This unit plan is meant to be a guideline and can be
modified according to your specific instructional needs.
MYP unit planner
Unit title
My life as an Integer
Teacher(s)
Battle, Curtis, Celentano, McGhee, Edge
Subject and grade level
Mathematics Course 2, MYP level 2
Time frame and duration
3 weeks (15 instructional days)
Stage 1: Integrate significant concept, area of interaction and unit
question
Area of interaction focus
Significant concept(s)
Which area of interaction will be our focus?
Why have we chosen this?
What are the big ideas? What do we want our
students to retain for years into the future?
Health and Social Education
The usage of integer operation is the
beginning of the exploration of Algebraic
concepts in middle school. Being able to
fully understand how to express and
calculate integers will affect mathematical
reasoning in higher level mathematics. A
person’s life, skills, values, and interest
should be considered when choosing their
future. By using integers one is able to see
the areas of their life that is impacted and
make good choices for their future.
Students will be learning about their
interests, skills, life, and values and how
they affect their social life through the usage
of integers. Students will explore the
question “Who am I and how am I
changing?”
MYP unit question
Who am I?
How should I consider my life, personal interests, skills, and
values as I explore integers and plan for my future?
Assessment
What task(s) will allow students the opportunity to respond to the unit question?
What will constitute acceptable evidence of understanding? How will students show what they have understood?
Summative Assessments: (choose one or more)
Oral Activity: Students will make distinctions between positive and negative values and words.
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Writing: Students will design a time line of their life that displays the usage of integers with historical
information relevant to each year. Students will also effectively communicate their understanding of
chronological order using language art’s concepts.
Unit 1 Test (Modelling of integers, perform operations of integers, relate integers real-world applications,
and compute using integers)
Formative Assessments:
Quizzes, timelines, computation of integers (i.e. exit tickets, manipulatives, student-student interactions,
etc), class discussion, formulate rules
Which specific MYP objectives will be addressed during this unit?
- Use appropriate mathematical concepts and skills to solve problems in both familiar and unfamiliar
situations, including those in real-life
- Select and apply general rules correctly to solve problems, including those in real-life contexts
- Explain whether their results make sense in the context of the problem
Which MYP assessment criteria will be used?
Criteria A: Knowledge and Understanding
Criteria C: Communication in Mathematics
Criteria D: Reflection in Mathematics
Stage 2: Backward planning: from the assessment to the learning
activities through inquiry
Content
What knowledge and/or skills (from the course overview) are going to be used to enable the student to respond to the unit
question?
What (if any) state, provincial, district, or local standards/skills are to be addressed? How can they be unpacked to develop the
significant concept(s) for stage 1?
Virginia SOL 7.3 – The student will use problem solving, mathematical communication, mathematical
reasoning, connections and representations to:
a. model addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of integers; and
b. add, subtract, multiply, and divide integers.
Approaches to learning
How will this unit contribute to the overall development of subject-specific and general approaches to learning skills?
Organization: Time management—including using time effectively in class, keeping to deadlines.
Collaboration: Working in Groups—including delegating and taking responsibility, adapting to roles,
resolving group conflicts, and demonstrating teamwork.
Accepting Others—including analyzing others’ ideas, respecting others’ points of view, using
ideas critically.
Communication: Literacy—including reading strategies, using and interpreting a variety of content specific
terminology.
Reflection: Self-Awareness—including seeking out positive criticism, reflecting on areas of perceived
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limitation.
Thinking: Generating Ideas-- including brainstorming.
Planning—including storyboarding and outlining a plan.
Inquiring—including questioning and challenging information and arguments, developing
questions, using the inquiry cycle.
Identifying Problems—including deductive reasoning, evaluating solutions to problems.
Transfer: Making Connections—including using knowledge, understanding and skills across subjects to
create products or solutions, applying skills and knowledge in unfamiliar situations.
Learning experiences
How will students know what is expected of them? Will
they see examples, rubrics, and templates?
How will students acquire the knowledge and practise
the skills required? How will they practise applying
these?
Do the students have enough prior knowledge? How will
we know?
Students will know the expectations through the
posted objectives, rubrics, and templates.
 Consider their each year of their life.
 Research the difference between an
integer and whole numbers.
 Watch a United Streaming video/ Brain
Pop on Integers
 Apply integer operations to real-life
problems.
