Coordinates – Grade 6 math lesson

Lesson 23 of 26 in the Grade 6 math course

US version. US grades, US spelling and dollars ($). · UK Maths Department

A complete 45-minute lesson for grade 6 (ages 11–12) 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 6 (ages 11–12)
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

45 minutes in 5 parts
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

Grade 6 Math: The Number System Practice TestGraded instantly

All Grade 6 math lessons and tests · Math Department

Curriculum

Common Core State Standards 6.NS.C.6.b: “Understand signs of numbers in ordered pairs as indicating locations in quadrants of the coordinate plane; recognize that when two ordered pairs differ only by signs, the locations of the points are related by reflections across one or both axes.”

Common Core State Standards 6.NS.C.6.c: “Find and position integers and other rational numbers on a horizontal or vertical number line diagram; find and position pairs of integers and other rational numbers on a coordinate plane.”

Our lessons and questions are our own. They are not written or endorsed by any government department, testing agency or exam board.