Bar Models Tool. Our new Bar Models tool provides a dynamic platform for creating visual representations of mathematical problems. In this tool, you can model your own word problems based in Cognitively Guided Instruction and Singapore Math. This beta version addresses single- and multi-step problems in addition, subtraction, and multiplication.

 
*We welcome your feedback! Please use the form at the bottom of this page to tell us about your experience.

Instructional Videos

These videos model sample problems in the Bar Models tool.


Fireflies – Multi-Step Addition  >

Anna and Raul caught fireflies one hot summer night. Anna caught 4 more fireflies than Raul. Raul caught 5 fireflies. How many fireflies did they catch together?

Apples – Compare, Difference Unknown  >

Julie has 5 apples. Lucy has 3 apples. How many more apples does Lucy need to have the same amount as Julie?

Visitors at the Museum – Mixed Addition and Subtraction  >

There were 3670 visitors at a museum. There were 1565 men and 1005 women. The rest were children. How many children went to the museum?

Elvis’ and Presley’s pennies - Mixed Multi-Step with 3 Operations  >

Jayden has 347 pennies. Elvis has 4 times as many as Jayden. Presley has 799 fewer than Elvis. How many pennies does Presley have?




Features

Create your own story problems, from simple to multi-step. This tool is geared toward students in the 1st to 5th grades. See how many approaches can be used to solve a given problem. Problem types that are supported include:

  • Join
  • Separate
  • Part-Part-Whole
  • Compare
  • Grouping
  • Repeated Addition
  • Multi-step Combination of the Above

Coming soon:

  • Fractions
  • Division
  • Authoring, saving, and sharing with students

Sample Problems

Our curriculum authors have crafted a selection of sample prompts to help you get started. You can use these as standalone problems, or as a starting point for your own story problems-- simply copy and paste the text into the tool's prompt field.

One-Step Problems:

  1. Lara enjoys reading. She has 8 mystery books, 14 fiction books, and 12 nonfiction books. How many books does Lara have?
  2. Jon has 24 baseball cards. Sam has 32 more baseball cards than Jon. How many baseball cards does Sam have?
  3. Emily has 41 beads. Hannah has 27 beads. How many more beads does Emily have than Hannah?
  4. Dora is 13 years old. She is 5 years older than Joe. How old is Joe?
  5. Sara and Greg each did jumping jacks. Greg did 8 jumping jacks. Sara did 4 times as many jumping jacks as Greg. How many jumping jacks did Sara do?

Multi-Step Problems:

  1. The school cafeteria ordered 145 red apples and 83 green apples. At the end of the day, there were 54 apples left. How many apples were sold?
  2. Kara’s goal is to read 345 pages of her book over a 3 day period. If she reads 142 pages on Monday and 115 pages on Tuesday, how many pages will she need to read on Wednesday to reach her goal?
  3. Jesse went shopping and found shirts for 7 dollars each and pants for 12 dollars each. He bought seven outfits. How much money did Jesse spend on the clothes?
  4. Joe raised 275 dollars for the school fundraiser. Mary raised 3 times as much as Joe, and that was 150 dollars more than Josie. What was the total amount raised?
  5. Ray has two kinds of coins. Two smaller coins and three larger coins have a value of 2 dollars. Two smaller coins and seven larger coins have a value of 4 dollars. What kinds of coins does Ray have?