I'm a secondary school maths teacher with a passion for creating high quality resources. All of my complete lesson resources come as single powerpoint files, so everything you need is in one place. Slides have a clean, unfussy layout and I'm not big on plastering learning objectives or acronyms everywhere. My aim is to incorporate interesting, purposeful activities that really make pupils think.
I have a website coming soon!
I'm a secondary school maths teacher with a passion for creating high quality resources. All of my complete lesson resources come as single powerpoint files, so everything you need is in one place. Slides have a clean, unfussy layout and I'm not big on plastering learning objectives or acronyms everywhere. My aim is to incorporate interesting, purposeful activities that really make pupils think.
I have a website coming soon!
A complete lesson on expressing a change as a percentage.
Activities included:
Starter:
A puzzle to remind pupils of how to make a percentage change.
Main:
Examples and quick questions for pupils to try, on working out the percentage change.
A worksheet with a progression in difficulty and a mix of question types.
An extension task involving a combination of percentage changes.
Plenary:
A ‘spot the mistake’ question.
Printable worksheets and answers included.
Please review if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!
A complete lesson on finding a term given its a position and vice-versa.
Activities included:
Starter:
Recap questions on using an nth term rule to generate the first few terms in a linear sequence.
Main:
Short, simple task of using an nth term rule to find a term given its position.
Harder task where pupils find the position of a given term, by solving a linear equation.
Plenary:
A question to get pupils thinking about how they could prove if a number was a term in a sequence.
No worksheets required, and answers are included.
Please review it if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!
A complete lesson on the alternate segment theorem.
Assumes pupils can already use the theorems that:
The angle at the centre is twice the angle at the circumference
The angle in a semicircle is 90 degrees
Angles in the same same segment are equal
.Opposite angles in a cyclic quadrilateral sum to 180 degrees
A tangent is perpendicular to a radius
so that more varied questions can be asked. Please see my other resources for lessons on these theorems.
Activities included:
Starter:
Some basic questions to check pupils know what the word subtend means.
Main:
Animated slides to define what an alternate segment is.
An example where the angle in the alternate segment is found without reference to the theorem (see cover image), followed by three similar questions for pupils to try. I’ve done this because if pupils can follow these steps, they can prove the theorem.
However this element of the lesson could be bypassed or used later, depending on the class.
Multiple choice questions where pupils simply have to identify which angles match as a result of the theorem. In my experience, they always struggle to identify the correct angle, so these questions really help.
Seven examples of finding missing angles using the theorem (plus a second theorem for most of them).
A set of eight similar problems for pupils to consolidate.
An extension with two variations -an angle chase of sorts.
Plenary:
An animation of the proof without words, the intention being that pupils try to describe the steps.
Printable worksheets and answers included.
Please review if you buy, as any feedback is appreciated.
A complete lesson on introducing quadratic equations. The lesson looks at what quadratic equations are, solving quadratic equations when there isn’t a term in x, and ends with a more open ended, challenging task.
Activities included:
Starter:
Two questions to get pupils thinking about the fact that positive numbers have two (real) square roots, whereas negative numbers have none.
Main:
A discussion activity to help pupils understand what a quadratic equation is. They are presented with equations spit into 3 columns - linear, quadratic and something else, and have to discuss what features distinguish each.
Examples, quick questions and two sets of questions for pupils to try. These include fraction, decimal and surd answers, but are designed to be done without a calculator, assuming pupils can square root simple numbers like 4/9 or 0.64. Could be done with a calculator if necessary.
Some questions in a geometric context, culminating in some more challenging problems where pupils look for tetromino-type shapes where area = perimeter. There is scope here for pupils to design their own, similar puzzles.
I haven’t included a plenary, as I felt that the end point would vary, depending on the group.
Slides could be printed as worksheets, although everything has been designed to be projected.
Answers included.
Please review if you buy, as any feedback is appreciated!
A complete lesson on types of polygon, although it goes well beyond the basic classifications of regular and irregular. This lesson gives a flavour of how my resources have been upgraded since I started charging.
Activities included:
Starter:
A nice kinesthetic puzzle, where pupils position two triangles to find as many different shapes as they can.
Main:
A slide of examples and non-examples of polygons, for pupils to consider before offering a definition of a polygon.
A slide showing examples of different types of quadrilateral . Not the usual split of square, rectangle, etc, but concave, convex, equilateral, equiangular, regular, cyclic and simple. This may seem ‘hard’, but I think it is good to show pupils that even simple ideas can have interesting variations.
A prompt for pupils to try and draw pentagons that fit these types, with some follow-up questions.
A brief mention of star polygons (see my other resources for a complete lesson on this).
Slides showing different irregular and regular polygons, together with some follow-up questions.
