Problem Solving Words and

Strategies
Steps for Solving Word Problems
Read and underline the
question
Box key words
Circle important numbers and
cross out unneeded numbers.

Solve:
Draw a picture
Make a chart or table
Make a list
Work backwards
Find a pattern
Write a number sentence

Show all your work!

Check your work! Does it make
sense?
Label your answer
 Combined ALTOGETHER
SUM LEFT
DIFFERENCE HOW MANY MORE FEWER
TOTAL HOW MUCH TOGETHE IN ALL
FOR EACH PROBLEM TELL IF WE
NEED TO ADD OR SUBTRACT.
HOW DO YOU KNOW?
There were 5 penguins walking across the
ice. There were 9 penguins in the water.

• How many penguins were there in all?

After their walk, Grandma ate 4
cookies. Grandpa ate 8 cookies.

• How many cookies did they eat altogether?

Peter ate 12 crackers at snack time. Paul
ate 6 crackers. Mary ate 4 crackers.

• How many crackers did they eat in all?

A penguin swam after a school of fish. There were
12 fish in the school. The penguin ate 6 of the
fish.

• How many of the fish were left?

Kim, Sara and Sophia went to pick
apples. Kim picked 5 apples, Sara
picked 7 apples and Sophia picked 4
apples.

•What is the total number of apples the

girls picked?
Matt went on a walk. He saw 11 rabbits, 4
squirrels and 6 chipmunks.

•How many more rabbits did he see than

squirrels?
I had a bag of bones to feed my dog.
There were 15 bones in the bag. I gave
my dog 4 bones.

•How many bones are left in the bag?

In Mr. Nelson’s class there are 13 boys
and 11 girls. In Mrs. Walker’s class there
are 12 boys and 14 girls.

•How many girls are there in Mr. Nelson

and Mrs. Walker’s class combined?