Reading and Writing the Language of Numbers

Primary Sample Stories For Reading and Writing the Language of Numbers

created by Debby Head Libby Pollett Kari Vore Jennifer Synold

This is a collection of word problems to accompany your dot charts. They were written by teachers for their students. They are organized by mathematical strand:  Number  Algebra  Measurement  Data Analysis & Graphing  Geometry Primary Number

______saw we had six empties by looking at the three on top and three on the bottom. Did anyone count them another way? (Perhaps you’ll get 3+3=2+6 or 3+3=2+2+2. Put up two grids of 6 dots/6 empties and circle each to match how children counted the empties.)

If each dot is a bunny, how many ears?

______pupppy paws. How many puppies?

I have 20¢ left from my dollar. How much did I spend?

____planted twenty seeds. Only 16 came up. How many did not sprout?

There were 16 kids at a table. If 8 kids sat at each table, how many tables were needed?

Three children will share ____ cookies. How many will each child get?

______bicycles. How many wheels?

______had ____ pieces of candy. ____ pieces had peanuts. How many pieces were without peanuts?

It takes you 20 minutes to jog 2 miles. Your friend can jog the same distance in 4 minutes less time. How long does it take your friend to jog 2 miles?

I have __ nickels and __ pennies. How much money do I have?

______has seven charms. ______has three charms. They got them at ______’s party. How many do they have altogether?

______had seven pieces of candy. She wanted to give two pieces to each friend. How many friends got two pieces?

Look how many boys are here today! Let’s order from greatest to least the # of dots, # of empties, # of boys present in our class today.

______earned fourteen dimes for cleaning his room. He gave half of them to his sister for a gift for Mother’s Day. How much money did he give her?

Last week Tim Duncan scored 41 points in a game, his high for the season. This week he made fourteen 3-pointers against the Lakers (and NO field goals!), setting a personal record for 3-pointers. Which game did he score more points?

12 eggs fit in a carton. We have 15 eggs. How many are extra?

_____ sees __ ducks. How many wings did she see?

______has ___ pennies. _____ has _____ pennies. If they share the pennies equally, how many will each child get?

We had ____ nickels and traded for quarters. How many quarters did they get? Did they have any nickels left?

_____ children went on a trip. __ can ride in a car. How many cars will they need?

Our class wants to donate $5.00 to United Way. If we all bring a quarter, will we have enough?

______had four packs of gum with five pieces in each package. She got them after school yesterday with her dad. After playing with her friends she had only fourteen pieces left. If she gave one piece to each friend, how many friends were playing with her?

______has ___ nickels. Is it more or less than a dollar?

______’s family needs five dollars for the washer or dryer. They have ___ quarters. Do they have enough money?

I’m scared! I opened the door and saw ______3-headed monsters! How many heads did I see?

______and I each caught _____ fish. How many did each of us catch? (Use and even # of dots or empties.)

We have 24 pets between us. Suppose other classes in our school have 68! How many will we have together? (Consider adding 6 of the 68 to the 24, so 24 + 68 = (24 + 6) + 62 = 30 + 62 = 92! These are all equivalent expressions for the same value!)

There are __ students who are going to Mammoth Cave in first grade. __ students have already paid for their trip. How many students need to turn in their money?

If your grandfather offers you money for helping in his yard, would you rather have 40 nickels or ten quarters?

© 2010 bby publications @ UWA All rights reserved page 3 At the first stop, 9 children got on the bus. At the second stop, 6 children got on the bus. If 2 children sit in each seat, how many seats are filled?

What is the 20th letter of the alphabet? (empty 20 grid)

You set the table with forks, knives and spoons for dinner. How many pieces of silverware did you use to set the table for ten people?

You have 3 chocolate chip cookies and 2 vanilla crème cookies. Your friend has 1 vanilla cookie and 4 chocolate chip cookies. Who has more cookies?

How many socks would you have if you have ___ pairs of socks?

I need to mail 20 letters but have only 7 stamps. How many more do I need?