Two Venn diagram activities, where pupils try to find polygons that fit different criteria. This could be extended with pupils creating their own Venn diagrams using criteria of their choice. Could make a nice display.
Plenary:
A table summarising the names of shapes they need to learn, with a prompt to make an educated guess of the names of 13, 14 and 15 sided shapes.
Minimal printing needed and answers included where applicable.
I have also added key questions and suggested extensions in the notes boxes.
Please review if you buy as any feedback is very much appreciated.
A complete lesson designed to first introduce the concept of angle. The lesson is very interactive, with lots of discussion tasks and no worksheets!
Activities included:
Starter:
A link to a short video of slopestyle footage, to get pupils interested. The athlete does a lot of rotations and the commentary is relevant but amusing. The video is revisited at the end of the lesson, when pupils can hopefully understand it better!
Main:
Highly visual slides, activities and discussion points to introduce the concepts of angle as turn, angle between 2 lines, and different types of angle. Includes questions in real-life contexts to get pupils thinking.
A fun, competitive angle estimation game, where pupils compete in pairs to give the best estimate of given angles.
A link to an excellent video about why mathematicians think 360 degrees was chosen for a full turn. Could be followed up with a few related questions if there is time. (eg can you list all the factors of 360?)
Plenary:
Pupils re-watch the slopstyle video, and are then prompted to try to decipher some of the ridiculous names for the jumps (eg backside triple cork 1440…)
Includes slide notes with suggestions on tips for use, key questions and extension tasks.
No printing required for this one!
Please review if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!
A complete lesson of more interesting problems involving perimeter. I guess they’re the kind of problems you might see in the Junior Maths Challenge. Includes opportunities for pupils to be creative and make their own questions.
Activities included:
Starter:
A perimeter puzzle to get pupils thinking, where they make changes to shapes without effecting the perimeter.
Main:
A set of four perimeter problems (on one page) for pupils to work on in pairs, plus some related extension tasks that will keep the most able busy.
A matching activity, where pupils match shapes with different shapes but the same perimeter, using logic. I would extend this task further by getting them to put each matching set in size order according to their areas, to address the misconception of confusing area and perimeter.
Pupils are then prompted to design their own shapes where the perimeters are the same.
Plenary:
You could showcase some pupil designs but much better, use all of their answers to create a new matching puzzle.
Printable worksheets and answers included.
Please review if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!
A complete lesson on solving two step equations of the form ax+b=c using the balancing method. Designed to come after pupils have solved using a flowchart/inverse operations.
Activities included:
Starter:
A set of questions to check that pupils can solve one step equations using the balancing method.
Main:
A prompt for pupils to consider a two step equation.
An animated solution to this equation, showing physical scales to help reinforce the balancing idea.
An example-problem pair, to model the method and allow pupils to try.
A set of questions with a variation element built in. Pupils could be extended by asking them to predict answers, or to explain the connections between answers after finishing them.
A related, more challenging task of solving equations by comparing them to a given equation, plus a suggested extension task for pupils to think more mathematically and creatively.
Plenary:
A closer look at a question, looking at the two different balancing approaches that could be taken (see cover slide). Depending on time, pupils could go back and attempt the previous questions using the second approach.
Printable worksheets and answers included.
Please review if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!
A complete lesson of more challenging problems involving the sine rule.
Designed to come after pupils have spent time on basic questions.
Mistake on previous version now corrected - please contact me for an updated copy if you have already purchased this.
Activities included:
Starter:
A set of six questions, each giving different combinations of angles and sides. Pupils have to decide which questions can be done with the sine rule. In fact they all can, the point being that questions aren’t always presented in the basic ‘opposite pairs’ format. Pupils can then answer these questions, to check they can correctly apply the sine rule.
Main:
A set of eight more challenging questions that pupils could work on in pairs. Each one is unique, with no examples offered, and therefore I’d class this as a problem solving lesson - pupils may need to adopt a general approach of working out what they can at first, and seeing where this takes them. Questions also require knowledge from other topics including angle rules, shape properties, bearings, and the sine graph. I’ve provided full worked answers FYI, but I would get pupils discussing answers and presenting to the class.
Plenary:
A prompt for pupils to reflect on possible rounding errors. Most of the questions have several steps, so it is worth getting pupils to think about how to avoid rounding errors.
I’ve left each question as a full slide, but I’d print them 4-on-1 and 2-sided, so that you’d only need to print one worksheet per pair.
Please review if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!
A complete lesson looking at the effect of multiplying and dividing integers and decimals by 10, 100 and 1000.
Activities included:
Starter:
A prompt for pupils to share any ideas about what the decimal system is.
Images to help pupils understand the significance of place value.
Questions that could be used with mini whiteboards, to check pupils can interpret place value.
