Math lesson plan · 7th grade (Year 8 in England) · 45 minutes
Add and subtract integers
Number sense
CCSS 7.NS.A.1England: KS3 NumberEngland: GCSE Foundation Number
Objective and success criteria
Students will: Add and subtract integers.
- 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: Negative numbers and absolute value
Leads to: Multiply and divide integers; Two-step equations
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 (Negative numbers and absolute value). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
- Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
- The temperature is −4 °C at noon and −13 °C at night. By how many degrees did it fall? → 9Prompt: Find the distance between the two numbers on the number line.
- What is |16|, the absolute value of 16? → 16Prompt: Absolute value is the distance from 0.
- What is |22|, the absolute value of 22? → 22Prompt: Absolute value is the distance from 0.
Hook · 5 min
- Show a number in the news or a price tag and ask what each digit is worth.
- Share the objective: Add and subtract integers. 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.
- Example: −9 − (−17) = ?
- Step 1: −9 − (−17) = −9 + 17
- Step 2: = 8
- Answer: 8
- 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.
- 12 − (−3) = ? → 15Prompt: Subtracting a number is the same as adding its opposite.
- −5 − (−5) − 4 = ? → -4Prompt: Work from left to right.
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.
- −1 − (−20) = ? → 19Prompt: Subtracting a number is the same as adding its opposite.
- 14 − (−7) − (−1) = ? → 22Prompt: Work from left to right.
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: Negative numbers and absolute value.
- 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: Multiply and divide integers; Two-step equations.
- 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