below you will find a list of math stories.
Select which math story you would like to do.
Next, select two or three digit numbers for your story (Reminder: A two digit number has 2 numbers. For example 36 is a two digit number. A three digit number has 3 numbers. For example 261 is a three digit number.
Solve it using our math strategies.
Explain how you solved the math story using time order/sequence words (First, Next, Then, After, Last).
Sample Word Problems Types
Join Result Unknown (JRU)
There are two classes in the second grade. Mr. Green’s class read _______ books. Ms. Plum’s class read _______. How many books did the whole second grade read?
Jack and Jill were counting the number of rocks they’d collected. Jack collected _______ rocks and Jill collected _______. How many total rocks did they collect?
There was a stack of _______ books in the library. Stephanie added _______ more books to the pile. How many books are there in all?
David has a ribbon that is _______ inches long. He attached _______ inches more to the end. How long is his ribbon now?
Robert worked on his art project for _______ minutes on Wednesday and _______ minutes on Thursday. How long did Robert spend working on his art project?
Join Change Unknown (JCU)
Christopher has painted _______ flowers in the last week. He painted _______ on Mondayand some more on Tuesday. How many flowers did he paint on Tuesday?
Bella collected some plates for her party. She collected _______ plates. Her mother gave her some more. Now she has _______ plates. How many dishes did her mom give her?
Matthew saved up some money for a new skateboard. He had $_______ and earned some more by doing his chores. Now he has $_______. How much did he earn doing his chores?
Ethan had a piece of string that was _______ feet long. His mom gave him another piece of string. Now his string is _______feet long. How long was the string his mom gave him?
Matt had to write a book report for his homework. He worked on his book report for _______ minutes on Monday. Then some more on Tuesday. He has worked on his report for a total of_______ minutes. How many minutes did he work on it Tuesday?
Join Start Unknown (JCU)
Jose has some erasers. Kate gave him _______ more. Now he has _______ erasers. How many erasers did Jose start with?
There are some pandas at the zoo. Next year _______ more will be born. If there are now _______, how many were there to start?
Jacob is playing a video game. He scores some points the first time he plays a game. Then he scores _______ more points. Now it says that he has _______ points altogether. How many points did he score the first time he played the game?
Kelly had a piece of ribbon. Mary gave her _______ more inches of ribbon. Now her ribbon is _______ inches long. How long was her ribbon to start with?
Scott practiced shooting baskets on Friday. On Saturday, he practiced shooting baskets for _______ more minutes. He has practiced for a total of _______ minutes. How many minutes did he practice shooting baskets for on Friday?
Separate Result Unknown (SRU)
Sam has _____ pretzels. He eats _____. How many pretzels does he have left?
Sophia has _____ stickers. She gives _____ to her sister. How many stickers are left?
Tom has _____ flowers. He gives _____ to his mom. How many flowers does he have left?
Mia has _____ erasers. She gives _____ to her friend. How many erasers does she have left?
A ribbon is _____ inches long. Chris cuts _____ inches off of it. How long is the ribbon now?
Lily has _____ cents. She buys a ball for _____ cents. How much money does she have left?
A class has _____ minutes of freeplay. They spent _____ minutes playing handball. How much time do they have left of freeplay?
Separate Change Unknown (SCU)
Sam has _____ pretzels. He eats some. Now he has _____ . How many pretzels did he eat?
Sophia has _____ stickers. She gives some to her sister. Now she has _____ . How many stickers did she give to her sister?
Tom has _____ flowers. He gives some to his mom. Now he has _____ left. How many flowers did he give to his mom?
Mia has _____ erasers. She gives some to her friend. Now she has _____. How many erasers did she give to her friend?
A ribbon is _____ inches long. Chris cuts off some of it. Now it is _____ inches long. How much did Chris cut off?
Lily has _____ cents. She buys a ball. Now she has _____ cents. How much money did the ball cost?
A class has _____ minutes of freeplay. They spent some time playing handball. Now they have _____ minutes left of freeplay. How much time did they spend playing handball?
Separate Start Unknown (SSU)
Sam has some pretzels. He eats _____. He has _____ left. How many pretzels did he have to start with?
Sophia has some stickers. She gives _____ to her sister. She has _____ left. How many stickers did she have to begin with?
Tom has some flowers. He gives _____ to his mom. He has _____ left. How many flowers did he start with?
Mia has some erasers. She gives _____ to her friend. Now she _____ left. How many erasers does she start with?
Chris has a ribbon. Chris cuts _____ inches off of it. Now it is_____ inches long. How long was the ribbon to start with?
Lily has some money. She buys a ball for _____ cents. Now she has _____ cents. How much money did she start with?
