How do you solve fraction word problems?

Question

My problem:

Jan has 288 tickets to sell for charity. She sells 2/9 of the tickets to her family and 1/3 of them to her friends.

1. How many tickets are sold to both her family and friends?

2. How many tickets are not sold?

All I need is one good, step-by-step example & I will be able to figure the rest out. The way they teach math now & the way they taught math when I was a student is completely, totally different. They have made problems have several more steps & just that much more confusing and complicated & if I show my daughter how to work these problems like I was taught, then the answers are wrong. (per her math teacher), even though the answers may be the same, I showed her how to work them the wrong way...go figure!!

Answer 1

you just need to add the fractions between family's and friends' 

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2/9 + 1/3 = 2/9 + 3/9= 5/9

then, 5/9 x 288 = 160 tickets are sold

tickets aren't sold= 288-160=128 tickets