Main:
A worksheet where, by repeated addition, pupils investigate the effect of multipliying by 10, initially with whole numbers but later with decimals.
A slide to summarise these results, followed by some more mini whiteboard questions to consolidate.
A prompt for pupils to use a calculator to investigate the effect of multiplying or dividing by positive powers of 10, followed by slides to help pupils reflect on their findings, and provide notes for all pupils.
A related game for pupils to play (connect 4).
Plenary:
A very brief, bulleted summary of the history of the decimal system and the importance of the invention of zero.
Printable worksheets included.
Please review if you buy as any feedback is appreciated.
A complete lesson on the graphs of sine, cosine and tangent outside the range 0 to 360 degrees. I’ve also made complete lessons on these functions in the range 0 to 360 degrees.
Designed to come after pupils have been taught about the ratios sine, cosine and tangent in the context of right-angled triangle trigonometry, and looked at the graphs of sine cosine and tangent in the range 0 to 360 degrees. This could also be used as a precursor to solving trigonometric equations in the further maths gcse or A-level.
Activities included:
Starter:
A worksheet where pupils identify key coordinates on the graphs of sine and cosine from 0 to 360 degrees.
Main:
A reminder of the definitions of sine, cosine and tangent using the unit circle, with a prompt for pupils to discuss what happens outside the range 0 to 360 and a slide to make this clear.
Three examples of using knowledge of the graphs to effectively solve a trigonometric equation. This isn’t formalised, but done more as a visual puzzle that pupils can answer using symmetry and the fact that the functions are periodic (see cover image).
A worksheet with a set of similar questions, followed by a related extension task.
Plenary:
A brief summary about sound waves and how pitch and volume is determined.
Printable worksheets and answers included.
Please review if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!
A complete lesson on the theorem that angles in the same segment are equal. I always teach the theorem that the angle at the centre is twice the angle at the circumference first (see my other resources for a lesson on that theorem), as it can be used to easily prove the same segment theorem.
Activities included:
Starter:
Some basic questions on the theorems that the angle at the centre is twice the angle at the circumference, and that the angle in a semi-circle is 90 degrees, to check pupils remember them.
Main:
Slides to show what a chord, major segment and minor segment are, and to show what it means to say that two angles are in the same segment. This is followed up by instructions for pupils to construct the usual diagram for this theorem, to further consolidate their understanding of the terminology and get them to investigate what happens to the angle.
A ‘no words’ proof of the theorem, using the theorem that the angle at the centre is twice the angle at the circumference.
Missing angle examples of the theorem, that could be used as questions for pupils to try. These include more interesting variations that incorporate other angle rules.
A set of similar questions with a progression in difficulty, for pupils to consolidate.
Two extension questions.
Plenary:
A final set of six diagrams, where pupils have to decide if two angles match, either because of the theorem learnt in the lesson or because of another angle rule.
Printable worksheets and answers included.
Please do review if you buy as any feedback is greatly appreciated!
A complete lesson for first teaching about corresponding, alternate and supplementary angles.
Activities included:
Starter:
Pupils measure and label angles and hopefully make observations and conjectures about the rules to come.
Main:
Slides to introduce definitions, followed by a quiz on identifying corresponding, alternate and supplementary angles, that could be used as a multiple choice mini-whiteboard activity or printed as a card sort.
Another diagnostic question with a twist, to check pupils have grasped the definitions.
Examples followed by a standard set of basic questions, where pupils find the size of angles.
Examples/discussion questions on spotting less obvious corresponding, alternate and supplementary angles (eg supplementary angles in a trapezium).
A slightly tougher set of questions on this theme, followed by a nice angle chase puzzle and a set of extension questions.
Plenary:
Prompt for pupils to see how alternate angles can be used to prove that the angles in a triangle sum to 180 degrees.
Printable answers and worksheets included.
Please review if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!
A complete lesson on using calculators to directly make percentage changes, e.g. increasing by 5% by multiplying by 1.05
Activities included:
Starter:
A recap on making a percentage change in stages, e.g. increasing something by 5% by working out 5% and adding it to the original amount.
Main:
Examples and quick questions for pupils to try, along with some diagnostic questions to hopefully anticipate a few misconceptions.
A worksheet of questions with a progression in difficulty.
An extension task/investigation designed to challenge the misconception that you can reverse a percentage increase by decreasing by the same percentage.
Plenary:
A question in context - working out a restaurant bill including a tip.
Printable worksheets and answers included.
Please review if you buy, as any feedback is appreciated!
A complete lesson, or range of activities to use, on the theme of Pythagorean triples. A great lesson for adding some interest, depth and challenge to the topic of Pythagoras’ theorem.
Activities included:
Starter:
A set of straight forward questions on finding the third side given two sides in a right-angled triangle, to remind pupils of Pythagoras’ theorem.
