Comparing Numbers

#TheCompleteSeries5lessons

They will recap their knowledge of place value, learn to order numbers with up to five digits, solve problems involving numbers and learn to use the more than and less than signs to compare three-, four- and five-digit numbers. They will also delve into negative numbers and find out how to find the difference between a positive and negative integer.

With detailed lesson plans, engaging slides, differentiated worksheets and many other helpful resources, these 'Comparing Numbers' lessons contain everything you need teach your class what they need to know about identifying, ordering and using large numbers.

#Lesson1FiveDigits

The first lesson in this series recaps the value of each digit in three- and four-digit numbers before extending this to look at five-digit numbers.

Children will learn to partition five-digit numbers to help them identify the value of each digit. They main activity then reinforces this by challenging children to match numbers represented pictorially and numerically.

There is also a challenging investigation and the opportunity to practise adding 10, 100 or 100 to three-, four- or five-digit numbers.

#Lesson2GreaterorLessThan

This lesson recaps what the 'greater than' and 'less than' symbols are, and reminds children how these can be used between numbers to compare them.

The slides give children the chance to practise correctly placing these symbols between two or more numbers and the main activity then extends this by challenging them to use their place value knowledge to fill in numbers with missing digits to make the statements correct.

They will need to use a variety of mathematical skills to tackle the alternative activity as they identify which equations are correct and which aren't.

#Lesson3OrderingMeasures

This lesson starts by looking at some five-figure cars and challenging children to order them by price.

The main activity then moves on to ordering and comparing a variety of three-, four- and five-digit numbers in real-life contexts, including distances, weights and prices.

#Lesson4MoreOrdering

By now your class should be becoming more comfortable with comparing and ordering large numbers.

This lesson extends this by challenging children to order increasingly large sets of three-, four- and five-digit numbers.

They will also practise reading and writing larger numbers in numerals and words.

#Lesson5NegativeNumbers

The starter in this lesson challenges your class to add a thousand to a variety of numbers.

It then introduces negative numbers by asking children what would happen if they subtracted 1000 from 869.

The slides then show children the difference between a positive and negative number, giving them opportunities to count in given steps across zero and calculate the difference between a positive and negative integer.

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Curriculum Objectives covered

• Year 4 - find 1000 more or less than a given number
• Year 4 - count backwards through zero to include negative numbers
• Year 4 - recognise the place value of each digit in a four-digit number (thousands, hundreds, tens, and ones)
• Year 4 - order and compare numbers beyond 1000
• Year 4 - identify, represent and estimate numbers using different representations
• Year 4 - solve number and practical problems that involve all of the above and with increasingly large positive numbers