 Use short-cuts to help manipulate the
usage of integers in an arrangement of
operations
Construct a timeline of their life or someone
else’s to include historical facts for each
number represented both positive and
negative.
* Rubrics will detail expectations and
guidelines for all major assessments.
* Students will have prior knowledge
based on life experiences, diagnostic tests
and previous class work. Students will
complete warm-up activities each class and
review homework.
Teaching strategies
How will we use formative assessment to give students feedback
during the unit?
What different teaching methodologies will we employ?
How are we differentiating teaching and learning for all? How have
we made provision for those learning in a language other than their
mother tongue? How have we considered those with special
educational needs?
-Feedback will be given on quizzes and projects
-We will use the quizzes and the unit test as a way to
communicate levels of understanding to the students.
We will use the project as a guide to inform the students
if their level of understanding is adequate.
 10-2 Method
 Discovery—Integers
 Technology—United Streaming and Brain Pop
 Rules for integer operations
-For LEP learners we are including visual, non-linguistic
to model integer rules and operations.
-For those with special education needs we modified the
assignment.
-The project lends itself to differentiation because the
students are open to their own design.
-Interactive games to practice integer operations (cards,
flash cards, I have-who has, etc)
-Oral practice: create stories, class discussions
(modelled, practiced and spontaneous)
-Visuals (manipulatives, cards, etc.)
-Writing practice (modelled, practiced and spontaneous)
-TPR (Total Physical Response); e.g. commands
-Student-Centered activities such as student-student
tutoring sessions, review of rules, etc.
The activities listed above exemplify the teaching
strategies used to address the different learning styles:
visual, auditory and tactile-kinesthetic.
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Resources
What resources are available to us?
How will our classroom environment, local environment and/or the community be used to facilitate students’ experiences during
the unit?
- Internet (Discovery Education, Brain-pop, etc)
- Smartboard
- Video clips
- ELMO projector
- General supplies (paper, pencil, etc.)
- CD player
- Take-Home Tutor CD-ROM
The resources listed above are used to teach the unit objectives and the MYP curriculum objectives,
aligned with the PWCS standards and Virginia standards.
Ongoing reflections and evaluation
In keeping an ongoing record, consider the following questions. There are
further stimulus questions at the end of the “Planning for teaching and
learning” section of MYP: From principles into practice.
Students and teachers
What did we find compelling? Were our disciplinary knowledge/skills challenged in any way?
What inquiries arose during the learning? What, if any, extension activities arose?
How did we reflect—both on the unit and on our own learning?
Which attributes of the learner profile were encouraged through this unit? What opportunities were there for student-initiated
action?
Possible connections
How successful was the collaboration with other teachers within my subject group and from other subject groups?
What interdisciplinary understandings were or could be forged through collaboration with other subjects?
Assessment
Were students able to demonstrate their learning?
How did the assessment tasks allow students to demonstrate the learning objectives identified for this unit? How did I make
sure students were invited to achieve at all levels of the criteria descriptors?
Are we prepared for the next stage?
Data collection
How did we decide on the data to collect? Was it useful?
To be filled in by teacher after the unit has been taught.
The project cleared up misconceptions with regards to the display of integers and the way in which
students constructed their timeline to show least to greatest of negative numbers. The project showed their
knowledge of an arrangement of interdisciplinary facts associated with integers for various years. The
students were challenged with the correct order of how to initially construct a timeline with negative values
in the correct order. The operations of integers often confused students because of the negative symbol.
They often forgot to follow the correct rule for solving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of
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integers without the use of visual representation. They also confused the signs for subtraction of integers,
forgetting to change the original problem to addition and then following the addition rule for integers.
Students had to correct their own mistakes on their quiz with a partner and explain what they did wrong the
first time and correct the second time. These corrections made them have to reflect upon their learning.
Students were both communicators and open-minded while making corrections on their quiz. Students
took responsibility for getting the rules incorrect which made them principled.
Maybe next time we can collaborate with the Social Studies teachers to assist with accurate historical facts
that relate to the seventh grade curriculum.
Also collaborate with Language Arts teachers to assist with chronology and effectively communicating
order of events.
Important note:
This unit plan is meant to be a guideline and can be modified or altered according to
your specific instructional needs.
Figure 12
MYP unit planner
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