Run sheet

Order of Operations — Exponents

Grade 6 · Lesson 2 · 23 slides · blocked practice

The big idea

An exponent counts how many times the base is used as a FACTOR — it is repeated multiplication, not multiplication by the exponent.

Slide by slide

#On the screenWhat you say
1Today — WARM-UPPoint at the five parts. Name where we are.
2Is 9 − 3 = 6 an expression or an equation?Boards up on three. This is yesterday's work — Expressions and Equations. Do not help each other; I need to see what each of you kept.
3An equation, and it is true. answer — own slideShow me. Everyone at once. Check your own board against this.
4Today — I DOWe are at I DO. Boards down and flat.
5An exponent counts how many times the base is used as a FACTOR — it is repeated multiplication, not multiplication by the exponent.Read this out. Do not explain it yet — the example explains it.
62+2+2 = 3 × 2 build 1 of 5Repeated addition has a short form we know.
72+2+2 = 3 × 2
2 × 2 × 2 build 2 of 5
Repeated MULTIPLICATION needs a different short form.
82+2+2 = 3 × 2
2 × 2 × 2
build 3 of 5
We write it with an exponent.
92+2+2 = 3 × 2
2 × 2 × 2

2³ = 2 × 2 × 2 build 4 of 5
The 2 is the base — what is repeated. The 3 is how many factors.
102+2+2 = 3 × 2
2 × 2 × 2

2³ = 2 × 2 × 2
2³ = 8 (not 2 × 3) build 5 of 5
Work it out. Note it is 8, not 6.
11Evaluate 3⁴.Now the same thing on a new one. Watch — nothing on your boards.
12Four factors of 3.
3 × 3 × 3 × 3.
9 × 9 = 81 answer — own slide
I say every step aloud as I write it. The board keeps all of it.
13Today — WE DOWe are at WE DO. Boards up.
14Evaluate 5³.Write out the factors before you multiply. Boards up.
155 × 5 × 5
125 answer — own slide
Boards up. Everyone at once — check yours against this.
16Evaluate 10⁴ and 4².Two here. One of them is a common trap.
1710⁴ = 10,000
4² = 16, not 8. answer — own slide
Boards up. Everyone at once — check yours against this.
18Today — YOU DOWe are at YOU DO. Boards down, books open.
19Dimensions 6A — page 3Open your books to this page. Wait — do not start yet.
20Do — page 3These are the book's own problems, same type as the three we have just done. Work them in the book.
21Today — CLOSURELast part. Answers up.
22“How many FACTORS, not how many to multiply by?”This is the question to ask yourself every time, not just today.
23Evaluate 2⁵.One last board. Then we are finished.

Mini whiteboards, by segment

SegmentMWBTimeBoardsWhat to hold
WARM-UPretrieval3-5 minBOARDS UPQuestion up, boards up on the count. Everyone shows at once — a child who waits to see a neighbour's board has not retrieved anything.
I DOnone — they watch3-4 minboards downBoards DOWN and flat. This segment is watching, and a child writing is not watching. Say so once at the start of the year and then hold it.
WE DOprimary use5-6 minBOARDS UPOne step, then boards up. Do not let them run ahead to the answer — the point is that everybody is on the same step at the same time.
YOU DOon the sheet4-5 minboards downBoards down. This is the book's problems, worked where the work will be kept.
CLOSUREanswers displayed2-3 minboards downAnswers on the board, children check their own. Mark nothing here.
Watch for
4² = 8 is the error, and it is nearly universal. Make them write the factors out longhand for the whole of this lesson — the shortcut can come when the meaning is secure.