Math lesson plan · 6th grade (Year 7 in England) · 60 minutes
Describe real situations with positive and negative numbers
Number sense
CCSS 6.NS.C.5England: KS3 Number
Objective and success criteria
Students will: Describe real situations with positive and 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: Opposite numbers and zero
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 · 6 min
- Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Opposite numbers and zero). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
- Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
- Simplify −(−31). → 31Prompt: −(…) means “the opposite of”.
- Simplify −(−36). → 36Prompt: −(…) means “the opposite of”.
- Simplify −(−(−38)). → -38Prompt: −(…) means “the opposite of”.
Hook · 6 min
- Show a number in the news or a price tag and ask what each digit is worth.
- Share the objective: Describe real situations with positive and negative numbers. 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: Write an integer for this: a team loses 188 points.
- Step 1: It is negative: −188.
- Answer: -188
- 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.
- Write an integer for this: a lift goes down 44 floors. → -44Prompt: Decide whether this is a gain/up/above (positive) or a loss/down/below (negative).
- If +47 means 47 m above sea level, what does −47 mean? (47 m above sea level / 94 m below sea level / sea level / 47 m below sea level) → 47 m below sea levelPrompt: A negative number describes the opposite direction or change.
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.
- We use integers for height above or below sea level. What does 0 stand for? (sea level / no money in the account and no money owed / the freezing point of water / the ground floor) → sea levelPrompt: Zero is the reference point: not above and not below.
- Write an integer for this: a team loses 133 points. → -133Prompt: Decide whether this is a gain/up/above (positive) or a loss/down/below (negative).
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: Opposite numbers and zero.
- 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-6.
Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder