Math lesson plan · 6th grade (Year 7 in England) · 30 minutes
Whole-number exponents
Number sense
CCSS 6.EE.A.1England: KS3 NumberEngland: GCSE Foundation Number
Objective and success criteria
Students will: Whole-number exponents.
- 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: Primes, squares and cubes
Leads to: Scientific notation (standard form); Compound interest and depreciation; Area of a circle
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 (Primes, squares and cubes). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
- Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
- 4² = ? → 16Prompt: Squared means multiply the number by itself.
- Which of these is a prime number: 15, 25, 47, 81? (47 / 25 / 81 / 15) → 47Prompt: A prime has exactly two factors, 1 and itself.
- Which square number lies between 133 and 155? → 144Prompt: Square numbers are 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, …
Hook · 3 min
- Show a number in the news or a price tag and ask what each digit is worth.
- Share the objective: Whole-number exponents. 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: Evaluate 2⁶.
- Step 1: 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 = 64
- Answer: 64
- 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.
- Evaluate 2⁶. → 64Prompt: Write it out: 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 × 2
- Evaluate 3² + 8 × 2. → 25Prompt: Powers come before multiplication and addition.
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.
- Evaluate 2² + 5 × 2. → 14Prompt: Powers come before multiplication and addition.
- Evaluate 5⁴. → 625Prompt: Write it out: 5 × 5 × 5 × 5
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: Primes, squares and cubes.
- 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
- Move on to: Scientific notation (standard form); Compound interest and depreciation; Area of a circle.
- 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-6.
Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder