Money and Math: Word Problems to Use at Home or in the Classroom

Money and Math: Word Problems to Use at Home or in the Classroom
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Tips For Teachers

You will notice that the word problems provided below include blanks, instead of dollar and cents amounts. This is intentional. By leaving the amounts blank, the questions can be customized for the specific age or grade-level you are teaching. Furthermore, it provides educators with the opportunity to differentiate the math lesson within the classroom setting.

Have some students who are working above their grade level? Simply use higher numbers. Have students who are struggling? Customize the amount of money and word problems to fit their developmental level.

You can also decide on your own whether the problems will use dollar or cents, along with just how the problems will be written. For instance, will you write “25 cents,” or “.25”?

Also, determine whether you wish to provide manipulatives so that students can model the story problems, which will allow them to identify the concrete numbers in each problem alongside the computational skills. Younger students or struggling students will need this added support.

Finally, notice that several of the problems involve multiple steps to arrive at a solution. Be sure to take the time to model multi-step problems to your students before they begin the worksheet.

Student Practice

1. Mary had ________ in her pocket. She went to the store to buy a loaf of bread. The bread cost ________. How much money will Mary have left when she gets home?

2. Tommy had ________ in his piggy bank. He found ________. Now how much money does Tommy have in his piggy bank?

3. James was given ________ for his birthday. He spent some of it at the toy store. Now, James has ________ left. How much did he spend at the toy store?

4. You have some money. You do some jobs around the house, and earn ________. Now you have ________. How much money did you have to begin with?

5. For Mary’s birthday, she received several gift cards. One card had ________ on it. Another card had ________ on it. A third card had ________ on it. How much money does Mary have all together in gift cards?

6. Mr. Smith hired 4 kids to rake his yard. He agreed to pay them a total of ________. How much money will each kid get when they are finished raking Mr. Smith’s yard?

7. Alex was hired to babysit. the neighbors agreed to pay him ________ for each hour he worked. Alex babysat for ________ hours. How much money will the neighbors have to pay him?

8. You have ________. You decide to spend ________ on a soda and ________ on popcorn at the movies. How much money did you spend all together? How much money will you have left?

9. The good news is that you won ________ in the lottery! The bad news is that you have to share the winnings with ________ other people, not including yourself. How much money will each person get?

10. Mara had ________. She decided to buy a new dress which cost ________. Since she does not have enough to pay for the dress, she will have to borrow the rest from her mother. How much will Mara have to borrow from her mother to pay for the dress in full?

You can also give this to your students to practice on paper! Here is a printable of the money problems worksheet available through our Media Gallery at Bright Hub Education, downloadable as a Word doc. The problems are easily customized for the grade level you teach.

In “Sum”

Add money and math word problems to your lessons as early as possible in the classroom or at home. Extend this activity by creating problems based on happenings in each student’s life. By doing so, you provide students with a practical understanding about the value of money along with the much-needed practice of transferring operational skills into the context of everyday life.

References

  • Information offered in this article was developed during the author’s 12 years of experience as a classroom teacher and homeschooling parent.