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Free 6th Grade Order of Operations Worksheets (with brackets)

Every sheet of 6th grade order of operations worksheets on this page is built the moment you open it, so the 20 problems below are not the same ones the last visitor printed, and the answer key is generated with them. The current sheet starts with problems like (5 + 2) × 3 and 5 × (2 + 3), and the answers (21 and 25) are printed on the key so marking takes about a minute.

📄 6TH GRADE ORDER OF OPERATIONS WORKSHEETS — A NEW SHEET EVERY TIME YOU PRESS THE BUTTON
🎲 New set of problems

‘New set of problems’ opens the generator in its own tab. There you can change the problem count and turn the answer key on or off. ‘Print or save as PDF’ opens the print dialog — choose Save as PDF in the printer list to keep the file. The sheet fits US Letter and A4, and the answer key prints on its own page.

The skill behind these problems

The expressions here use brackets and two operations, numbers under 100, so the arithmetic never obscures the structure being tested.

Order of operations is a convention, not a discovery, and it has to be taught as such. In (5 + 2) × 3 the multiplication is done before the addition, which is why the answer is 21 and not what left-to-right reading would give.

Every sheet is generated fresh, so the pattern of operations changes from page to page and cannot be learned by position.

Brackets exist to override the convention, and children who understand that read expressions far more confidently than children who have memorised an acronym.

In US classrooms these 6th grade order of operations worksheets are commonly aligned with the expressions and equations expectations for this grade, though the exact wording varies from state to state.

Sample problems from the current sheet

These six come from the sheet loaded on this page. Press the button and the numbers change, but the shape stays the same (brackets and two operations, numbers under 100).
#ProblemAnswerWhat to check
1(5 + 2) × 3 =21Watch for: ignoring the check
25 × (2 + 3) =25Check: working strictly left to right
34 × 8 + 4 × 3 =44Look at: recopying the expression wrongly
4(9 + 9) × 7 =126Ask about: dropping a negative sign
5(2 + 3) × 9 =45Watch for: doing brackets last instead of first
6(11 + 9) × 5 =100Check: treating multiplication as outranking division

One problem worked through

Try 4 × 8 + 4 × 3 together before letting the child start alone. The answer to 4 × 8 + 4 × 3 is 44, and talking through how it was reached takes about a minute and saves several minutes of guessing later in the sheet.

Work (9 + 9) × 7 out loud as a demonstration. It gives 126. Children who hear (9 + 9) × 7 reasoned through once at the start of a session make noticeably fewer errors in the ten minutes that follow.

Three things that go wrong here

How to run this as a 12-minute daily drill

  1. Stop the session at the time limit even if the sheet is unfinished, and note where the child got to. A half sheet done well is better data than a whole sheet rushed.
  2. Read the first two problems out loud together before starting the clock. It costs fifteen seconds and removes most of the 'I did not understand the question' errors.
  3. Run the sheet at the same time each day. Ten focused minutes before dinner beats an hour on Sunday, because order of operations is a recall skill: (5 + 2) × 3 has to arrive without being worked out, and recall is built by frequency.
  4. If two days in a row come out under 12 minutes with everything correct, that is the signal to move up: either numbers bigger than (5 + 2) × 3 uses, or the next skill in the sequence.
  5. Use a pencil, not a pen. Children working on order of operations rethink far more often when erasing is allowed, and you get to see exactly where the rethinking happened on an item like 4 × 8 + 4 × 3.

Marking the sheet

Keys are produced by the same code that produces the questions, so a mismatch between question and answer is not possible on these sheets.

Every generated sheet carries its own key on a separate printed page, which lets a child self-mark without seeing the answers while they work.

Printing and saving as PDF

For a class set, print one sheet, press the new-worksheet button and print again. Each child gets different numbers on the same skill, so nobody can copy the answer to (5 + 2) × 3 from a neighbour.

The sheet is laid out to fit one page on both US Letter and A4. Leave the browser scaling at 100% and turn headers and footers off, and the 20 problems land inside the margins on either paper size.

Frequently asked questions

Are these worksheets really free?
Yes, completely. The page is supported by advertising, not by subscriptions, so there is no limit on how many 6th grade order of operations worksheets you print.
Do I need an account to print these worksheets?
No. There is no sign-up, no email and no download step — the 6th grade order of operations worksheets are built in your browser and go straight to your printer or to a PDF file.
Is PEMDAS or BODMAS correct?
They describe the same convention with different words. Both mislead slightly, because multiplication and division share a level and so do addition and subtraction.
Why does the convention exist at all?
So that a written expression has exactly one meaning. It is an agreement about notation, and telling children that removes most of the mystery.

One sheet of 6th grade order of operations worksheets a day for two weeks will tell you more about where a 6th grader actually stands than any single long assessment.

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Free printable math worksheets from a working math academy director in Korea. Problems come from our own code, not from a published workbook. Every sheet prints on US Letter or A4 with its answer key. All worksheets · Worksheet generator · Korean site
Last updated: 2026-09-13