Critical Thinking in Mathematics: KS2

10 higher level thinking questions for deepening understanding and developing mathematical language

Having studied in a course based on AFL strategies, I have a new found love (so to speak) for asking higher level questions during lessons to evoke discussion between students. The more they discuss concepts, the deeper their understanding will grow.

With this in mind, I created these colourful cards to be cut, laminated and given to my year 4 class once a week to create ‘colourful’, intentional discussion. As we are all aware, there are many different types of learners, and children remember 90% of the information that teach someone else. Therefore, by engaging in critical thinking in maths, they will essentially be “teaching” their partner why their reasoning is correct through having to “prove” it to them.

My class adored this and the intentional discussion kept them engaged in the task for much longer as they had to get their personal opinions across.

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