Add and Subtract Integers Task Cards

This resource is a set of 36 task cards that asks students to determine if the result of adding or subtracting integers will be negative or positive. They are NOT asked to actually find the sum or difference.

I have used these task cards for both 7th and 8th grade students.

An answer key is provided.

A student recording sheet is provided.

This activity is perfect to introduce the concept of adding and subtracting integers or to use as review at the beginning of a unit that will require that skill.

Students are required to write the words negative or positive in the numbered spot on the student recording sheet.

While students are provided a prompt to ask them to explain how they know the result of the sum or difference will be positive or negative, they are not asked to provided their response in writing on the student recording sheet. I have found that it takes too long and is too tedious to have the students do this over and over again 36 times.

I do, however, encourage you and them to practice justifying their answers verbally with a peer. This activity is great for both ELLs and native English speakers, and the use of sentence frames can help scaffold the activity for many types of diverse learners.

Possible Ways to Use

•Use as a scoot-style game, where a card is on every student desk and students rotate to a new desk every 30 seconds or so and write if the sum or difference will be positive or negative.

•Use as an oral assessment, where you pull a task card and you have the student orally answer the prompt and say if the sum or difference is positive or negative and justify their thinking.

•Use for stations, where you have the students do each card orally with a partner and also record the answer as positive or negative on the recording sheet.

•Use as a “Footloose” style activity where the task cards are taped or placed in various places around the room and students wander around to record the answer to all of the task cards on the student recording sheet. I even like to play the theme song to Footloose while students are walking around.

1 PDF file.