Subscribe

3rd grade · Math · Unit 12 of 14

Two-Step Stories

Solve problems in two steps

What your child practices

Word problems that take two steps with any of the four operations, choosing an equation with a letter for the unknown, and checking an answer by estimating.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 3.8 · solving two-step word problems with the four operations and checking answers by estimating

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Read the story and find the two steps.
  2. Do the first step, then use its answer in the second.
  3. Check: is the answer close to an estimate?

Example: Maya buys 4 packs of 6 stickers and gives away 5. How many are left? Step 1: 4 × 6 = 24. Step 2: 24 − 5 = 19. Answer: 19

Two-Step Stories in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 12 of 14 in 3rd grade Math, after Times Tens and before Halves & Fourths of an Inch.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Noah picks 16 apples in the morning and 5 in the afternoon. Noah puts them in bags of 3. How many bags are filled?

    • 9
    • 7
    • 8
    • 6
    • 21

  2. Question 2

    Jay buys 9 packs of 5 stickers and gives away 2. How many stickers are left?

    • 53
    • 42
    • 33
    • 43
    • 44

  3. Question 3

    Mia adds 869 + 340 and gets 1509. Round to the nearest hundred to check. Is that answer reasonable?

    • No, it is far from the estimate
    • Yes, it is close to the estimate

  4. Question 4

    Sam has 5 bags with 6 grapes in each and eats 4. Which equation finds the grapes left, g?

    • 5 × 6 − 4 = g
    • 5 + 6 − 4 = g
    • 5 × (6 + 4) = g
    • 5 × 6 + 4 = g

  5. Question 5

    Priya picks 6 apples in the morning and 14 in the afternoon. Priya puts them in bags of 4. How many bags are filled?

    • 4
    • 6
    • 20
    • 5
    • 7

  6. Question 6

    Ana has 5 bags with 6 grapes in each and eats 5. Which equation finds the grapes left, g?

    • 5 + 6 − 5 = g
    • 5 × 6 + 5 = g
    • 5 × (6 + 5) = g
    • 5 × 6 − 5 = g

More 3rd grade