I found 14 pennies on the floor of our car. How many nickels can I trade for?

Suppose we were in school twenty days last month. If we had perfect attendance for fourteen of those days, did we have perfect attendance for more or less than half of the month?

Zim! Zam! Zots! Double the dots!

Would you rather have 5 quarters of 15 dimes?

Our class of __ students earned a pizza party for attendance this 9 weeks. _____ wanted pepperoni, ______wanted extra cheese on hers, and _____ wanted ham and pepperoni. 13 of the students in the class ate all of their pizza. How many of the students did not finish theirs?

If we seat ____ people at tables of four, will every table be full or will we have some folks left over?

______bought __ Airheads on Friday for a quarter each. ______bought __ Airheads for a quarter each on Friday. How many more Airheads did ______buy than ______did? (How much money did they spend together?)

______sees 30 legs in the Ladybug Lodge. How many ladybugs are in the lodge?

Another class has 30 children in a class that is going to eat cookies. 14 cookies have icing, 7 have M&M’s, 6 have sprinkles, and 3 have candy kisses. What fraction of the class will eat cookies with sprinkles on them?

I have a quarter. I need 68¢ to buy a candy bar. How much more money do I need?

© 2010 bby publications @ UWA All rights reserved page 4 A third grade class has 10 boys and 9 girls. A fourth grade class has 17 boys and 15 girls. How many more students are in the fourth grade class?

I have a dollar. I bought 68¢ worth of candy. How much change did I get back?

The coach found 68 pair of new shoelaces in the supply locker. How many pairs of shoes can get new laces?

_____ had 68 Pokemon cards. He gave his brother half of them. Did he receive an even or odd amount of cards?

I have two quarters, a dime and a penny in my pocket. If I spend 36¢, how much money will I have left?

If we found ___ shells and shared them equally, how many would each of us get? (even #)

It has rained 36 straight days in Portland, Oregon. The record is fifty days. How many more days in a row are needed to break the record?

Suppose we see packs of gum on sale for 36¢. How many could we buy with a dollar?

______needs ______for a gift for his mom. She likes perfumes that spray on. He has __ quarters and __ dimes. Does he have enough money saved?

______had 10 packages of bubblegum with 10 pieces in each. She ate 20 pieces of gum yesterday and 18 pieces today. What is the least number of packages she could have opened to eat that much gum?

______wanted to sell ___ items for the school fund-raiser to win a prize. She has sold ____ items. She sold ___ of them to her grandmother. How many more does she need to sell to meet her goal?

When we read with our buddies, there are ___ of us reading at once. If half of us are female, how many of us are males?

__ students had their parents sign their agendas last night. __ moms signed the agendas. How many dads signed the agendas?

Suppose we have __ nickels! How much money will we have?

______has __ pieces of chewy candy, and there are six to a package. How many packages does she have?

You and three friends share a 20-inch, red licorice whip equally. How long is each piece?

______boys and _____ girls went to Chuck E. Cheese for a birthday party. All the girls wore their hair in braids. How many braids were there?

______has 80¢ in nickels. How many nickels does he have?

There were seventeen teachers at the PTA last night. All the others who attended were parents. If there were 50 people there, how many were parents?

______made 18¢ selling lemonade by charging 3¢ a cup. How many cups did she sell?

There are __ students in ____’s class. If each person brought 4 pencils to school today, how many pencils did they bring?

______boys went fishing. Each boy caught three fish. How many fish were caught?

It takes ____ 50 steps to get to his friend’s house. He has already walked 29 steps. How many more steps does he need to take?

______’s friends have 50 toes. How many friends?

Granny baked ____ cookies. She put ___ in each baggie. You get any leftovers. Do you get any cookies?

You are in a car and look beside you and see the balloon man in the next vehicle with 5 balloon bunches and ______in each bunch, how many balloons must he have?

You traded your __ pennies for nickels. Do you have an odd or even number of nickels?

You are collecting soup labels to earn a Curious George book. You have saved ____. How many more do you need?

