Early Word Problems
PROCEDURALSolve one-step word problems involving addition and subtraction to 20, including missing-number problems
Mastery Evidence
- Solve 'I have 12 sweets and eat 4, how many left?'
- Solve missing number: 7 = [ ] – 9
- Solve problems using concrete objects and pictorial representations
Assessment Prompt
“If you say 'I had some sweets, ate 5, and now have 9 left — how many did I start with?', can [child] figure out the missing number?”
Curriculum Standards2 alignments
1.OA.1Common Core State Standards for MathematicsUse addition and subtraction within 20 to solve word problems involving situations of adding to, taking from, putting together, taking apart, and comparing, with unknowns in all positions, e.g., by using objects, drawings, and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.
Maths/Y1/AS/4The national curriculum in EnglandSolve one-step problems that involve addition and subtraction, using concrete objects and pictorial representations, and missing number problems such as 7 = [ ] – 9.
Prerequisites2
- Adding and subtractinghardAges 5—6
- Addition and subtraction word problemssoftAges 4—6
Show full prerequisite tree
- Adding and subtracting hard
Word problems to 20 require the procedural ability to add/subtract to 20
- Numbers up to 10 into pairs hard
Making 10 is a specific application of decomposing numbers into pairs
- Addition as combining or putting together two hard
Decomposing numbers into pairs requires understanding addition as combining
- How Many in Total? hard
Understanding addition as combining groups requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Addition as combining or putting together two hard
Fluency with addition within 5 requires understanding addition as combining
- How Many in Total? hard
Understanding addition as combining groups requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Subtraction as taking away or separating hard
Fluency with subtraction within 5 requires understanding subtraction as taking away
- How Many in Total? hard
Understanding subtraction as taking away requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Addition and subtraction word problems soft
Word problems to 20 extend from word problems within 10 — same problem structures at a higher range
- Representing Addition and Subtraction hard
Solving word problems within 10 requires ability to represent the operations with objects/drawings
- Addition as combining or putting together two hard
Representing addition with objects/drawings requires understanding what addition means
- How Many in Total? hard
Understanding addition as combining groups requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Subtraction as taking away or separating hard
Representing subtraction with objects/drawings requires understanding what subtraction means
- How Many in Total? hard
Understanding subtraction as taking away requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
Unlocks3
- Guided Multi-Step Problem SolvingsoftAges 6—7
- Mental and written addition and subtractionsoftAges 6—7
- Two-Step Word ProblemshardAges 7—8