How to Help Students Master Integers

How to Help Students Master Integers

As a 7th grade teacher, it was always so frustrating to see students leave my classroom without truly mastering all integer operations. I would use manipulatives, scaffolding, teach and reteach, peer helpers, intervention strategies, real world examples, etc. You name it, I felt like I had tried it. And, unfortunately the dreaded pacing guide forced me to move on. It was heartbreaking to watch a student try to solve basic equations when they couldn't subtract integers. 

After a couple years of feeling desperately helpless, I decided to put my foot down and not let them leave my classroom without mastering the operations. I had to be flexible with my time and the pacing guide and it meant some things were not fully taught. But in my opinion, not fully understanding basic integer operations was a non-negotiable standard. Better yet, a non-negotiable life skill.

This is how Integer Boot Camp came to be. In our pacing guide, integer operations were taught early in the school year. As the school year came to a close, it was necessary to do one big, effective push for mastery. It was perfect because it was fun, engaging, differentiated, and it built confidence. 

For me and my students, it worked really well for us to do boot camp on Fridays, for 5 weeks in a row. On day 1, I came to school dressed up in some of my camo gear and played the roll of the drill sergeant. I introduced the unit as a fun way to reinforce skills they had already learned. I talked with them about the importance of learning integer operations with fluency, so they didn't need to use a calculator to work each step of the more challenging multi-step equations I knew were coming in 8th grade and Algebra. I also stressed the fact that integer operations are life skills. I got them pumped up for boot camp. Each student drew their call name for the unit. This was important to protect students' identities when the Top Ten lists were posted each week. More on that later. I projected a special Integer Cadence and we chanted it together. We reviewed how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide integers and then the students took progress quiz #1. 

Lesson Plan Day One of Integer Boot Camp

Call Signals and Integer Cadence for Added Fun

I would score each of their progress quizzes and use the call signals to post a Top Ten list. Students were so excited to find out if they made it each week! They genuinely cared enough to try hard. They were wanting to learn and improve. It's a beautiful sight for a teacher. :)

I would also use their scores to differentiate the lessons for the next week. Each week, some students would play a game or do an activity to improve their fluency and others would do a small-group reteaching mini-lesson with me to gain confidence and address any misconceptions or repeated mistakes they were making. 

As we moved through the five week (one day/week) unit, students' excitement never wavered. What changed was their confidence. It was just the thing that I needed to feel good about sending them to the next grade. 

Best wishes to you implementing an Integer Boot Camp with your students! If you would like to save yourself time and energy, you can CLICK HERE to grab mine.