This article gives a general overview of an alternative instructional sequence that can be used to teach integer concepts and operations. The sequence follows three heuristics from Realistic Mathematics Education (RME) that encourage curricula to be reinforced with real-world applications (financial net worth): move students gradually, yet intentionally, from concrete to abstract reasoning (net worth statements to bare number problems), and help students create models of the real-world context and eventually models for reasoning. This instructional sequence has been used with seventh-grade students, including students with disabilities, but it could be used whenever integer concepts and operations are first introduced. It was designed to encourage students to make meaning of their actions with integers and reinvent the rules and concepts that underlie working with integers. (Contains 6 figures.)