Main:
Slides explaining that Pythagoras’ theorem can be used to test whether a triangle has a right angle.
A sorting activity where pupils test whether given triangles contain a right angle.
Quick explanation of Pythagorean triples, followed by a structured worksheet for pupils to try using Diophantus’ method to generate Pythagorean triples, and, as an extension, prove why the method works.
Two pairs of challenging puzzles about Pythagorean triples.
Plenary:
A final question, not too difficult, to bring together the theme of the lesson (see cover image).
Printable worksheets and answers included.
Please review if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!
A complete lesson on the theme of using Pythagoras’ theorem to look at the distance between 2 points. A good way of combining revision of Pythagoras, surds and coordinates. Could also be used for a C1 class about to do coordinate geometry.
Activities included:
Starter:
Pupils estimate square roots and then see how close they were. Can get weirdly competitive.
Main:
Examples and worksheets with a progression of difficulty on the theme of distance between 2 points.
For the first worksheet, pupils must find the exact distance between 2 points marked on a grid.
For the second worksheet, pupils find the exact distance between 2 coordinates (without a grid).
For the third worksheet, pupils find a missing coordinate, given the exact distance.
There is also an extension worksheet, where pupils mark the possible position for a second point on a grid, given one point and the exact distance between the two points.
I always print these worksheets 2 per page, double sided, so without the extension this can be condensed to one page!
It may not sound thrilling, but this lesson has always worked really well, with the gentle progression in difficulty being enough to keep pupils challenged, without too much need for teacher input.
Printable worksheets and answers included.
Please review if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!
A complete lesson for introducing the area rule for a triangle.
Activities included:
Starter:
Questions to check pupils can find areas of parallelograms (I always teach this first, as it leads to an explanation of the rule for a triangle).
Main:
A prompt to get pupils thinking (see cover image)
Examples and a worksheet where pupils must identify the height and measure to estimate area.
Examples and a worksheet where pupils must select the relevant information from not-to-scale diagrams.
Simple extension task of pupils drawing as many different triangles with an area of 12 as they can.
Plenary:
A sneaky puzzle with a simple answer that reinforces the basic area rule.
Printable worksheets and answers included.
Please review it if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!
A complete lesson on defining, recognising and extending linear sequences.
Activities included:
Starter:
Pupils discuss whether six sets of numbers are sequences, and if so, what the rules are.
Main:
Slides to define linear sequences, followed by mini whiteboard questions and a worksheet of extending linear sequences.
A fun puzzle a bit like a word search (but where you try to find linear sequences).
Plenary:
Another nice puzzle where pupils try to form as many linear sequences as they can from a set of numbers.
Printable worksheets and answers included.
Please review it if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!
This started as a lesson on plotting coordinates in the 1st quadrant, but morphed into something much deeper and could be used with any class from year 7 to year 11. Pupils will need to know what scalene, isosceles and right-angled triangles are to access this lesson.
The first 16 slides are examples of plotting coordinates that could be used to introduce this skill, or as questions to check pupils can do it, or skipped altogether.
Then there’s a worksheet where pupils plot sets of three given points and have to identify the type of triangle. I’ve followed this up with a set of questions for pupils to answer, where they justify their answers. This offers an engaging task for pupils to do, whilst practicing the basic of plotting coordinates, but also sets up the next task well.
The ‘main’ task involves a grid with two points plotted. Pupils are asked to plot a third point on the grid, so that the resulting triangle is right-angled. This has 9 possible solutions for pupils to try to find. Then a second variant of making an isosceles triangle using the same two points, with 5 solutions. These are real low floor high ceiling tasks, with the scope to look at constructions, circle theorems and trig ratios for older pupils. Younger pupils could simply try with 2 new points and get some useful practice of thinking about coordinates and triangle types, in an engaging way. I have included a page of suggested next steps and animated solutions that could be shown to pupils.
Please review if you buy as any feedback is appreciated!
A complete lesson on the theorem that a tangent is perpendicular to a radius.
Assumes pupils can already use the theorems that:
The angle at the centre is twice the angle at the circumference
The angle in a semicircle is 90 degrees
Angles in the same same segment are equal
.Opposite angles in a cyclic quadrilateral sum to 180 degrees
so that more varied questions can be asked. Please see my other resources for lessons on these theorems.
Activities included:
Starter:
Some basic recap questions on theorems 1 to 4
Main:
Instructions for pupils to discover the rule, by drawing tangents and measuring the angle to the centre.
A set of six examples, mostly using more than one theorem.
A set of eight similar questions for pupils to consolidate.
A prompt for pupils to create their own questions, as an extension.
Plenary:
A proof by contradiction of the theorem.
Printable worksheets and answers included.
Please do review if you buy, as any feedback is greatly appreciated!