Grade 6 Math Teacher Resources: Algebraic Expressions — Games, Activities and Exit Tickets

Learning Objectives

• Explain what a variable is and read expressions such as 3n + 2 (3n means 3 × n).
• Write expressions from words, including "more than", "less than", "times" and "divided by".
• Evaluate expressions by substituting values, using the order of operations.
• Simplify expressions by combining like terms.
• Use the distributive property to write equivalent expressions, and check them with numbers.

How to Use This Resource

• Bags and Cubes: Student A secretly puts the same number of cubes in each bag.
• Expression Bingo: Students write 9 numbers from 1 to 30 in a 3 × 3 grid.
• Equivalent or Not?: Each group gets a pair, e.g. 3(x + 1) and 3x + 1.
• Exit tickets: hand out in the last 3–5 minutes and sort into got it / nearly / not yet.

Classroom Activity Ideas

• Bags and Cubes (12 minutes, Pairs): Student A secretly puts the same number of cubes in each bag. They show some bags and loose cubes, e.g. 2 bags + 3 cubes.
• Expression Bingo (12 minutes, Whole class): Students write 9 numbers from 1 to 30 in a 3 × 3 grid. The teacher says an expression and a value, e.g. "3n + 2 when n = 4".
• Equivalent or Not? (10 minutes, Small groups): Each group gets a pair, e.g. 3(x + 1) and 3x + 1. They test with 3 different numbers.

Differentiation

Support: Use real bags and cubes for every expression. Challenge: Write an expression for the perimeter of a rectangle with sides (x + 3) and 2x, and simplify. English language learners: Teach operation words with a table and gestures.

Assessment

Exit tickets in each lesson. Worksheet Parts A–E with the answer key. Quick Quiz (9 marks) after lesson 2. Unit Test (28 marks) at the end. Homework after each lesson. Performance task (rubric): "Price Plans" — write, evaluate and compare expressions for two real price plans.

Teacher Tips

Use the "number in a bag" image all unit — it makes like terms obvious. Always check equivalent expressions by testing a number.

What's Included

• Activity 1: Bags and Cubes (12 minutes, Pairs)
• Activity 2: Expression Bingo (12 minutes, Whole class)
• Activity 3: Equivalent or Not? (10 minutes, Small groups)
• 4 cut-out exit tickets with answers

Additional Files

• Grade 6 Math Teacher Resources: Algebraic Expressions (DOCX)

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