Math With Mr DJ

Grade 7 · The Number System · 7.NS.A.1

Adding & Subtracting Rational Numbers Worksheets

Free, printable, and ready to teach: a practice worksheet, homework, an exit ticket, and an answer key with step-by-step solutions — plus lesson slides you can edit. No sign-up needed.

First page of the adding & subtracting rational numbers practice worksheet Open the practice worksheet

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Watch: How to Add Integers
Key idea

Adding a positive moves right; adding a negative moves left. Subtracting means adding the opposite, so a − b becomes a + (−b), and a − (−b) becomes a + b. Same signs: the moves combine. Different signs: they partly cancel.

Sample problems

  1. Find −7 + 2.
  2. Find −7 + 12.
  3. Find 6 − (−4).
  4. Find −6 − (−4).

Common mistakes to watch for

  • Answered −11 by adding the sizes and keeping the sign. Adding a POSITIVE always moves right, so the answer must be greater than −8.
  • Answered 2 by treating the two minus signs as an instruction to subtract 3. The second minus belongs to the number, not the operation.
  • Answered −2 or 2 by subtracting the sizes. Only subtract sizes when the signs are DIFFERENT; here both moves go left.

The answer key explains each one, so you can tell what a wrong answer means.

How to use this set

  1. Teach with the slides (about 15 minutes), or watch the video together.
  2. Practice with the worksheet. Questions climb from fluency to application to reasoning.
  3. Check understanding with the exit ticket, and send the homework home.
  4. Mark with the answer key — each answer shows the steps and the most likely mistake.

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