Integer Rules Worksheets

About this resource

Teaching students the rules for positive and negative numbers, and need pages they can actually write on? This is a complete kit for one skill, written for grades 6 to 8. It starts with a page of the four rules, each with a worked example, and a page of number-line examples. Students then add with the same signs and with different signs, subtract a positive and subtract a negative, multiply, divide, circle the sign before they work out the answer, mix all four operations, do two-step items, solve four word problems, check an invented student's work for mistakes, and match answers on three cut-and-paste pages. Answer keys that give the rule behind every answer, a tracker, a class grid, a team note and a family page are included, so nothing has to be written from scratch.

EVERYTHING INSIDE (33 pages)

• 17 student pages in 12 page types: Integer Rules, Number Line Examples, Adding (2 pages), Subtracting (2 pages), Multiplying, Dividing, Sign First, Mixed Practice, Two Steps, Word Problems, Find the Error (2 pages), and Cut and Paste (3 pages)
• 83 scored items on 15 pages
• 52 of those items have a dashed work space beside a big answer box (Adding, Subtracting, Multiplying, Dividing, Mixed Practice, Two Steps and Word Problems)
• 1 rules page: adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing, each with a worked example, plus a sign table for multiplying and dividing
• 3 number-line examples with a drawn number line from -8 to 8: add a positive, add a negative and subtract a negative
• 12 adding items (6 with the same signs, 6 with different signs) and 12 subtracting items (6 subtracting a positive, 6 subtracting a negative)
• 6 multiplying items and 6 dividing items, with every division coming out even
• 6 Sign First items: circle positive or negative, then find the answer
• 6 mixed items and 6 two-step items (3 with brackets first, 3 with multiplying or dividing first)
• 4 word problems about temperature, depth below sea level, points and a bank balance, with the unit written out in words
• 5 pieces of an invented student's work to check: 3 have a mistake (subtracting the sizes of two negatives, ignoring the minus sign when subtracting a negative, and leaving a negative times a negative negative) and 2 are right
• 24 cut-and-paste pieces on 3 pages (8 + 8 + 8): match answers to expressions, match each subtraction to the addition of the opposite, and sort by whether the answer is below or above zero
• 3 answer keys that give each answer and the rule behind it, so you can see where a slip happened
• 1 tracker (page, page type, items right, date, notes) and 1 whole-class progress grid
• 1 team note (a hand-off page), 1 family page and 1 filled example (an invented student)
• 1 phrase bank (16 starters, including student sentence starters for explaining steps and finding an error), 1 binder cover and 6 divider tabs with a spine label to cut out
• Start Here and a how-to-read-a-page page

The Page Types

1. Integer Rules: four cards (adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing), each with the rule in plain words and a worked example, and a small table of which signs make a positive or a negative answer. Students keep it beside them for the other pages.

2. Number Line Examples: three examples drawn on a number line, each shown one step at a time (start, move, land): -3 + 5, 2 + (-6) and 4 - (-3).

3. Adding Integers, 2 pages: 6 items with the same signs, then 6 with different signs, each with a work space and an answer box.

4. Subtracting Integers, 2 pages: 6 items that subtract a positive number, then 6 that subtract a negative number.

5. Multiplying Integers and Dividing Integers: 6 items each, with a mix of same and different signs.

6. Sign First: 6 items across all four operations; circle positive or negative, then find the answer.

7. Mixed Practice: 6 items across all four operations.

8. Two Steps: 6 items with brackets or with multiplying or dividing before adding or subtracting.

9. Word Problems: 4 problems with a work space and a unit written in words.

10. Find the Error, 2 pages: an invented student, Priya, did 5 problems. Circle yes or no, write the right answer, and explain one mistake in a 5-line ruled box.

11. Cut and Paste, 3 pages: find each answer and paste it in its box (8 pieces, 2 are spares); paste each addition by the subtraction it matches (8 pieces, 2 are spares); sort 8 expressions into "less than 0" and "greater than 0". The pieces touch edge to edge, so cutting is a few straight lines, and every piece is over an inch each way.

Built For The Student Holding The Page

A "My name" line, one short instruction, large type, and no cartoons, mascots or clip art. Nothing on a student page is written for an adult. Answer boxes are at least half an inch tall. Body text is 11 point or larger. The file prints clean in black and white.

Every Answer Checked Twice

Every expression and its answer were put through two separate evaluators before the page was built, and the rule sentence printed in each key was worked out a third way from the sizes and signs of the numbers. The three worked examples, the matches on the subtraction page and the invented student's wrong answers were each checked the same way. Wherever a student picks among printed spots (the order of items, the order of the cut pieces, yes and no on Find the Error, positive and negative on Sign First), the position of the right answer is checked so it never sits in the same spot three times in a row.

Invented Work, Standard Rules

Every expression and piece of student work is made up for this file. The sign rules are the standard classroom ones. There is a blank line on the tracker for your own standard or wording.

Type In, Or Print

The name line, every answer box, every work space and every ruled box are type-in fields in any PDF reader: click one, type, then save. The same goes for the tracker, the class grid, the team note and the family page. This is a fillable PDF; it is not a Google Slides or PowerPoint file.

Who This Is For

Middle school math classes, special education and resource rooms working on the same skill, co-taught classes, and substitutes who need a lesson that is ready to hand out. Students in grades 6 to 8 who are learning the integer rules, and older students who need the same rules again.

What This Is, And What It Is Not

A worksheet set with the record-keeping around it. It is not a timed test, a screener, a clinical tool, or a claim about any student's age or rate of progress. There is no IEP goal language or eligibility wording anywhere in the file.