Name: ________________________
Dear Parent / Carer,
This half term our maths targets are focusing on addition and subtraction facts. Please find below your
child’s target level. Any additional practise that you are able to do with them at home is greatly appreciated.
For your information, we have also included the next target level at the bottom of the page.
Thank you for your continued support,
5c - I can find the difference between a positive and negative integer, or 2 negative integers
Your child should already be secure with negative numbers.
In order to find the difference between a positive and negative number, they should use ‘zero’ as a
marker.
e.g. ‘What is the difference between -27 and 13?’
Encourage your child to do this is 2 jumps: ‘You add 27 to -27 to get to 0. Then add 13 onto 0. In total
this is 40.’ They may wish to use a blank number line to support this.
They should also be able to calculate differences between 2 negative numbers,
e.g. ‘What is the difference between -33 and -4?’
Encourage your children to think of the two numbers as two positive integers, i.e. the difference
between 33 and 4.
Common misconceptions are that the difference between two negative numbers would be negative
when in fact the difference is always positive.
Next target....
5a - I can add and subtract mentally positive and negative numbers