You open a door and see ______heads! They belong to 3-headed monsters! How many monsters were looking at you?

You and two friends share a 9-pack of chicken nuggets. You agree to be fair. You also get some sweet and sour sauce. How many chicken nuggets will each of you get?

If there were _____ frogs and _____ lily pads, how many more lily pads will they need for each frog to have his own lily pad?

I see ____ alligator eyes. How many alligators do I see?

What is the number if each dot is worth two points?

______volunteers were weeding the butterfly garden. ____ left to go home for lunch. How many volunteers are still weeding?

There were ___ kittens on my porch when I left for school yesterday. There were ____ on the porch when I got home! What happened?

You had a dollar. You spend 8 dimes and a nickel. How much money do you have left?

_____ first, second and third graders are being rewarded for good behavior with a treat. ___ of the children are in first grade. ____ of the children are in second grade. How many are third graders?

How many half sandwiches can the lunchroom ladies make from ____ sandwiches?

The football team needs new footballs. They have $100 to spend. If each football costs ____, how many football can they buy?

How many ears would ____ ponies have?

What is one half of ____?

_____ children ate hot lunches from the lunchroom 5 days in a row. One child ate a hot lunch only 2 days. How many hot lunches did the children eat?

You have ______¢. This is your lucky day! You find ______¢ in the washing machine and ____¢ under your bed. How much more money do you need for a whole dollar? (blank 100 grid)

The PE teacher divided ____ children into ____ teams for relays. How many children are on each team?

If you buy two lollipops for ____¢ each, how much change will you get back from a dollar?

What is the compatible number for ______?

You made __ valentines for our class. ____ were pink and the others were red. Were more or less than one half of your valentines red?

______and ______caught seven fish together. She caught one more fish than he did. How many did he catch?

The girls got 7 golden tickets. The boys got one more ticket than the girls. How many tickets were given?

You spent some money. After spending _____¢ you had 2 quarters and 2 dimes left. How much money did you have in the beginning?

You have ten baseball cards. Your friend has twice as many as you do. Do you have 100 together?

This morning I saw butterflies outside in the garden. At lunch the number of butterflies had doubled. How many butterflies did I see at lunch?

You walked into the store with 50¢. You left with 2 dimes and 3 pennies. How much money did you spend?

You have ten nickels and you have been finding pennies all over the place! ____ pennies is half of the total pennies you found. How many pennies did you find?

I have 20 coins in my hands. Ten of them are pennies, five are nickels and five are dimes. What is the value of my coins?

You had some baseball cards. You gave 6 to your best friend. You have gave half of what you had left to your cousin. Now you have 7 baseball cards. How many baseball cards did you have before giving any away?

There are 20 lollipops in a bag. Five of the lollipops are cherry and ten of them are grape. All the rest of the lollipops are lemon. How many of them are lemon? Another class has 24 students, and there are twice as many boys as girls! How many boys do they have?

______got ______baseballs he got from his Uncle Ned. His mom gave him an equal amount of baseballs. How many did he have in all?

______’s class has twice as many kids as we have in our class. How many kids are in their class?

In my garden during tulip season, there were two blooms the first day. The second day the number of blooms doubled. Each day for a week, the number of blooms doubled in the same pattern. On which day were there fourteen blooms? ______has __ pennies. ______has 2 more than ______. ______has 2 less than _____. How many pennies does each child have?

In our classroom aquarium we have 16 fish. 3 of the fish are striped, 8 are orange, and the rest are black. How many fish are black? Is this number even or odd?

You have ___ dimes. Your friend has twice as many as you have. Does your friend have more or less than ____ dimes?

There are 20 cars in the parking lot. Five are SUV’s. Three times as many are vans. How many are vans? (Empty 20 grid)

You had a new package of ping-pong balls. After giving ___ to your cousin, you had ___ left. How many ping-pong balls were in the new package?

How many people are absent today, if ____ of the ____ people are here?

