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Order of Operations Worksheets

If you need order of operations worksheets that you can print right now, this page builds them for you — 20 fresh problems, an answer key underneath, and no account to create first. The current sheet starts with problems like (11 − 5) × 6 and 5 × (2 + 3), and the answers (36 and 25) are printed on the key so marking takes about a minute.

📄 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.

What the sheet contains

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

Order of operations is a convention, not a discovery, and it has to be taught as such. In (11 − 5) × 6 the multiplication is done before the addition, which is why the answer is 36 and not what left-to-right reading would give.

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

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

In US classrooms these 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.

Six problems from the sheet in front of you

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(11 − 5) × 6 =36Watch for: doing brackets last instead of first
25 × (2 + 3) =25Check: working strictly left to right
37 × (9 + 9) =126Look at: ignoring the check
4(12 − 4) × 5 =40Ask about: recopying the expression wrongly
57 × (9 + 6) =105Watch for: treating multiplication as outranking division
64 × (9 + 7) =64Check: dropping a negative sign

One problem worked through

Try 7 × (9 + 9) together before letting the child start alone. The answer to 7 × (9 + 9) is 126, and talking through how it was reached takes about a minute and saves several minutes of guessing later in the sheet.

The item 5 × (2 + 3) is worth doing slowly. The answer to 5 × (2 + 3) is 25, and the route to it is the route every other problem on this sheet takes — which is why the sheet has 20 of them rather than one.

Three common mistakes and what to do about them

Getting the most out of 10 minutes a day

  1. Run the sheet at the same time each day. Ten focused minutes before dinner beats an hour on Sunday, because order of operations with brackets is a recall skill: (11 − 5) × 6 has to arrive without being worked out, and recall is built by frequency.
  2. Write the finish time and the score at the top of every sheet. Two weeks of those two numbers tells you more about progress on order of operations with brackets than any single test result.
  3. Use a pencil, not a pen. Children working on order of operations with brackets rethink far more often when erasing is allowed, and you get to see exactly where the rethinking happened on an item like 7 × (9 + 9).
  4. 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.
  5. 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.

The answer key

Because the numbers are random, there is no shared answer list to look up: the key printed behind your sheet is the only one that fits it, and it shows 36 for (11 − 5) × 6.

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 on US Letter or A4

Printing works the same on US Letter and A4, because the layout uses relative widths rather than fixed inches. Set margins to default and scaling to 100%, and all 20 problems fit.

To save these order of operations worksheets instead of printing them, choose 'Save as PDF' in the printer list. You get the worksheet and the answer key as a single PDF, on Letter or A4 depending on your printer settings.

Frequently asked questions

Is the answer key included?
Yes, on its own page behind the worksheet. For the sheet loaded right now it shows 36 for (11 − 5) × 6 and 25 for 5 × (2 + 3).
Should brackets be added when they are not needed?
In their own working, yes. Extra brackets never change a correct expression and they make the intended order visible.
Can I change how many problems are on the page?
Yes — the generator takes 10, 20 or 30 problems. Twenty is the default because it fits one page and suits a 10-minute drill.
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 order of operations worksheets a day for two weeks will tell you more about where a child working at this level 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