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Common Core Math5th GradeOperations & Algebraic Thinking

5.OA.1: Evaluate Expressions with Grouping Symbols

Also written as 5.OA.A.1 and CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.OA.A.1 · Cluster: Write and interpret numerical expressions.

Make 5.OA.1 ProblemsAll 26 5th Grade Math Standards

The Official Wording

Use parentheses, brackets, or braces in numerical expressions, and evaluate expressions with these symbols.

Common Core State Standards, Grade 5, Operations & Algebraic Thinking · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What 5.OA.1 Means in Plain English

Fifth graders work from the inside out: in 3 × (4 + 2), the parentheses say add first, so the answer is 18, not 14. Brackets and braces wrap a second or third layer, and the innermost group is always the first job.

Grouping symbols are the grammar of algebra. In 6th grade students evaluate expressions with exponents and variables (6.EE.1, 6.EE.2), and later every formula they meet assumes they read parentheses correctly without being told.

5.OA.1 I Can Statements

  • I can evaluate an expression with parentheses, working inside them first.
  • I can evaluate an expression with brackets or braces around parentheses.
  • I can show that 3 × (4 + 2) is not 14.

5.OA.1 Worked Example

Two layers of grouping symbols in one expression, peeled from the inside out, one operation per line.

Problem

Evaluate 36 ÷ [2 × (7 − 4)] + 5.

Evaluating 36 ÷ [2 × (7 − 4)] + 5
  1. Find the innermost group. The parentheses hold 7 − 4, so that goes first.7 − 4 = 3, so 36 ÷ [2 × 3] + 5
  2. Now the brackets. They hold 2 × 3, and nothing outside them can happen yet.2 × 3 = 6, so 36 ÷ 6 + 5
  3. With the groups gone, division comes before addition.36 ÷ 6 = 6, so 6 + 5
  4. Add last.6 + 5 = 11
Answer11

Check it: Read the brackets as a single number: 36 ÷ 6 + 5. Six sixes are 36, and 6 + 5 = 11. Dropping the symbols and working left to right gives 36 ÷ 2 × 7 − 4 + 5 = 127, so the grouping symbols really did change the answer.

Common Mistakes with 5.OA.1

Working left to right regardless

3 × (4 + 2) = 12 + 2 = 14

Try this: Circle the parentheses before touching anything else, and say what they hold out loud: four plus two is six, so three times six.

Opening the outer group first

2 × [3 + (8 − 5)] solved as 2 × 3 first

Try this: Have students number the groups from the inside out before they compute, so the parentheses are 1 and the brackets are 2.

Dropping the brackets once the parentheses are solved

36 ÷ [2 × (7 − 4)] + 5 becomes 36 ÷ 2 × 3 + 5

Try this: Rewrite the whole expression on a new line after each step, replacing only the group just solved with its value.

Where 5.OA.1 Fits

Comes Before3.OA.8Solve two-step word problems and write an equation for them.4.OA.3Solve multi-step word problems with whole numbers, including interpreting remainders.
Alongside5.OA.2Write and interpret expressions without evaluating them.
Comes Next6.EE.1Write and evaluate expressions with whole-number exponents.6.EE.2Write, read and evaluate expressions in which letters stand for numbers.

Practice 5.OA.1

Math Worksheet GeneratorFree ToolA mixed page where some expressions have grouping symbols and some do not, so students have to look before they compute.Grade 5Mixed operationsAnswer key
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Quick Check

  1. Evaluate 5 × (9 − 3).
  2. Evaluate 48 ÷ [4 × (1 + 2)].
  3. Evaluate {20 − [2 × (3 + 4)]} + 6.

5.OA.1: Other Names

5.OA.15.OA.A.1CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.OA.A.1

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Official wording from the Common Core State Standards PDFs at corestandards.org, last checked October 14, 2026. The explanation, I can statements, example, mistakes and practice on this page are EMStudio’s own, written beside the official wording. They are not part of the standard.