Year 6 Inverse Operations Lesson

**A ready-to-teach Year 6 inverse operations lesson designed to develop pupils’ understanding of algebraic reasoning and working backwards to find unknown values in KS2 maths.

This lesson is fully standalone and ready to teach, supporting pupils in solving multi-step problems by reversing operations step by step.**

Pupils are required to undo addition, subtraction, multiplication and division steps in order to identify the original number. The lesson builds from simple inverse problems to more complex multi-step reasoning challenges.

The questions include structured “think of a number” problems and contextual word problems, encouraging pupils to break down each step logically and reverse the process accurately.

Teachers can use the included Smart Notebook input slides to model strategies clearly and guide pupils through step-by-step examples before independent practice.

Pupils then complete a differentiated independent activity designed to support all learners while still providing appropriate challenge. The tasks develop confidence with inverse operations, algebraic thinking and SATS-style reasoning questions.

This resource is ideal for Year 6 algebra lessons, KS2 reasoning practice, SATS revision, or targeted intervention sessions.

What’s Included
✔ Smart Notebook input slides for teacher modelling
✔ Differentiated independent worksheets (3 levels)
✔ Plenary task

Why Teachers Use This
✔ Ready-to-teach lesson with no planning required
✔ Builds understanding of inverse operations step by step
✔ Develops early algebraic reasoning skills
✔ Supports SATS-style missing number questions
✔ Fully differentiated for mixed-ability KS2 classes

Lesson Breakdown
✔ Input: Teacher modelling of inverse operation strategies
✔ Guided Practice: Working backwards through number operations
✔ Independent Task: Differentiated worksheets (3 levels)
✔ Plenary: Reasoning and method discussion