Multiplying Positive and Negative Integers

A Negative Times A Positive is Negative

When it came to deciphering negative and positive integers, the bottom line from my student days was always, "Remember the rule." This can be helpful when problem solving but understanding is always better.

Let's think about a negative number multiplied by a positive number. The rule is that a negative times a positive is negative. Great, but what exactly does this mean? Did anyone watch the Super Bowl? Okay, maybe that's a dumb question, but here is a way to use the Super Bowl as an example of multiplying negative and positive numbers.

Supposed you bet your friend $5 that San Francisco would win the Super Bowl. Guess what? You lost that bet, but since you bet one friend $5, that's all you lost. 

1 X $5 = $5

or since you are losing $5 call it,

1 X (-5) = -5

Had you made this bad bet with three friends, you'd be out three times the amount because . . .

3 X (-5) = -15

A Negative Times a Negative is Positive

But what if you won that bet? In that case, you are taking away the possibility of losing $5, so . . .

(-3) X (-5) = 15

-3 is the amount of times you could have paid a bad bet if you made one, 
while -5 represents the amount you could have lost.

Therefore, congrats! You made $15!
This worksheet is part of my Positive and Negative Integers Bundle. Sorry but, $5 is a little more than you would need to pay to buy this resource. Not a bad price for all that you get!

Next time you want to teach that a negative times a positive is a negative, try explaining this to your kids It's certainly better than telling them to just memorize the rules.

       Positive and Negative Integer Operations with Word Problems

If you'd like to receive freebies along with my posts, sign up for my email list! Although my email posts are similar to my blog posts, people on the email list often receive free resources with my articles. You can, too, simply by signing up to have my emails delivered. Plus, by signing up, you get the free product pictured below. So what have you got to lose? Nothing!

Click HERE to receive a FREE teaching resource.

See you next week when we look at ways to make the classroom a kinder place.

Monday Music Moves Me

This week's theme is songs with names in the title, so I'm starting with a song by Kiss that is dramatically different from any other song this band has ever written, "Beth."

My next song was sung at the first concert I ever attended at Red Rocks in Colorado. I've always loved, "Amie" by Pure Prairie League!

Finally, this is an old song that we always sang to our daughter, Judy. Plus, it is totally goofy! Please listen to "Judy in Disguise" by John Fred and His Playboy Band.

Double Negatives and Musical Selections

Double Negatives

The English teacher hates when students write using double negatives because a double negative changes the meaning of what is said. Although the math teacher may not have a problem with double negatives, he or she knows that when you put them together you have a positive.

The rule states that minus a negative is adding. Other than memorizing a meaningless rule, this can be a tough concept to teach. However, if you are teaching minus a negative to seventh graders, you'll probably do better than when I taught this concept to gifted and talented fifth graders.

Let's think of minus a negative as taking away debt! Suppose a student borrowed a dollar from his friend's mom to get a goody at the bake sale. When the student went to pay the friend's mother back, she told him not to worry about it. So in a sense, the boy made a dollar.

$0 - (-$1) = $1

She took away the dollar debt, thus giving the boy a dollar.

Let's look at this another way, from the viewpoint of the English teacher. If I held a pencil in my hand and said, "I don't have nothing in my hand," would this be true?

Yes. I don't have nothing in my hand. I have something . . . a pencil!

The big question, however, is whether or not this argument works in an ethical debate. If I did a wrong and apologized for it, did I take away the wrong? Maybe or maybe not.

Good luck explaining this to your students. The older they are, the more likely they are to understand because once again, this is a Piaget sort of concept!

If you are interested in a resource for teaching middle school math, check this out!

Positive and Negative Integer Operations with Word Problems

Tune in next week for my last math post, multiplying integers. 

If you'd like to receive freebies along with my posts, sign up for my email list! Although my email posts are similar to my blog posts, people on the email list often receive free resources with my articles. You can, too, simply by signing up to have my emails delivered. Plus, by signing up, you get the free product pictured below. So what have you got to lose? Nothing!

Click HERE to receive a FREE teaching resource.

