Subtracting Integers Lesson: Add the Opposite, Grades 6-8

Many students learn "keep, change, change" as a trick. This lesson teaches why it works first. With counters, 2 − 5 has a problem: you cannot take away 5 positive counters when you only have 2. So students add zero pairs, which change nothing, until there is enough to take away, and see that the answer is −3, the same as 2 + (−5).

What's inside

• 18 slides (PowerPoint, editable), with speaker notes on all 18
• Lesson plan, 2 pages, with a 25-minute version
• Scaffolded notes, 1 page
• Practice worksheet, 2 pages, 17 practice items
• Exit ticket, 3 questions
• Answer key, 3 pages, with every step worked
• PDF plus editable Word

Answer key included

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