Word problems in Year 4 — introduction

Word problems in Year 4 — introduction

In Year 4 word problems grow into proper mini-stories. They can have two or three steps, they often mix all four operations (+, −, ×, ÷), and they ask you not just to compute, but to plan before you start. The hardest part is rarely the arithmetic — it's reading the story and deciding what to do.

A four-step routine

Use the same four steps for every word problem. They are the difference between guessing and solving.

  1. Read the whole problem once, calmly. What is the story about?
  2. Find the question. What exactly is being asked?
  3. Plan. What numbers do I have? What operation (or operations) do I need? In what order?
  4. Solve and check. Do the arithmetic. Then read your answer next to the question to see if it makes sense.

The trick is step 3 — most mistakes come from skipping the plan and jumping into a calculation.

Three big new ideas this year

1. Multi-step problems

A multi-step problem hides two or more calculations behind one story. You almost always have to compute a partial answer first, then use it in a second step.

A bookshop sold 12 boxes of books. Each box had 8 books. The shop kept 25 books for the next day and sold the rest. How many books were sold?

Two steps: 12 × 8 = 96 (total books). 96 − 25 = 71 books sold.

2. Multiplicative comparison

"How many times as many?" — comparing using multiplication, not subtraction. This is new in Year 4.

The library has 45 fiction books and 9 picture books. How many times as many fiction books?

45 ÷ 9 = 5 times as many.

3. Division with a remainder

In Year 4 you have to interpret the remainder, not just write "r 3".

32 children are going on a school trip in cars. Each car holds 5 children. How many cars are needed?

32 ÷ 5 = 6 r 2. But 6 cars only fit 30 children — 2 are left without a seat. So you actually need 7 cars, because you can't leave anyone behind.

Sometimes the remainder is the answer:

A baker has 50 cookies to share equally among 6 children. How many cookies are left over?

50 ÷ 6 = 8 r 2. Each child gets 8, and 2 cookies are left.

Some helpful habits

  • Underline the question before you do anything else.
  • Circle the numbers you'll need.
  • Cross out the numbers that are just there as background (a story might mention more than you actually need).
  • Write the answer in a sentence, not just a number. "Tom has 17 marbles." reads better than "17".
  • Check the units — kilometres, minutes, sweets, lorries: each one matters.

What you will learn

Try it out