3rd Grade Two-Step Multiply and Divide Problems: 3 Stories

Many stories need two steps: you multiply then divide. This 3rd grade two-step multiply and divide problems sheet gives your child three of them. Jenny bakes 6 trays of 6 cupcakes and shares them evenly into 9 boxes. Jerry gets 8 packs of 10 trading cards and splits them with his brother. Kyle buys 4 cases of 12 juice boxes for a dinner with 7 guests. So 8 people share them, Kyle included. Each problem leaves room to write the facts, both number sentences and an answer sentence. The answers are 4 cupcakes, 40 trading cards and 6 juice boxes, and the second page is an answer key with every step shown.

Step one: find the total

In each story, your child first finds how many things there are in all. Equal groups call for a multiplication: 6 trays of 6 cupcakes make 6 x 6 = 36, and 8 packs of 10 cards make 80.

Ask your child to write this first number sentence before going on. Because the total is the starting point of step two, a mistake here changes the final answer.

Step two: share it out

Next, your child shares the total equally, which is a division. The 36 cupcakes go into 9 boxes, so 36 ÷ 9 = 4. In the last story, read carefully: Kyle has 7 guests, and he eats too, so 48 juice boxes are shared by 8 people and 48 ÷ 8 = 6.

Your child can check each answer with a multiplication, since 4 x 9 = 36 and 6 x 8 = 48.

After the page: two-step stories at home

To begin, compare each answer with the answer key on page two. Then build a story together, such as 3 bags of 8 apples shared by 4 friends. Finally, let your child say which step multiplies and which divides, because naming the steps out loud builds the habit for longer two-step word problems.