This puzzle was made to help my students with modeling integer operations using integer chips and number lines. There are 45 pieces that need to be placed in 4 different categories. The four category cards are Expression, Model, Answer, and Extra Pieces. Students need to match each expression with its model and answer. To make this a bit more difficult I added two models for some of the expressions (number line and integer chips) and there are also 7 puzzle pieces that do not belong. The 7 peices that do not belong are common mistakes made when modeling and common incorrect answer choices.

I did this for the first time in class last week and it worked perfectly. Every student was engaged and working hard to complete this puzzle. The first groups took about 15 minutes to finish and no one took longer than 25 minutes. I heard a lot of "Ohhhhh... I get it now" during this activity. Some groups needed a little help to make sense of how the puzzle needed to be organized, but with a couple hints they understood what needed to be done. You can also easily differentiate by taking out the extra pieces and limiting each expression to one model.

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