How to use this sheet

  • Have the child replace each variable with its value in brackets before working anything out.
  • For like terms, have the child circle the terms with the same variable in the same way.
  • For the distributive property, draw arrows from the number outside to every term inside the brackets.

Common mistakes

  • Reading 3x as 3 plus x, or as a two-digit number when x = 4, so 3x becomes 34. It is 3 × 4.
  • Multiplying only the first term inside the brackets, so 2(x + 5) becomes 2x + 5.
  • Combining unlike terms, so 3x + 2 becomes 5x.

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