Adding Integers Lesson: Counters & the Sign Rules, Grades 6-8

Students work out the sign rules for adding integers from what they see, then state them. With counters (a filled + and an open −), adding two negatives leaves no zero pairs, so you count them all. With different signs, the zero pairs cancel and what is left gives the sum. Example 1 builds 6 + (−9) with six positive and nine negative counters, loops six zero pairs, and finds 3 negative counters left.

What's inside

• 16 slides, with speaker notes on all 16
• Lesson plan, 2 pages: standards, materials, objective, a teacher-guided sequence keyed to slide numbers, a "Watch For" note and a 25-minute version
• Scaffolded notes, 1 page, fill-in-the-blank to match the slides
• Practice worksheet, 2 pages: 18 practice items (10 adding integers, 5 in context, 3 find-the-error or explain)
• Exit ticket, 3 questions, two per sheet
• Answer key, 3 pages, with every step worked
• Print-all PDF, 9 pages: the lesson plan, the student pages and the answer key in one file

Answer key included

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