Solving word problems – Year 6 maths lesson
Lesson 12 of 32 in the Year 6 maths course
UK version. UK school years, UK spelling and pounds (£). · US Math Department
A complete 45-minute lesson for Year 6 (ages 10–11) that runs on this page – at school or at home. Every answer is marked straight away, with a worked explanation.
- Time
- 45 minutes + 20 min homework
- Year
- Year 6 (ages 10–11)
- You need
- Paper, a pencil and this page
- Marked
- Instantly, with explanations
For parents: how to use this lesson
You don't need to know this topic yourself. The lesson explains each step on screen, one tidy step at a time. Every answer is marked straight away with a worked explanation, so you never have to mark anything.
- Read what your child will learn and the big ideas together.
- Press Start the lesson below and sit with your child for the teaching and the worked examples (about 19 minutes).
- Let them do the practice on their own. They choose Getting started, On track or Challenge – start on On track and move up after a few right in a row.
- Finish with the exit ticket and the talk question: “How did you decide what to do with the remainder?”
- Later that day or the next day: the homework (20 minutes), then a practice test.
Watch out for
- Using every number in the question without thinking. Some numbers are not needed: ask what each one tells you.
- Giving a remainder when the answer must be a whole number (buses, boxes). Read the question again: do you need one more box for the leftovers?
Tip for home: Plan a trip or a party together: how many tables, how much food, how much change?
What your child will learn
We are learning to solve one-step and multi-step word problems by choosing the right calculations.
Success looks like
- I can choose the right calculation.
- I can solve multi-step problems.
- I can check my answer makes sense.
Key words
- multi-step
- needs more than one calculation
- bar model
- a drawing of bars to show parts and the whole
- remainder
- what is left over after dividing
- units
- what the answer is measured in
What to have ready
- Paper and a pencil
- This page on a computer, tablet or phone
- For the hands-on part: Act out a shopping or packing problem with real objects, then write the calculations you used.
The big ideas (for the adult)
Read the problem twice. Underline the numbers and the question.
Decide which calculation each step needs. A bar model can show what is known and what is missing.
Work through the steps in order, then check the answer makes sense and has the right units. With remainders, think about what the question asks: round up, round down or keep the remainder.
The lesson, step by step
| Part | Time | How it is checked |
|---|---|---|
| Starter: quick recall | 5 min | Marked by Classfern |
| Teaching input | 10 min | Not assessed, self-checked |
| Worked examples and guided practice | 9 min | Not assessed, marked by Classfern |
| Independent practice | 15 min | Marked by Classfern |
| Plenary and exit ticket | 6 min | Marked by Classfern, self-checked |
Starter, "your turn", practice and exit ticket are marked by Classfern. Worked examples and teaching are not assessed. The hands-on task and the reflection are self-assessed. Explanations in talk are judged by the parent and not recorded.
The lesson
It runs here on the page. No sign-up and no names – progress is kept only in this browser.
Homework and practice at home
20 minutes: 10 practice questions, 3 multiple-choice questions and 2 to remember from earlier work, then a short reflection. New questions every time, all marked instantly.
More practice
More Year 6 maths lessons
- Place value: the value of each digit
- Negative numbers
- Comparing, ordering and writing numbers
- Negative numbers and temperature
- Long multiplication
- Short division
- Long division
- Order of operations
- Factors and multiples
- Prime numbers
- Estimating and checking answers
- Adding and subtracting fractions with different denominators
- Multiplying fractions
- Percentages of amounts
- Calculating with decimals
- Rounding decimals
- Adding and subtracting decimals
- Fractions, decimals and percentages
- Comparing and simplifying fractions
- Converting units of measure
- Volume of cuboids
- Missing angles
- Properties of 2-D shapes
- 3-D shapes and nets
- Coordinates
- Line graphs
- Pie charts
- The mean (average)
- Ratio and proportion
- Formulae and equations
- Sequences
Curriculum
National Curriculum for England, Year 6: “solve problems involving the calculation of percentages [for example, of measures and such as 15% of 360] and the use of percentages for comparison”
National Curriculum for England, Year 6: “divide numbers up to 4 digits by a two-digit whole number using the formal written method of long division, and interpret remainders as whole number remainders, fractions, or by rounding, as appropriate for the context”
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Our lessons and questions are our own. They are not written or endorsed by any government department, testing agency or exam board.