Math lesson plan · 5th grade (Year 6 in England) · 45 minutes
Calculate intervals across zero
Number sense
CCSS 6.NS.C.7England: Y6 Number and place value
Objective and success criteria
Students will: Calculate intervals across zero.
- 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 in context
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 · 5 min
- Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Negative numbers in context). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
- Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
- A lift starts at floor −2 (below ground) and goes up 4 floors. Which floor does it stop at? → 2Prompt: Going up means adding: −2 + 4.
- A lift starts at floor −4 (below ground) and goes up 6 floors. Which floor does it stop at? → 2Prompt: Going up means adding: −4 + 6.
- A lift starts at floor −4 (below ground) and goes up 2 floors. Which floor does it stop at? → -2Prompt: Going up means adding: −4 + 2.
Hook · 5 min
- Show a number in the news or a price tag and ask what each digit is worth.
- Share the objective: Calculate intervals across zero. 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: One winter morning: Oslo −3 °C, Madrid 4 °C, Moscow −14 °C. What is the difference in temperature between Madrid and Moscow?
- Step 1: 4 − (−14) = 18
- Answer: 18
- 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.
- One winter morning: Oslo −9 °C, Madrid 3 °C, Moscow −14 °C. What is the difference in temperature between Moscow and Madrid? → 17Prompt: Mark both temperatures on a number line.
- The temperature is 6 °C and then drops 8 degrees. What is the new temperature? → -2Prompt: Dropping means moving left on the number line.
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.
- The temperature is 1 °C and then drops 11 degrees. What is the new temperature? → -10Prompt: Dropping means moving left on the number line.
- One winter morning: Oslo −4 °C, Madrid 4 °C, Moscow −7 °C. What is the difference in temperature between Oslo and Madrid? → 8Prompt: Mark both temperatures on a number line.
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 in context.
- 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-5.
Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder