Year 4 Coordinates worksheet

“Directions on a Grid” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 4 maths unit “Coordinates”, for children aged 8 to 9, and takes about 20 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 21 to 22 of the year, 10 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Directions on a Grid

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 4 · Maths · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can give directions from one position to another on a grid.

A Look back3 min

1.
Each row has 4 squares and there are 3 rows. How many squares in all?
2.
Ravi has 26 stickers and gets 8 more. How many does he have now?
3.
How many sides does a rectangle have?

B Watch me, then you4 min

The robot must reach the flag. Work out which way it goes and how many squares.

Watch me

Start at the robot. Count 3 squares right to reach the flag's column.

Then count 2 squares up to reach the flag.

So the directions are: right 3 squares, then up 2 squares.

Now you

1.
Which instruction moves the robot to the flag? Circle one.
Right 2 squares, up 3 squaresRight 3 squares, up 2 squaresRight 2 squares, down 3 squaresUp 2 squares, right 3 squares

C Your turn6 min

The robot starts in the same place each time. Only the flag moves. Count the squares.

A small wheeled rover on flat red sand with a few rocks and a pale sky

1.
How many squares must the robot move right?
2.
How many squares must the robot move up?
3.
How many squares must the robot move left?
4.
Write the directions from the robot to the flag. Say which way and how many squares.

Say it out loud: Which number changed from one grid to the next, and which number stayed the same?

D Spot the mistake3 min

Sam says: “The flag is 4 squares to the left of the robot.”

1.
How many squares left is the flag from the robot really?

E Think deeper4 min

1.
Write one set of directions from the robot to the flag. Then write a different set that also works.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Directions on a Grid · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. 12

2. 34

3. 4

B

1. Right 2 squares, up 3 squares your child may have swapped the numbers or the order. Count the right moves first, then count the up moves, square by square.

C

1. 3 If your child writes 4, they counted the robot's own square. Count only the squares the robot moves across.

2. 3 If your child writes 2, they probably missed a row. Count each line the robot crosses on the way up.

3. 2 If your child writes 3, they counted the start square too. Start counting from the first square after the robot.

4. Look for: Right 2 squares and up 2 squares, in either order. If your child writes 3 for a direction, they counted the robot's own square. Count only the squares it moves into.

D

1. 3 If your child writes 4, they counted the robot's own square as a move. Count only the squares it moves into, ending on the flag: 3.

E

1. Look for: Two different routes, each with 3 squares right and 3 squares up, in any order.

Words to use

Say“Which way first, and how many squares? Count the squares the robot crosses, not the one it starts on.”

Instead of“Tell them the directions when they get stuck.”

After the sheet

Draw a 5 by 5 grid on paper and put a coin on one square. Take turns giving directions with a number each, like right 2 squares, down 3 squares, and move a second coin to match.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

9 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

Sliding Shapes, Counting Squares(with a plan)
Sliding shapes on a grid(with a plan)
Slide shapes on a grid(with a plan)
Finding points from the origin(with a plan)
Reading grid addresses(with a plan)
Plotting shapes on a grid(with a plan)
Finding the missing corner(with a plan)
Sliding shapes on a grid(with a plan)
Sliding points on a grid(with a plan)

Every Year 4 maths worksheet

The worksheets plan opens a printable sheet for every lesson in Years 1 to 6, each with its answers on a separate page for you. It costs £6.99 a month or £59 a year for the whole family, with no free trial.

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