The Five-Step Approach*
Step 1 Understand the question. Reread the
problem carefully to be clear about what
the problem asks you to find. Draw a box
around the question to help you focus.
Step 2 Decide what information is needed to solve the
problem. Sometimes there will be more
information than is needed to answer the question
being asked. Cross out any unnecessary
information. Circle the numbers needed.
Step 3 Choose the most appropriate operation or
operations to solve the problem. Underlining
key math words will help you decide which
operation to use.
Step 4 Solve the problem. Make sure the solution
answers the question asked.
Step 5 Check your answer by rereading the question
to see if the answer is reasonable and that it
makes sense.
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Key Math Words
Sometimes, the hardest part of solving a word problem is deciding which math strategy (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, etc.) to use. It's helpful to underline key math words and connect these words to mathematical operations.
- "total" = addition
- "less than" or "difference" = subtraction
Click here for a list of key math words.
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Example 1:
Paulo works from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. How many hours does he work each week?
Step 1 Reread the problem for understanding.
The problem asks for the number of hours Paulo
works each week.
Step 2 Decide what information is needed.
Paulo works from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. from Monday
through Friday.
Step 3 Choose the most appropriate operation or
operations.
Multiply 3 hours worked each day by 5 days per
week.
Step 4 Solve the problem.
3 × 5 = 15.
So, Paulo works 15 hours each week.
Step 5 Check your answer.
If Paulo works three hours for five days a week,
he works 15 hours each week. The answer is
reasonable.
If we had an answer of 150, that would
seem unreasonable for the number of hours
worked in a week, so we would want to
redo the steps and check our math!
Example 2**:
The McCaffy Public Library kept records on book circulation from January through April.
|
January
|
February
|
March
|
April
|
|
10,256
|
7,542
|
7,625
|
9,436
|
How many more books were borrowed in April than in February?
(1) 83
(2) 820
(3) 1,811
(4) 1,894
(5) 16,978
Step 1 Reread the problem for understanding.
It is asking us to compare the number of books borrowed in April with the number of books borrowed in February.
Step 2 Decide what information is needed
To solve the problem, we need only the numbers for February and April.
Step 3 Choose the most appropriate operation or
operations.
The key math words in the questions are how many more, asking us to compare two numbers and find the difference. To find the difference between two numbers, we use subtraction.
Step 4 Solve the problem
9,436
-7,542
1,894
Step 5 Check your answer
We can re-subtract to make sure we did the math correctly. In the case of subtraction, we can also check by adding:
7,542
+1,894
9,436
For more practice on solving word problems, click on the links below:
Identifying key words in math problems
Additional lessons and practice.
* Taken from Common Core Basics, McGraw Hill Education, 2012.
** From GED Mathematics, Steck-Vaughn Company, Texas, 1991.