A class has some time for freeplay. They spent _____ minutes playing handball. They have _____ minutes left. How much time did they have for freeplay?
PPW-WU-Part Part Whole-Whole Unknown
Noah has _____ blue airplanes and _____ red airplanes. How many airplanes does he have?
Cindy has _____ red pencils and _____ yellow pencils. How many pencils does she have?
Mr. Smith has _____ boys in his class and _____ girls. How many students does he have?
Mrs. Garcia ran _____ miles on Monday and _____ miles on Tuesday. How many miles did she run on Monday and Tuesday?
Juan earned ______cents last week and _____ cents this week. How much money did he earn altogether?
Natalie spent _____ minutes on her homework on Wednesday and _____ on her homework on Thursday. How much time did she spend on her homework on Wednesday and Thursday?
Part Part Whole-Part Unknown (PPW-PU)
Noah has _____ airplanes. _____ are blue and the rest are red. How many red airplanes does he have?
Cindy has _____ pencils. _____ are red and the rest are yellow. How many yellow pencils does she have?
Mr. Smith has _____ students in his class. Some are boys and _____ are girls. How many boys does he have in his class?
Mrs. Garcia ran _____ miles on Monday and some miles on Tuesday. She ran _____ miles on Monday and Tuesday. How many miles did she run on Tuesday?
Juan earned ______ cents. He earned ______cents last week. He earned some money this week. How much money did he earn this week?
Natalie spent _____ minutes on her homework on Wednesday and Thursday. She _____ minutes on Wednesday. How much time did she spend doing homework on Thursday?
Part Part Whole-Both Parts Unknown (PPW-PPU)
Noah has _____ airplanes. Some are blue and some are red. How many blue airplanes and red airplanes does he have?
Cindy has _____ pencils. Some are red and some are yellow. How many red pencils and how many yellow pencils does she have?
Mr. Smith has _____ students in his class. Some are boys and some are girls. How many boys and how many girls does he have in his class?
Mrs. Garcia ran _____ miles on Monday and Tuesday. How many miles did she run on Monday and how many miles did she run on Tuesday?
Max and his family went on a trip to the Grand Canyon. Their trip was _______ miles long. They traveled on Saturday and Sunday. How many miles did they travel each day?
Juan earned ______ cents. He earned some money last week and some this week. How much money did he earn last week and how much money did he earn this week?
Natalie spent _____ minutes on her homework on Wednesday and Thursday. How much time did she spend on Wednesday and how much time did she spend on Thursday?
Compare Difference Unknown (CDU):
Cindy has ____ books. Sally has ___ books. How many more books does Cindy have than Sally?
Kelly has ____ M&Ms. Sarah has ____ M&Ms. How many more M&Ms does Kelly have than Sarah?
Mrs. Smith has ___ students. Mrs. Jones has _____ students. How many more students does Mrs. Smith have than Mrs. Jones?
Jacob has ____ pencils. Bryan has ____ pencils. How many more pencils does Jacob have than Bryan?
Kelly has ____ dollars. Sarah has ____ dollars. How many more dollars does Kelly have than Sarah?
Jacob did his homework in ____ minutes. Bryan did his homework in ____ minutes. How many more minutes did it take Jacob to do his homework than Bryan?
Compare Bigger Unknown (CBU)
Mrs. Smith has ___ students. Mrs. Jones has ____ more students than Mrs. Smith. How many students does Mrs. Jones have?
The blue ribbon measures _____ centimeters. The red ribbon is ____ more centimeters longer than the blue ribbon. How long is the red ribbon?
Angelina has _____ stickers. Mya has ____ more stickers than Angelina. How many stickers does Mya have?
Jacob has ___ Pokémon cards. Bryan has ____ more Pokéman cards than Jacob. How many Pokémon cards does Bryan have?
Angelina has _____ dollars. Mya has ____ more dollars than Angelina. How many dollars does Mya have?
Jacob watches TV for ___ hours. Bryan watches TV for ____ more hours than Jacob. How many hours does Bryan watch TV?
Compare Smaller Unknown (CSU)
Mary has ___ crackers. She has ____ more crackers than Sam. How many crackers does Sam have?
Scott has ____ rocks. He has ____ more rocks than Tom. How many rocks does Tom have?
Sarah’s dress is ____ inches long. Her dress is ____more inches longer than Mary’s dress. How long is Mary’s dress?
Jacob has ____ video games. He has ____ more video games than Bryan. How many video games does Bryan have?
Scott has ____ dollars. He has ____ more dollars than Tom. How many dollars does Tom have?
Sarah lives ____ miles from school. She lives ____ more miles than Mary. How many miles from school does Mary live?
Jacob played Minecraft for ____ minutes. He played ____ minutes more than Bryan. How many minutes did Bryan play Minecraft?