Math lesson plan · 7th grade (Year 8 in England) · 60 minutes
Multiply and divide integers
Number sense
CCSS 7.NS.A.2England: KS3 NumberEngland: GCSE Foundation Number
Objective and success criteria
Students will: Multiply and divide 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: Add and subtract integers; Times tables to 12 × 12
Leads to: Operations with negative fractions and decimals; Expand brackets (distributive property); Laws of exponents (indices)
Materials: Place value chart, Base-ten blocks or a number line, Mini whiteboards and pens, Printed student sheet (below).
Warm-up · 6 min
- Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Add and subtract integers; Times tables to 12 × 12). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
- Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
- 12 × 3 = ? → 36Prompt: Is there a fact you already know that is close?
- 2 − (−12) = ? → 14Prompt: Subtracting a number is the same as adding its opposite.
- 12 × 10 = ? → 120Prompt: Is there a fact you already know that is close?
Hook · 6 min
- Show a number in the news or a price tag and ask what each digit is worth.
- Share the objective: Multiply and divide integers. Read the success criteria together.
I do: model it · 12 min
- Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
- Example: −10 × 10 = ?
- Step 1: 10 × 10 = 100
- Step 2: −10 × 10 = −100
- Answer: -100
- Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.
We do: guided practice · 12 min
- Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
- Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
- 2 × (−3) = ? → -6Prompt: First multiply the sizes, ignoring the signs.
- −15 ÷ (−5) = ? → 3Prompt: Divide the sizes first.
You do: independent practice · 17 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 · 7 min
- Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
- 10 × 2 = ? → 20Prompt: First multiply the sizes, ignoring the signs.
- Evaluate (−3) × 1 − (−7). → 4Prompt: Multiply first, then subtract.
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: Add and subtract integers.
- 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: Operations with negative fractions and decimals; Expand brackets (distributive property); Laws of exponents (indices).
- 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