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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.

Alaska content standards learning standard: 3.OA.8 · solving two-step 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 Alaska

In the Alaska content standards, 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: Alaska Department of Education and Early Development

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

    Lena has 5 cards and gets 7 more. Lena shares all the cards equally among 2 friends. How many cards does each friend get?

    • 3
    • 5
    • 16
    • 7
    • 6

  2. Question 2

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

    • 4
    • 18
    • 2
    • 6
    • 3

  3. Question 3

    Zoe adds 760 + 370 and gets 1130. Round to the nearest hundred to check. Is that answer reasonable?

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

  4. Question 4

    Jay has 6 bags with 5 grapes in each and eats 3. Which equation finds the grapes left, g?

    • 6 × (5 + 3) = g
    • 6 × 5 − 3 = g
    • 6 + 5 − 3 = g
    • 6 × 5 + 3 = g

  5. Question 5

    Leo has 6 bags with 4 grapes in each and eats 2. Which equation finds the grapes left, g?

    • 6 × (4 + 2) = g
    • 6 × 4 − 2 = g
    • 6 × 4 + 2 = g
    • 6 + 4 − 2 = g

  6. Question 6

    Mia picks 17 apples in the morning and 15 in the afternoon. Mia puts them in bags of 4. How many bags are filled?

    • 32
    • 7
    • 10
    • 8
    • 9

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