Order of operations – Year 6 maths lesson
UK version. UK school years, UK spelling and pounds (£). · US version (Grade 5)
A complete 45-minute lesson for Year 6 (ages 10–11) that runs on this page – at school or at home. Every answer is marked straight away, with a worked explanation.
- Time
- 45 minutes + 20 min homework
- Year
- Year 6 (ages 10–11)
- You need
- Paper, a pencil and this page
- Marked
- 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, the way Mr Euclid, our Head of Maths, likes it: one tidy step at a time. Every answer is marked straight away with a worked explanation, so you never have to mark anything.
- Read what your child will learn 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: “Where would you put brackets in 2 + 3 × 4 to get 20?”
- Later that day or the next day: the homework (20 minutes), then a practice test.
Watch out for
- Working left to right whatever the operation. Underline the × and ÷ parts before starting and do them first.
- Ignoring the brackets. Circle the brackets and work them out first.
Miss Hypatia's tip for home: Make up a calculation with a calculator and see whether it follows the order of operations.
What your child will learn
We are learning to use the order of operations.
Success looks like
- I can do brackets first.
- I can do × and ÷ before + and −.
- I can explain why the order matters.
Key words
- operation
- add, subtract, multiply or divide
- brackets
- show which part to do first
- order of operations
- the agreed order: brackets, then × and ÷, then + and −
What to have ready
- Paper and a pencil
- This page on a computer, tablet or phone
- For the hands-on part: Give pairs the same digits and operations; they place brackets in different places to make the biggest and smallest answers. No mini whiteboards? Use paper.
The lesson, step by step
| Part | Time | How it is checked |
|---|---|---|
| Starter: quick recall | 5 min | Marked by Classfern |
| Teaching input | 10 min | Not assessed, self-checked |
| Worked examples and guided practice | 9 min | Not assessed, marked by Classfern |
| Independent practice | 15 min | Marked by Classfern |
| Plenary and exit ticket | 6 min | Marked by Classfern, self-checked |
Starter, "your turn", practice and exit ticket are marked 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 marked instantly.
More practice
More Year 6 maths lessons
Curriculum
National Curriculum for England, Year 6: “use their knowledge of the order of operations to carry out calculations involving the four operations”
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Our lessons and questions are our own. They are not written or endorsed by any government department, testing agency or exam board.