Math lesson plan · 3rd grade (Year 4 in England) · 45 minutes
Count back through zero to negative numbers
Number sense
England: Y4 Number and place value
Objective and success criteria
Students will: Count back through zero to 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: Skip count by 2s, 5s, 10s and 100s
Leads to: Negative numbers in context
Materials: Place value chart, Base-ten blocks or a number line, Mini whiteboards and pens, Printed student sheet (below).
Warm-up · 5 min
- Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Skip count by 2s, 5s, 10s and 100s). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
- Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
- Count by 100s. What is missing? 300, 400, 500, __, 700 → 600Prompt: How much does the count go up each time?
- Count back by 10s: 140, 130, 120, 110, __ → 100Prompt: Each number is less than the one before. By how much?
- Count by 2s. What is missing? 22, 24, 26, __, 30 → 28Prompt: How much does the count go up each time?
Hook · 5 min
- Show a number in the news or a price tag and ask what each digit is worth.
- Share the objective: Count back through zero to negative numbers. Read the success criteria together.
I do: model it · 10 min
- Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
- Model one question from the student sheet, thinking aloud.
- Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.
We do: guided practice · 10 min
- Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
- Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
You do: independent practice · 10 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 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.
Exit ticket · 5 min
- Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
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: Skip count by 2s, 5s, 10s and 100s.
- 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: Negative numbers in context.
- 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-3.
Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder