Order of Operations Unit - Tackling Expressions Using PEMDAS / GEMDAS With Style

This product contains activities, worksheets, guided notes and mastery tests to help your students become proficient at evaluating multi-step order of operations expressions (including exponents, brackets and braces, and fraction bars). Apply PEMDAS / GEMDAS correctly, make your goalposts as you evaluate numerical expressions, draw your “V” for “victory”, raise your hands in the air, and conquer order of operations once and for all! This complete six to seven day unit contains a series of activities, including an exciting competition, that generate enthusiasm while teaching students to evaluate expressions (including exponents, brackets and braces, and fraction bars) in the correct order. Order of Operations Inundation works well in any late elementary or middle school math class.

NOTE: This product is now available for purchase in TWO different formats:

• A format that targets distribution of all activities to the students ONE SHEET AT A TIME (THIS PRODUCT - the ordering of the sheets is warm-up sheet 1, warm-up sheet 1 key, note sheet 1, note sheet key 1, worksheet 1, worksheet 1 key, etc. - convenient for single sheet distribution).

• A format that allows for printing and distribution of PACKETS to the students. All warm-ups, notes, and worksheets are included in the order that they are used for easy double-sided printing of a 20-page packet, with keys included at the end of the document. If you would like to purchase Order of Operations Inundation in packet format, please purchase Order of Operations Unit - PACKET FORM instead of purchasing this product.

Specifically, this product includes the following (detailed keys are provided for each activity):

Order of Operations Introduction Activity – Without any coaching, students are told to evaluate three different numerical expressions. Providing half the class with simple 10-key calculators that do not perform correct order of operations automatically is not necessary but will enhance the experience. During the classroom discussion that follows, students present their answers, only to realize that there are a variety of answers (the majority of which are incorrect, even those generated by calculators!), and that the need for a set of conventions regarding order of operations is a must. This activity builds enthusiasm for order of operations and sets the mood for the activities to come.

Order of Operations Guided Notes – Under the direction of the teacher, students discover the meaning and usage of PEMDAS and apply it order of operations expressions (exponents are not yet included). This activity introduces the “goalpost” method for evaluating expressions (draw a goalpost under the component of the expression you are evaluating, rewrite the remainder of the expression underneath the current one, continue to draw goalposts and rewrite the expression until you work to an answer, draw your “V” for “victory” around your work, and raise your hands up in the air in triumph!).

Order of Operations Worksheet - No Exponents – Students use what they have learned about order of operations to complete a worksheet full of a variety of order of operations expressions (exponents are not yet included).

Exponents/Powers Notes and Examples – Now that the students have a good feel for order of operations, they are introduced to exponents and how exponent and base work together to create a power. Exponents are then incorporated into order of operations expressions, which the students evaluate with teacher guidance (again cementing the use of the goalpost method).

Order of Operations Worksheet – With Exponents – Students now attack a series of order of operations expressions, with exponents included, that increase in difficulty and take up to five steps to evaluate.

“Two-Three” Order of Operations Challenge – This exciting game allows students to put their order of operations skills to the test in a challenging competition. Students are asked to “create” as many numbers as they can using a total of four two’s and three’s (for example: 2 + 2 + 3 • 3 = 13) and the correct order of operations to evaluate them.

Order of Operations Mastery Tests – To ensure students have completely mastered the basics of order of operations, five of these tests are provided to test and retest students until they pass with a perfect score. There are simply two questions on each mastery test, but each of the tests comprehensively covers all operations and rules within PEMDAS.

Order of Operations Notes – Other Grouping Symbols – In this even more rigorous section, students are introduced to brackets, braces, and fraction bars as grouping symbols. They are guided through the process of using GEMDAS (“G” meaning “grouping symbols”) instead of PEMDAS to evaluate these expressions, and “working their way out” when handling multiple grouping symbols. The goalpost method remains at the core of the GEMDAS process as the teacher guides the students through these more complex concepts and problems.

Order of Operations Worksheet – Other Grouping Symbols – Students now use GEMDAS to attack a series of order of operations expressions involving brackets, braces, and fraction bars. The numerical expressions on this three-page worksheet increase in difficulty and take up to eight steps to evaluate.

Good luck in your use of Order of Operations Inundation!

Related Products:

If you would like to extend your students use of order of operations beyond positive numbers only, Integer Indulgence not only introduces students to all operations with integers (and absolute value, opposites, and word problems) via a variety of activities, but also contains a number of integer order of operations problems.

If you would like your students to take what they have learned about order of operations and apply their knowledge to decimal problems, please see Adding, Subtracting, Multiplying, Dividing Decimals Unit With Word Problems. This comprehensive unit will not only teach your students all they need to know about decimals (through warm-ups, notes, worksheets, and decimal "poetry"), but also put their order of operations skills to the test!

If you would like your students to be exposed to the additional challenges of using order of operations in algebraic expressions, see Express Yourself - The Complete Unit. This product guides students through the process of writing and simplifying expressions of various levels of difficulty, and then evaluating these expressions using order of operations. The perfect introduction to algebra for pre-algebra students and an ideal unit to follow Order of Operations Inundation!

Also feel free to check out a growing number of other products that use poetry, songs, games, worksheets, and assessments to make math fun and help students to learn a variety of common core math standards.

Click here to view Algebraic Expression and Equation Products

Click here to view Data, Statistics, and Probability Products

Click here to view Decimal Products

Click here to view Divisibility Rule Products

Click here to view Elementary to Middle School Transition Products

Click here to view Factor / Multiple Products

Click here to view Fraction Products

Click here to view Geometry Products

Click here to view Integer, Rational Number, and Order of Operations Products

Click here to view Ratio-Rate-Proportion-Percent Products

Click here to view Riddle Card Products that Help Retain Math Essentials

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Copyright © Barry Schneiderman. This product is to be used by ONE teacher (the purchaser) for his or her classes only. Any reproduction of this material is limited to the purchaser for his or her classes. Beyond this usage, it may not be reproduced, republished, or copied in any way without written permission of the publisher. It may not be distributed to other teachers, a school department, a school, or a school district. This product may not be posted on any website, including but not limited to classroom websites, school websites, or district websites, without written permission of the publisher. Failure to follow the terms of usage represents a copyright violation per the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). To receive written permission to copy or post this product beyond the terms of use, ask Barry Schneiderman a question on Teachers Pay Teachers.