Create Word Problems from Stories
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What you will learn
- 1Identify the key numbers and relationships in a story or real-life situation
- 2Write a clear word problem using numbers from a given story
- 3Choose the correct operation to match the relationship described
- 4Solve the word problem created and check the answer
Mini Lesson
Writing your own word problems helps you understand how mathematics connects to real life. A good word problem takes a story or situation and turns it into a mathematical question that can be solved.
What Makes a Good Word Problem?
- Context: who is involved and where the situation takes place.
- Known numbers: the values given in the problem.
- A question: what the reader needs to find — the unknown.
Matching the Operation to the Story
- "How many altogether" or combining → Addition
- "How many left" or removing → Subtraction
- "Times as many" or equal groups → Multiplication; "How many groups" or sharing equally → Division
- Key words guide the reader to the correct operation.
Structure of a Word Problem
- Start with one or two context sentences that set the scene.
- Include the known numbers naturally in the context.
- End with a clear question sentence.
- After writing, solve your own problem and check the answer.
Story: A library has 320 fiction books and gets 45 more.
How many books does the library have now?
Context: library and books. Known numbers: 320 and 45. Question: total books. Operation: addition (combining).
Words to know
Word problem
A math problem written in sentences using a story or situation
e.g. My word problem is about a library.
Context
The real-life situation the problem is set in
e.g. Sports, shopping, and cooking are common contexts.
Known
A number or fact already given in the problem
e.g. The library starts with 320 books — that is known.
Unknown
The quantity the problem asks you to find
e.g. The unknown is the total number of books now.
Operation
The math action — add, subtract, multiply, or divide — needed to solve
e.g. My problem needs the addition operation.
Tip: after writing your word problem, solve it yourself. If you cannot solve it, the problem may be missing a number or a clear question.
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