Coordinates – Grade 5 math lesson
Lesson 18 of 18 in the Grade 5 math course
US version. US grades, US spelling and dollars ($). · UK Maths Department
A complete 45-minute lesson for grade 5 (ages 10–11) that runs on this page – at school or at home. Every answer is graded right away, with a worked explanation.
- Time
- 45 minutes + 20 min homework
- Grade
- Grade 5 (ages 10–11)
- You need
- Paper, a pencil and this page
- Graded
- Instantly, with explanations
For parents: how to use this lesson
You don't need to know this topic yourself. The lesson explains each step on screen, one tidy step at a time. Every answer is graded straight away with a worked explanation, so you never have to grade anything.
- Read what your child will learn and the big ideas together.
- Press Start the lesson below and sit with your child for the teaching and the worked examples (about 19 minutes).
- Let them do the practice on their own. They choose Getting started, On track or Challenge – start on On track and move up after a few right in a row.
- Finish with the exit ticket and the talk question: “Is (2, 5) the same point as (5, 2)?”
- Later that day or the next day: the homework (20 minutes), then a practice test.
Watch out for
- Going up first, then along. Along the corridor, then up the stairs.
- Counting the squares instead of the lines. Points sit where lines cross.
Tip for home: Use map grid references to find places.
What your child will learn
Learning goal: read, plot and use coordinates, including in all four quadrants.
Success looks like
- I can read coordinates.
- I can plot points.
- I can find a missing vertex of a shape.
Key words
- coordinates
- a pair of numbers giving a position
- x-axis
- the line across
- y-axis
- the line up
- origin
- the point (0, 0)
What to have ready
- Paper and a pencil
- This page on a computer, tablet or phone
- For the hands-on part: Play a battleships game on a grid by calling out coordinates.
The big ideas (for the adult)
Coordinates give a position on a grid: (3, 5) means 3 along the x-axis, then 5 up the y-axis.
Remember "along the corridor, then up the stairs": x comes first.
Negative coordinates go left of or below zero. Coordinates can help find missing corners of shapes.
The lesson, step by step
| Part | Time | How it is checked |
|---|---|---|
| Starter: quick recall | 5 min | Graded by Classfern |
| Teaching input | 10 min | Not assessed, self-checked |
| Worked examples and guided practice | 9 min | Not assessed, graded by Classfern |
| Independent practice | 15 min | Graded by Classfern |
| Closure and exit ticket | 6 min | Graded by Classfern, self-checked |
Starter, "your turn", practice and exit ticket are graded by Classfern. Worked examples and teaching are not assessed. The hands-on task and the reflection are self-assessed. Explanations in talk are judged by the parent and not recorded.
The lesson
It runs here on the page. No sign-up and no names – progress is kept only in this browser.
Homework and practice at home
20 minutes: 10 practice questions, 3 multiple-choice questions and 2 to remember from earlier work, then a short reflection. New questions every time, all graded instantly.
More practice
More Grade 5 math lessons
- Order of operations
- Solving word problems
- Number patterns
- Place value: the value of each digit
- Decimals: tenths, hundredths and thousandths
- Multiplying and dividing by powers of 10
- Decimals and percentages
- Calculating with decimals
- Comparing, ordering and writing numbers
- Rounding decimals
- Adding and subtracting decimals
- Fractions of a whole number
- Adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators
- Multiplying fractions
- Converting measurement units
- Volume of rectangular prisms
- Classifying 2-D shapes
Curriculum
Common Core State Standards 5.G.A.2: “Represent real world and mathematical problems by graphing points in the first quadrant of the coordinate plane, and interpret coordinate values of points in the context of the situation.”
Common Core State Standards 5.G.A.1: “Use a pair of perpendicular number lines, called axes, to define a coordinate system, with the intersection of the lines (the origin) arranged to coincide with the 0 on each line and a given point in the plane located by using an ordered pair of numbers, called its coordinates. Understand that the first number indicates how far to travel from the origin in the direction of one axis, and the second number indicates how far to travel in the direction of the second axis, with the convention that the names of the two axes and the coordinates correspond (e.g., x-axis and x-coordinate, y-axis and y-coordinate).”
Our lessons and questions are our own. They are not written or endorsed by any government department, testing agency or exam board.