Monday Music Moves Me

Since I mentioned the ethics of taking away a wrong through an apology, I decided to post these songs about apologizing

First up is Linda and Paul McCartney with Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey. I actually had an Uncle Albert; but if anyone should apologize, I'd say it should be him. He was awful to my Dad . . . but that's another post. I'm glad Paul McCartney has fond memories of his Uncle Albert and is apologizing for his generation's treatment of the older generation.

Here's another great song. Elton John with 

Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word.

What's even more important than the apology is what someone does to change. That's why I chose this next song, Man in the Mirror, by Michael Jackson.

Leap Into Learning Blog Hop

Thanks for hopping to Catch My Words. Some bloggy friends and I have joined together to share FREEBIES that you can use at anytime during the year no matter the season. Grab a total of NINE freebies by hopping to each blog until you end up back here. Or, if you want you can check out  just the blogs that feature an item in these grade levels. 

Blog hop for grades pk-2 

Blog hop for grades 3-5 (Contains my Resource)

My freebie has been featured in the TpT newsletter and advertised throughout Teachers Pay Teachers. It's an original story about Gateway Behaviors to Bullying.

Anti-Bullying Activities Gateway Behaviors

A couple of years ago, our school had an anti-bullying initiative where we were encouraged to teach about gateway to bullying behaviors. I searched all over the internet for a reading passage for my fifth grade class. Everything I found was either babyish or had someone attempting suicide. Since I found nothing in between, I wrote this story to highlight exactly what I wanted to say, and it's FREE!  

This seven page resource, was written to help curb the bullying epidemic in schools. The story follows Miriam and her best friend to see how their behaviors just might hurt feelings. The teacher is instructed to stop throughout the passage to discuss what has taken place. Just click HERE and join over 10,000 teachers who have downloaded this story. If you like it, I'd love to read your feedback!

Read what buyers have said:

• "Very few resources, if any, focus on those "smaller" bullying behaviors which often go overlooked, but definitely add up emotionally to a victim. I'm so glad this resource takes these behaviors into account. Great job!"

• "I am blown away. What an excellent resource that gets to the heart of SO MANY behaviors that so many of us do, having begun in our early years of school. I will be using this with my own children in our family discussions, but this would be excellent for classroom guidance class or even just character building time in an ordinary classroom setting. Thorough. Realistic. Fit to today's times and things real kids can relate to. I'm awfully curious to read other stories just like this."

• I like that the story discusses hurtful behaviors commonly seen on the playground but not identified as "bullying". The questions were very thought-provoking. I think my kids (and I) gained a lot from this lesson!

I have a lot of thought provoking reading passage in my store that are from third grade up to high school. Feel free to browse my reading passages as a group or check out a few of my favorites!

Historical Fiction Passage about the Underground Railroad

Are you looking for a new and different historical fiction passage about the Underground Railroad? Take your students on a reading adventure about runaway slaves with this original story. Through this close reading passage, students will learn what it was like to be a runaway slave from around 1860s, America. Students will remain engaged with the story and intrigued with higher level, critical thinking questions. This product is perfect for Black History Month or year round!

Click HERE to save 30% with the Black History bundle.

This easy to use resource includes:

• Original first person narrative as told through voice of a male slave.
• Human faults or qualities of the characters.
• Close Read symbols to guide and ready students for discussion.
• Vocabulary questions to clarify meaning of text.
• Higher level questions to spark critical discussions in the classroom.
• Grammar correction opportunities from speech of fictional characters.
• Lines and plenty of room for student answers.
• Complete answer key for teacher

Or maybe you are interested in saving 30% off the price of individual resources with a bundle.

Reading Passages for Social Studies

Are you on the lookout for fun historical fiction reading passages because your social studies book is not grabbing your students' interest? Find this bundle complete with everything you need to engage and challenge you kids. Your students will love these easy to print and go stories with questions and activities that will teach history in an exciting way.

By purchasing this bundle, you are saving 30% off the price of individual resources.

This bundle include SIX reading passages:

Thanks for hopping by. Teachers are awesome!