Teacher Tips · Math

The CUBES Math Strategy: Steps, Examples, and How to Use It Well

By Elizabeth Schroer, Founder of Reimagines · November 2026

CUBES is a five-step strategy for solving math word problems: Circle the numbers, Underline the question, Box the key words, Evaluate and plan, and Solve and check. It gives students a place to start when a word problem feels overwhelming.

If your students stare at a word problem and don't know where to begin, or grab every number and add them together, CUBES slows them down and gives them a plan. Below you'll find what each step means, worked examples, a clue word chart, honest tips for avoiding the most common CUBES pitfalls, and ideas for teaching it from second grade through middle school.

What is the CUBES math strategy?

CUBES is an acronym that walks students through a word problem one step at a time. Students mark up the problem, decide what it's asking, choose an operation, and then solve and check. It's most common in grades two through six, and it's a favorite in special education and intervention settings because every step is something students can physically do.

• Circle the numbers
• Underline the question
• Box the key words
• Evaluate and plan
• Solve and check

You'll see a few versions of the E. Some teachers use "Eliminate extra information," and others use "Evaluate," "Explain," or "Evaluate and eliminate." They all ask the same thing: stop and think before you calculate.

The five steps of CUBES

These are the same steps and student questions printed on our CUBES instruction clings.

CUBES examples

Here are three examples you can model with your class. Notice how the questions on each step keep students focused on meaning, not just marking up the page.

Grades two and three: two steps

Grades four and five: extra information

The key word trap

Problems like this one are worth teaching on purpose. They show students why asking "Which operation makes sense?" matters more than any single clue word.

Clue words chart

Clue words can point students in the right direction, but they're clues, not rules. Always confirm them with the story.

How to make CUBES work

CUBES has critics, and they make fair points. Teachers have noticed that students can circle, underline, and box perfectly and still not understand the problem, and that none of the steps say to read the problem. Others warn that key words are unreliable when they're taught as commands. These habits keep CUBES useful:

• Read and retell first. Students should be able to explain the story in their own words before marking anything.
• Ask what each number means. Circling 24 isn't enough. Students should say "24 is the stickers she started with."
• Treat key words as clues. Teach "Which operation makes sense?" as the real decision, and assign trap problems on purpose.
• Draw it. A quick picture, bar model, or number line during the E step helps students see the problem.
• Always check. "Does my answer make sense?" catches more mistakes than any other step.
• Fade it. As students get stronger, they won't need to mark every step. The goal is the thinking, not the annotations.

How to teach CUBES

• Start with one-step problems. Let students learn the routine before the math gets hard.
• Model it out loud. Solve a problem in front of the class and say your thinking for each letter.
• Use a problem of the day. Post one word problem next to your CUBES chart each morning and solve it together.
• Mark it up on the board. Have students come up and circle, underline, and box right on the whiteboard.
• Partner check. One partner explains their E step while the other listens for whether the operation makes sense.
• Point back during independent work. When students get stuck, point to the next letter instead of giving the answer.

CUBES and other strategies

CUBES is one of several word problem strategies. UPS Check (Understand, Plan, Solve, Check) and Read, Draw, Write are two others you might see. Many teachers start with CUBES because it's concrete, then move toward strategies that ask students to explain their reasoning.

When students are ready to write about how they solved a problem, try claim, evidence, reasoning. Our guide to CER in math shows how. For written responses in other subjects, see the RACES writing strategy.

Keep CUBES on your whiteboard

Paper anchor charts take time to make, and they tear, curl, or get covered up halfway through the year. So we made a CUBES anchor chart that lives right on your whiteboard, next to your problem of the day.

Our CUBES Math Strategy Clings include five 4.5" letter clings, C for Circle, U for Underline, B for Box, E for Evaluate, and S for Solve. Add the five instruction clings with the student questions for each step, and students have everything they need to check their own work.

• Not a sticker. It's a durable, flexible static cling that holds to a clean whiteboard with no adhesive and no residue.
• Works on non-magnetic whiteboards, plus glass, windows, and acrylic.
• Reusable. Leave it up all year, or store it on Binder Ready sheets between units.
• Ready the day it arrives. No designing, printing, laminating, or cutting. Designed and printed in-house by our family and shipped within two business days.

Two ways to order: the Reimagines Ready set comes in one ready-made look with the instruction clings included. Or choose your colorway, font, and text color, and add the instruction clings if you'd like them.

Reimagines Ready CUBES Math Strategy Clings (instructions included) Pastel CUBES Math Strategy Clings Varsity Stripes CUBES Math Strategy Clings

All colorways: Blue and Green · Bright Minds · Earth Tones · Happy Camper · Modern Terrazzo · Pastel · Pink and Purple · Rainbow · Retro Brights · Tropical Botanical · Varsity Stripes

More teaching guides

See all of our free teaching guides, including CER in math and science, RACES, and CHAMPS.

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