Parentheses First is a free printable Grade 5 math worksheet on evaluating the parentheses before anything else, aligned to Common Core standard 5.OA.A.1. It prints 12 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.
5.OA.A.1
Work out each answer.
LessonPrint · 5.OA.A.1 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use
Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.
It practices evaluating the parentheses before anything else — 12 questions for Grade 5, all on Common Core 5.OA.A.1: Work out expressions with parentheses and brackets, in the right order. The instruction to students is “Work out each answer”, and the answer key follows on the next sheet.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.5.OA.A.1 — 5.OA.A.1, under Operations & Algebraic Thinking for Grade 5. The published standard reads: “Use parentheses, brackets, or braces in numerical expressions, and evaluate expressions with these symbols.” The worksheet assesses that standard rather than a paraphrase of it.
Parentheses First is written for Grade 5, typically ages 10-11. It is one of the sheets on 5.OA.A.1, so it suits any student working at that standard — including older students revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.
Yes. All 12 answers are generated from the same problems as the questions, so the key cannot drift out of step with the sheet. It starts on a fresh sheet of paper, after the questions, so it is not handed out with the class by accident.
25 — one per student, and all 25 ask different questions. Set 1 downloads the whole class as a single PDF. Every version is fixed to its own address, so a sheet printed today holds the same problems when you reopen it next week.
Yes. Parentheses First, its answer key and its 25 versions are free to print and photocopy for your own class, with no account, no email capture and no subscription at the download step. Please do not resell them or republish them as your own.
Yes — “Parentheses and Order of Operations” is a 50-minute Grade 5 plan for 5.OA.A.1, timed section by section, with the misconceptions to expect and an exit ticket. Parentheses First is the practice that follows it.
Work out expressions with parentheses and brackets, in the right order.
Teaching this next? Parentheses and Order of Operations is the 50-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.
Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to 5.OA.A.1 of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics.