Math lesson plan · 7th grade (Year 8 in England) · 60 minutes
Add and subtract negative fractions
Number sense
CCSS 7.NS.A.1.DEngland: KS3 Number
Objective and success criteria
Students will: Add and subtract negative fractions.
- 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: Subtract integers by adding the opposite; Add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators
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 (Subtract integers by adding the opposite; Add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
- Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
- 7 − (−1) = ? → 8Prompt: Subtracting a negative is the same as adding a positive.
- 1/5 + 5/6 = ? Give your answer in simplest form. → 31/30 (1 1/30)Prompt: You need a common denominator first.
- −5 − 31 = ? → -36Prompt: Rewrite as −5 + (−31).
Hook · 6 min
- Show a number in the news or a price tag and ask what each digit is worth.
- Share the objective: Add and subtract negative fractions. 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: Work out −8/11 + 7/11. Give a fraction in simplest form (or a whole number).
- Step 1: −8/11 + 7/11 = −1/11
- Answer: -1/11
- 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.
- Work out −1/4 + 3/4. Give a fraction in simplest form (or a whole number). → 1/2Prompt: The denominators match, so add the numerators.
- Work out −3/4 − (2/3). Give a fraction in simplest form (or a whole number). → -17/12 (-1 5/12)Prompt: Use a common denominator: 12.
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.
- Work out 5/6 − (4/5). Give a fraction in simplest form (or a whole number). → 1/30Prompt: Use a common denominator: 30.
- Work out −11/12 + 1/12. Give a fraction in simplest form (or a whole number). → -5/6Prompt: The denominators match, so add the numerators.
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: Subtract integers by adding the opposite.
- 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-7.
Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder