I’ve been using bar modelling quite extensively in my teaching since being involved with the NCETM’s multiplicative reasoning project last year. Part of the project was to emphasise the importance of diagrammatic representations of problems in teaching maths for understanding; we were given materials to deliver to Key Stage 3 classes, some of which included …
Bar modelling – reflections on Celebration of Maths 2015 Read More »
Excuse the pun, I’m just quite excited about the Celebration of Maths event tomorrow. Due to the fact that I’m going to the bar modelling session tomorrow (and that I’m a geek who loves doing Maths on a Friday night), I decided to go on a bar modelling hunt using the Foundation paper 1 from the Edexcel GCSE 9-1 Sample Assessment materials.
We’re going on a bar hunt Read More »
Just a quick post to say I’ve just found an excellent site for quick starters and practice – Flash Maths is chock full of Flash applications for generating questions on loads of different topics. A five-minute poke-around unearthed these little gems: Equation Roulette: Generates linear equations up to old NC level 7. The buttons at the top …
Having taught this to nearly all of my KS3 groups at some point in the last few months, I think I’m becoming something of an expert. This year, we’ve started the Mastery Pathway at KS3, and nearly all of our students in Years 7, 8 and 9 (unsurprisingly) had gaps in their understanding of fractions. So I’ve …
Teaching improper fractions and mixed numbers Read More »
Last year, I attended the best CPD of my teaching career. It was a year-long course run by the NCETM; a project on multiplicative reasoning. Now don’t get me wrong, training days can be useful, but I can honestly say that this course changed how I teach fractions and proportion on a fundamental level. We …
Still checking through my old post archive and I found this. Thought it was worth reposting because a) it’s reminded me what a good programme “The Digital Human” is (I will have to check when it’s on again) and b) it seems even more relevant in the light of imminent GCSE curriculum changes. With a …
Memory and the Internet Read More »
In the grand site update, I’ve been looking through all my blog posts on my old site and trying to work out what’s worth reposting. I found this gem from about three years ago… “On the back of some fantastic A-Level CPD from Alan Jervis, I trialled “Red Pen, Green Pen Marking” with my Year 12s last …
If it ain’t broke… Red Pen Green Pen Read More »
This investigation is great for getting pupils to “spot” square number patterns – it’s particularly useful as a little starter a couple of weeks after completing the topic to remind them of the sequence of square numbers. Pupils could also make the patterns from multi-link cubes and then demonstrate how the top and bottom patterns …
Pupils explore which numbers can be written as the difference of two square numbers; a nice way to practise calculating with square numbers, but also encourages them to pattern-spot at the same time.
Square differences Read More »
This is one of my absolute favourite investigations to use when teaching square numbers. It can fit quite nicely into 15/20 minutes as a simple activity, or extend to a whole lesson with the class working together. To find out if a number is happy: Pick any two-digit number (e.g. 23). Square and add the …