Positive and Negative Numbers
Understand positive and negative numbers as describing quantities with opposite directions or values; use them in context such as temperature, floors in a building, and bank balances
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Positive and Negative Numbers means practising the idea at the table with counters or paper models and one clear check. We will demo once, then your child tries.
Materials: Number line (−5 to 5) on paper; A token. 1. Say the goal of Positive and Negative Numbers in plain words once. 2. Adult places −2 and +3 and compares which is greater. 3. Child places three signed values and compares or finds absolute distance. 4. Fresh check: one fresh signed comparison. Record and stop. Done: three correct placements with a comparison or distance. Proof: parent note of examples and results. Stop: End after the fresh check; keep optional challenge for another day.
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Start practicePositive and Negative Numbers practice
Practice key ideas from Positive and Negative Numbers.
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Learning resources
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Illustrative Mathematics · Practice link — not the full lesson
Kiri's Mathematics Match Game
Before you open · source notes
Kiri's Mathematics Match Game supports positive and negative numbers. Not every worksheet pack.
Free, no sign-in. A teacher solution is on the same page, so use the student view with your child.
Before you openAsk the learner to explain one step of “Kiri's Mathematics Match Game” in their own words.
Opening this link does not save learning or assess mastery.
Source, access and review notes
Public Illustrative Mathematics task page. The .html address responds HTTP 308 to this URL. An anonymous GET of this URL on 2026-11-12 returned HTTP 200 with no login or payment prompt. Where a teacher solution is present, it is on the same page as the student task; this check did not find a separate locked student view. An adult can use the student view section and should not read a solution aloud. Advertising was not observed in the fetched HTML text; that is not a browser, device, or ad-free guarantee. This is a paper or discussion task, not an automatically marked interactive game. Opening the link does not save practice or assess mastery. Diagrams on the page use missing or filename-only alt text, so they are not an accessible image equivalent. Accessibility still depends on an adult describing the picture.
Illustrative Mathematics. “Kiri's Mathematics Match Game.” Licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. External task; Gakuva does not copy, host, embed, or redistribute it.
CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — link only
Check understanding
- Represent positive and negative numbers on a number line and explain what zero means in context
- Add a positive or negative number to any integer using number line reasoning
- Subtract a positive or negative number from any integer, understanding that subtracting a negative is equivalent to adding
“If your child sees temperatures like −3°C and +5°C on a weather forecast, can they figure out how much warmer one day is than the other — even when the answer crosses zero?”
Curriculum record
- Type
- Representational
- Subject
- Mathematics
- Domain
- Addition & Subtraction
- Age range
- Ages 11–13
Standards