Order of operations poster (free printable steps)

About this sheet

When an expression has several operations, everyone must agree which to do first, or the same sum gives different answers. The order is a convention, like driving on one side of the road. This poster shows it as four numbered steps, each in big type with a short line beneath. Parentheses come first, then exponents, then multiplying and dividing as one step, then adding and subtracting as one step. Teachers often add a memory phrase, but a phrase alone leads children to think multiplication always beats division. The footer line on the poster says that those two pairs are partners that go left to right, which is where most mistakes begin.

Grades: 4 to 8.

How to use it

1. Read the four steps with the class and decide whether to rename them, for example brackets instead of parentheses.
2. Print the poster and hang it where children solve expressions, with a marker nearby for pointing at each step.
3. Work one example aloud, circling the part you do first at every step, until children can predict the circle before you draw it.

Five ideas for class

1. Write 8 + 4 × 2 on the board and ask half the class to add first and half to multiply first. Compare answers, then ask which is right and why we need a rule.
2. Solve an expression in four colors, one color per step, so children can see the order as the expression shrinks line by line.
3. Give 12 ÷ 3 × 2 and show that working left to right gives 8, while multiplying first gives 2. This clears up the partners idea.
4. Ask children to write their own expression with an answer of 10 that needs parentheses to come out right, and trade with a partner.
5. Let students play detective with a worked solution that has one wrong step, and have them find which line broke the order.

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