Teaching Word Problems in 2nd Grade

If you’re looking for a better way to teach word problems, and more importantly, want your students to be more successful in solving word problems, I’m here to help. Teaching word problems in 2nd grade doesn’t have to be a challenge.

Why is teaching word problems in 2nd grade so hard?

When I first started teaching, I taught my students to use keywords, underline and circle, highlight and box…and yet, it didn’t help. They still didn’t know when to add and when to subtract.

And, my students didn’t understand or perform any better.

It didn’t help that I wasn’t consistently teaching or letting my students practice solving word problems.

Word problems have always been a source of contention for my students no matter what grade I taught (1st, 2nd, and 4th), and have always been something I’ve taught haphazardly as part of an adopted math curriculum.

Most math curriculums offer the following:

1 or 2 word problems at the end of each lesson, but don’t actually offer a way to teach students how to solve word problems
1 chapter on “problem solving”

And seriously, neither of those is helpful.

I wanted my students to get daily, strategic word problem practice.

And guess what? When I started teaching word problems in 2nd grade in a consistent, strategic way, my students were less frustrated, and much more proficient word problem solvers.

So, what’s the solution?

Now, I follow a 4-day teaching plan, and assess on day 5.

I no longer teach key words or underlining, circling, highlighting, and/or boxing…instead, I teach my students to look for patterns in how word problems are structured…word problem situations.

In addition, I dedicate 5-10 minutes each day for word problem teaching and practicing.

There's a better way to teach word problems, and students will be successful in solving word problems. Teaching word problems in 2nd grade can be easy!

How do I know what to teach?

I start with the standard.

Honestly, no matter what I’m teaching this is where I start. I need to know exactly what the expectation is, so then I can help my students master it.

The Common Core standard for 2nd grade says:

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.2.OA.A.1

Use addition and subtraction within 100 to solve one- and two-step word problems involving situations of adding to, taking from, putting together, taking apart, and comparing, with unknowns in all positions, e.g., by using drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.

While many states no longer use the term “Common Core” many of their adopted standards are the same, or at least similar.

MAFS.2.OA.1.1 (Florida Standards)

Use addition and subtraction within 100 to solve one- and two-step word problems involving situations of adding to, taking from, putting together, taking apart, and comparing, with unknowns in all positions, e.g., by using drawings and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.

So here’s what 2nd graders need to be able to solve:

Addition/Subtraction within 100
One-Step & Two-Step
Add to
Take from
Put Together
Take Apart
Compare

When you look at what 2nd graders are supposed to do, it’s no wonder teaching word problems is so difficult, not to mention students actually getting the hang of them.

How I teach word problems in 2nd grade:

At the beginning of the year, students are introduced to our word problem routine after the first couple of weeks of school.

I explain that word problems are like stories we have to read, and understand what’s going on in the story. We call these word problem situations.

Then, I teach students that there are 4 things they should always do when they solve a word problem:

Write a Number Sentence
Use a Strategy to solve
- I explain to students that I can’t hop inside their brains to see what they’re thinking, and if I don’t know what they’re thinking, I can’t help them become better word problem solvers.
- Students can draw a picture, use a fact family, base 10 blocks, and/or the standard algorithm.
Computation
- I look to see that the student has the correct answer.
Answer in a Sentence
- For example, instead of just saying “4,” my students write, “Cheyenne has 4 dogs.” This is important to connect math and writing, but also helps students check to see if their answer actually answers the question asked in the word problem.

Launching the word problem routine is all about modeling and routine. It doesn’t take long for students to get the hang of it.

I’ve done the hard work for you – I have 2nd grade word problems for the entire year, ready for you!

What’s the 2nd grade word problem routine?

On Mondays, I introduce the word problem situation. I find it helpful to have students “act out” the situation. Use the example on the situation poster/anchor chart to show students the pattern. (I teach students that the underlined portions of the number sentence are pieces we know, while the square represents the unknown.)

Model and solve the practice word problem, and provide feedback to students.

For the next 3 days, we model and solve a word problem that has the same situation as Monday. So we’re not skipping around. This is very systematic.

Finally, on Fridays, students complete 2 word problems on their own following the same situation we’ve used all week.

For differentiation or extension, students can write a word problem on the back of their assessment that follows the same situation they learned that week. This is such a great way to see if students really understand the situation we learned that week.