Math lesson plan · 7th grade (Year 8 in England) · 30 minutes
Order of operations with negative numbers
Number sense
CCSS 7.NS.A.3England: KS3 NumberEngland: GCSE Foundation Number
Objective and success criteria
Students will: Order of operations with negative numbers.
- I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
- I can explain each step and say why it works.
- I can check my answer and spot a mistake.
Before and after
Needs first: Multiply integers, including three factors and powers; Order of operations with exponents
Leads to: the next skill in this area.
Materials: Place value chart, Base-ten blocks or a number line, Mini whiteboards and pens, Printed student sheet (below).
Warm-up · 4 min
- Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Multiply integers, including three factors and powers; Order of operations with exponents). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
- Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
- 5 × (−2) = ? → -10Prompt: Multiply the sizes first.
- Work out 13 + 2 × 2². → 21Prompt: Powers first, then multiplication, then addition.
- 2 × (−2) × (−3) = ? → 12Prompt: Count the negative factors.
Hook · 3 min
- Show a number in the news or a price tag and ask what each digit is worth.
- Share the objective: Order of operations with negative numbers. Read the success criteria together.
I do: model it · 7 min
- Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
- Example: 12 + (−1) × (−8) = ?
- Step 1: (−1) × (−8) = 8
- Step 2: 12 + 8 = 20
- Answer: 20
- Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.
We do: guided practice · 6 min
- Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
- Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
- −16 + (−3) × 1 = ? → -19Prompt: Multiply before you add.
- (−4 − (−1))² ÷ (−1) = ? → -9Prompt: Brackets first: subtract carefully.
You do: independent practice · 7 min
- Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
- Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.
The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.
Exit ticket · 3 min
- Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
- Noah works out 6 − 1 × (−2) from left to right and gets −10. What is the correct value? → 8Prompt: Which operation should come first?
- (6 − 18)² ÷ (−4) = ? → -36Prompt: Brackets first: subtract carefully.
Watch out for
- Reading 1,045 as one thousand four hundred five: point to each place and say its value.
- Thinking a longer number is always bigger, even with decimals (0.45 vs 0.5).
Support and stretch
Support
- Review first: Multiply integers, including three factors and powers.
- Use concrete materials: place value chart.
- Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
- Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.
Stretch
- Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
- Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.
Homework and more practice
Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/math/grade-7.
Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder