Early Word Problems
Solve one-step word problems involving addition and subtraction to 20, including missing-number problems
Lesson
Set out your lesson
“Early Word Problems means turning a short story into one addition or subtraction within 20, including stories where a number is missing. You listen for what is known, what is asked, and whether things join or leave. We will act out one join story, one leave story, and one missing-number story, writing a matching equation each time.”
Bring to the table
- About 20 large counters or small toys for acting out stories (parent keeps tiny pieces away from mouths)
- Paper and pencil
Extra for the adult
Worked example. 7 + 5 = 12 birds after more land. 15 − 6 = 9 crackers left. If □ + 4 = 11, then □ = 7. The equation matches the story action; the spoken answer uses the story units.
Optional challenge. For Early Word Problems, invent one join and one leave story for a partner, including one with a missing start or change, and solve a partner’s story with an equation. Optional: decide whether a story needs + or − before touching counters.
What to notice. Keep one parent note: stories told; equations written; answers in context; whether counters or drawings were used; support used. A photo of counters alone does not show the story matching. This session samples a few items, not mastery of all word-problem forms.
Share and support
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Teaching approaches
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1 approach
Early Word Problems means turning a short story into one addition or subtraction within 20, including stories where a number is missing. You listen for what is known, what is asked, and whether things join or leave. We will act out one join story, one leave story, and one missing-number story, writing a matching equation each time.
Spend about 15 minutes solving one-step addition and subtraction word problems to 20 with objects, drawings, and equations, including one missing-number problem, then checking a fresh story.
Family records and proof options
Keep a record of your learning
Save photos, notes, and attendance. Export a proof packet for compliance or portfolio reviews.
Learning resources
Extra practice links — they do not replace Gakuva’s teaching approach.
Illustrative Mathematics · Practice link — not the full lesson
At the Park
Before you open · source notes
Three park stories keep the quantities within 20 and change which amount is unknown. This is an addition-context supplement, not every subtraction context in the topic. An adult may read the prompts.
Free, no sign-in. A teacher solution is on the same page, so use the student view with your child.
Before you openAsk the learner to show one story with objects and say which amount was missing. A correct total does not prove every missing-number type. Keep any solution section for the adult.
Opening this link does not save learning or assess mastery.
Source, access and review notes
Public Illustrative Mathematics task page. The .html address responds HTTP 308 to this URL. An anonymous GET of this URL on 2026-11-10 returned HTTP 200 with no login or payment prompt. Where a teacher solution is present, it is on the same page as the student task; this check did not find a separate locked student view. An adult can use the student view section and should not read a solution aloud. Advertising was not observed in the fetched HTML text; that is not a browser, device, or ad-free guarantee. This is a paper or discussion task, not an automatically marked interactive game. Opening the link does not save practice or assess mastery. Diagrams on the page use missing or filename-only alt text, so they are not an accessible image equivalent. Accessibility still depends on an adult describing the picture.
Illustrative Mathematics. “At the Park.” Licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. External task; Gakuva does not copy, host, embed, or redistribute it.
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — link only
Check understanding
- Solve 'I have 12 sweets and eat 4, how many left?'
- Solve missing number: 7 = [ ] – 9
- Solve problems using concrete objects and pictorial representations
“If you say 'I had some sweets, ate 5, and now have 9 left — how many did I start with?', can your child figure out the missing number?”
Curriculum record
- Type
- Procedural
- Subject
- Mathematics
- Domain
- Addition & Subtraction
- Age range
- Ages 5–7
Standards