Take two or three hands-up answers, not open call-outs. Do not settle which step goes first yet — that is the whole lesson. Listen for a pupil who says take the 3 off first and hold their idea for Watch and Notice.

On the first puzzle, ask the class the wrong-order question before you solve it: what if we shared out the two bags while the 3 loose cubes are still on the pan? Let a pupil explain that you cannot read a clean bag value while extra cubes are mixed in — the loose cubes get in the way. Then talk through peeling the loose cubes off first and finish it properly on the board. Hold this reasoning; the class points back to it in the reflection.

• 2x + 3 = 11 — take the 3 off first, then share into two bags: each bag is 4.
• 4x + 1 = 17 — same move, bigger multiplier; check the class predicts 16 before the share.
• 3x − 2 = 13 — this one takes away, so we add 2 to both sides to undo it. This is the step pupils forget.

Talk this one through together — a pupil comes to the board and the class agrees or corrects out loud.

Insist on the plan before the action: which loose cubes come off first, then divide by what? Revoice a strong answer: so we peel the number off before we share out the bags. Two more equations of this kind come up in the copybook and the Class Challenge, so keep this one crisp.

This is the practice round — pupils take turns at the board, check each answer, and the class confirms before moving on. Keep the board work brisk rather than over-explaining.

The last one, 4x + 6 = 12, gives 4x = 6, so x = 1.5 — hold out until a pupil realises the bag can hold half a cube. Use the ✓ as your confirm: yes, the beam is level, so that is it.