We have 26 wheels. We make some tricycles and some wagons. How many tricycles and how many wagons did we make?

We have 26 wheels. We make more tricycles than wagons. How many tricycles and wagons could we make?

We have 26 wheels. We make more wagons than tricycles. How many tricycles and wagons could we make?

I had some money. I found a nickel. How I have 16¢. How much money did I have before I found my nickel?

There are 22 students in a first grade classroom. 10 of these students have black hair. How many students’ hair is a different color than black? (10 + n = 22 n=___)

Sara, Billy and Suzy have 19 dogs between them. Suzy has 7 dogs. Billy has fewer dogs than Suzy and Sara has more dogs than Suzy. How many dogs could Sara and Billy each have?

Together you and your friend ate 13 marshmallow cookies. Your friend ate 3 more cookies than you did. How many cookies did each of you eat?

© 2010 bby publications @ UWA All rights reserved page 9 Grandpa gave you some shiny silver dollars. You spent some and now have ten silver dollars, which is half of the ones he gave you. How many silver dollars did Grandpa give you?

I see 19 packages of Hostess Twinkees, with two per package. Would I have closer to 30 or 40 individual Twinkees?

There are 22 students in the class down the hall. How many fingers are on the tables in that class?

There are 22 students in ______’s first grade class. Nine of these students are boys. How many are girls? Measurement

What day of the month is it? Let’s order from least to greatest: the # of dots we see, # of empties we see, and the date of the month (12th or so)! ] Is ____ inches more or less than __ yards?

If each dot = 1 inch, how many feet?

If each dot = 1 month, how many years?

If each empty square = 1 foot, how many yards?

If each dot = 1 day, how many weeks?

Each dot = 2 books read. How many books were read?

We practiced catch for fourteen days straight. How many weeks did we practice?

______says the area of the dots is greater than the area of the empties. ______says the area of the empties is greater. Who is right?

______says the perimeter of the dots is greater than the perimeter of the empties. ______thinks the perimeters are the same. ______says the empties have the greatest perimeter. Who is right?

What time will it be in six hours? (Count on. This example is for 6 dots or 6 empties.)

How many feet in ____ yards?

Our class needs 5 gallons of lemonade for our class trip. We have 17 packages that make 2 quarts each. Do we have enough lemonade mix?

Today is _____. If each dot represents a day, what day will be last? (count on)

Help me build a perimeter fence around my empties (dots). How many line segments will we need to draw?

If we see 18 cows in a pasture, and each side of the square is a section of fence, how many sections of fence will we need to fence them in if they stay in this arrangement?

If it rained here for ______straight days, how many weeks of rain did we get?

Every dot equal 2 inches. How many inches are there? Is the bottom stripe on our U.S. flag in our classroom more or less than that length?

If each dot = 1 cup, how many pints?

How many feet are in _____ yards?

There are 12 inches in a foot. We have 44 inches. How many feet do we have? Data/Probability

Color an AB pattern (blue/green, blue/green) twice. Ask your children what the last color will be. How do they know? Check it out! (suggestion: blank 20 grid)

Suppose I have marbles in a bag. Seven are green, three are yellow, four are red and the rest are purple. Which color(s) is least likely to be drawn? Why? (suggestion: blank 20 grid)

______had 13 M and M’s. Some were red and some were blue. She had one more red than blue. How many red M and M’s did she have? (This works for any odd number.)

This grid represents votes. The dots represent folks who like buttered popcorn. The blanks represent folks who prefer plain popcorn. What does the data tell us?

I have fourteen M & M’s in my pocket. Six are red. Three are blue. Two are orange. One is yellow. Two are green. If I reach into my pocket to give one to you, what color would it most likely be? (14 dots or empties)

The dots are making a graph. What might the graph be about?

© 2010 bby publications @ UWA All rights reserved page 11 Each square represents a child. Each square with a dot represents one child who has a pet at home. Do we have more/less/or equal to one half of the children that have pets at home?

Geometry

How many squares can we make by connecting the dots?