Adding and Subtracting Integers Graphic Organizer

A blank rule chart for adding and subtracting integers: same signs, different signs, add the opposite.

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Name:Date:Adding: same signsThe rule, then an exampleAdding: different signsThe rule, then an exampleSubtracting: add the oppositeThe rule, then an exampleMy own examplesOne for each rule
Adding and subtracting integers graphic organizer: rule chart Four boxes two to a row: adding with the same signs, adding with different signs, subtracting by adding the opposite, and examples of your own. Each box has lines for the rule and an example.
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Next step Practice with integer flash cards

How it works

On this adding and subtracting integers graphic organizer every rule has to be shown with an example. The last box is for examples of the student's own, the quickest way to see whether a rule was understood or only copied.

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One sign, two jobs

The minus sign means subtract, and it also marks a number as negative. In (−5) − (−8) it does both. Have students say the problem aloud, negative five minus negative eight, before they write anything, so each sign gets its job.

Choosing a graphic organizer for adding and subtracting integers

Start with the rule chart. Give the number line sheet to students who need to see the move, and the three ways sheet when the rule and the picture have to be tied together.

  • Put parentheses around a negative number that follows an operation sign, as in 7 + (−5), so the signs are not misread.
  • A number and its opposite add to zero, so (−6) + 6 = 0.

Questions and answers

What are the rules for adding integers?

With the same signs, add the numbers without their signs and keep the sign they share. With different signs, subtract the smaller from the larger without signs, then take the sign of the number that is farther from zero.

What is the rule for subtracting integers?

Add the opposite. Leave the first number alone, change the subtraction to addition, and change the second number to its opposite. So (−2) − 6 becomes (−2) + (−6), which is −8.

What happens when you subtract a negative number?

Subtracting a negative number gives the same result as adding a positive number of the same size. So 7 − (−3) is 7 + 3, which is 10.

What grade do students add and subtract integers?

In the Common Core standards, negative numbers arrive in 6th grade, and adding and subtracting them is 7th grade work, shown on a horizontal or vertical number line.

All 11 organizers

Rule charts 5

  • Adding and subtracting integers graphic organizer: rule chart Four boxes two to a row: adding with the same signs, adding with different signs, subtracting by adding the opposite, and examples of your own. Each box has lines for the rule and an example.
  • Adding integers chart: both positive, both negative, one of each Three rows for the three cases of an addition. For each, write what to do with the numbers, which sign the sum takes, and an example.
  • Integer rules for all four operations Adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing down the side, with a box beside each for the rule in your own words and a box for an example.
  • Rule chart with sentence starters The same four boxes with the first words of each rule printed on its first line, for a class that is writing the rules for the first time.
  • Short rule cards, two to a page Half sheets with a cut line between, each with three short boxes for the three rules, to keep in a notebook.
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Practice with a key 2

  • Positive, negative or zero? Eight sums and differences Tick the sign of each answer before working it out, then write the answer. Key: −5, 0, −7, 4, 3, −6, −10, 0.
  • Rewrite six subtractions as additions Six subtractions down the side, from 4 − 9 to 0 − 4. Write each one again as adding the opposite, then find the answer.

Number line and models 2

  • Number line from −10 to 10, four to a page Four lines on a sideways page, every number written in and a heavier mark at zero. Start at the first number, then move right to add a positive number and left to add a negative one.
  • One problem, three ways: number line, counters, rule Two spaces to draw in, one for a number line and one for plus and minus counters, a box for the rule, and a box at the foot for the answer all three give.

Sample and answer key 2

  • Answer key: six subtractions rewritten Each subtraction written as adding the opposite, with its answer.
  • Sample rule chart, filled in The four boxes of the opening sheet with each rule written out and worked examples under it.

How this list was compiled: Our own layouts and wording; no publisher's organizer is copied. The rules for adding and subtracting with negative numbers were checked against the Wikipedia articles Negative number and Integer and the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (grades 6 and 7, The Number System), read October 13, 2026. Every example and both keys were worked out twice. Licence: own work

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