An experienced Primary & Secondary Maths teacher. Enjoying promoting and sharing my resources on TES. I embed problem solving, Maths Mastery and Magenta Principles into my lessons. I love fun and interactive elements which help engagement as long as challenge and assessment is built into this. Please do leave reviews if you find my resources useful. Thank you.
An experienced Primary & Secondary Maths teacher. Enjoying promoting and sharing my resources on TES. I embed problem solving, Maths Mastery and Magenta Principles into my lessons. I love fun and interactive elements which help engagement as long as challenge and assessment is built into this. Please do leave reviews if you find my resources useful. Thank you.
Collecting Like Terms Match Pairs Game. Notebook = find the matching simplified expressions by unhiding the expressions or the simplifications. Students can come out and unhide two. If they match they get another go. Good for memory as well as improving Maths skills
Algebra Match Expressions Yes No Game.pptx is a simple game where each slide shows a pair of expressions. They either match or don't. Students indicate "Yes" or "No". They seem to love this - especially if you make it so they run to the left of the room for yes or run to the right for no. To add challenge get them to indicate yes or no on their whiteboards and then justify their answer. Or show the slide and then say "Think" and only allow them to hold up a yes or no card when you say "Show". This avoids them just copying their friends.
Algebra Match Race Game is simply share out the cards and then show the slides on the PPT. There should be five cards which match each slide. First student to hand it in wins. The A4 answer sheet shows what the right answers will be. There is a matching "SuperChallenge" worksheet to use for this (with answers). This sheet is quite hard to complete.
Simplifying Algebraic Expressions35Q's.pptx is the answers for a matching worksheet.
Simplification&Expansion.PPTX is the answers for a matching worksheet. There are two versions of the WS. Original is all on one sheet of A4. The newer version has each section on a different page which is better if they are writing into their books rather than writing on the whole A4 sheet.
Quite a simple worksheet which was created to address particular misconceptions and common errors in algebraic simplifications.
Used as a starter assessment.
Enjoy
Pretty simple resource but might be just what you need... 7 questions - one per slide - involving rectangle, lengths, areas and perimeters which lend themselves to be solved using algebra. Enjoy
There is always a confusion between quadrilaterals such as Parallelograms, Squares and Rhombuses. When drawn on grid paper they can get mixed up. Hence this activity. I've collected all the resources I've used for this so there is a good mix and you will be able to use/adapt most of this for your classes. Enjoy
I've also added PDF versions of the SMART files (November 2016)
If you like this then check out my many other activities listed on my TES Resources Shop (Stewsterthebear) which includes many free and Premium resources which will save you lots of time and give you some useful ideas.
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/Stewsterthebear
If you find this resource useful then please do leave a constructive review so that others can benefit from your experience. Thank you.
Really fun lesson which the students enjoyed. Used in several different ways with different ages but the basic principle is the same...Get the the students sat in groups of two or four. Give them a set of cards with different sized angles on (between 0 and 360 degrees). Then ask them to quickly grab and show a set of cards which satisfy the criteria displayed on the PowerPoint. E.g. "Give me a Right angle crew" needs two or more angles which add up to 90 degrees. Winning tables (first or most creative) wins points.
At some point in the lesson tell them to all grab one card and then put away the rest. Then get them all up and get them to make up crews with anyone in the room. Loads of fun !!!
Note that Crews can be any size.. i.e. you can have a Crew of one angle or a Crew made up of six angles etc.
The Crew idea seemed to go down really well with the students. I also downloaded some music clips from the cartoon to add a bit more fun to the lesson.
I hand wrote the angles onto small playing card sized cards. Each table needs about 12 or so cards depending on what questions you ask. This can be adapted for simple stuff like right angle crews and straight crews or made more difficult like 360 degrees. I allowed one class to write on blank cards which added more and as a result of this I had a table who started writing negative number angles on which I thought was pretty creative.
The two worksheets can be used to back it up afterwards so that there is something in their exercise book to consolidate the ideas. They are in Word rather than PDF so you can easily adapt them for your learners.
Really good practical idea/resource to use when introducing solving linear equations. I used it after we had already done a little algebra and so this exercise was to link together the practical, the visual, the algebra and explaining in words.
Each pair has an A4 laminate of the Scales.gif and a envelope of 10 weights and about 10 gold blocks (Resources.jpeg). You'll need to print these out, laminate and cut out.
Then the TaskSheet.docx goes in to the pupil exercise books.
The students use the practical resources to come up with balancing scales and then reproduce them in their books. They then choose one to present as a poster on A4 (POSTER.docx) . I gave them all a black and white copy of the poster first and once corrected they could do again "best" on the colour copy.
After that we scanned the posters in and then choose examples to set them to the class as the starter for the next day.
This is what my written feedback said after being observed by my Head as a part of a learning walk:
"Areas of good practice:
-High quality resource which was visual and involved pupils in a practical activity
-Pupil choice
-Pupils making up their own questions
-Pupils working collaboratively
-Use of Magenta Principle CHANGE where pupils had to alter a set of variables and CONNECT where they used the information given and previous learning."
I found this resource in the cupboard but it had no instructions so I came up with this idea to use it.
This isn't my idea but I really like it. It can be used by a range of ages. You can set harder questions like "only use fractions" or "you have to use negatives". The Word doc is some sample solutions for you to get an idea from. Enjoy
This is about 12 hours of my work. I hope that you can see how it would be used in one or several of your lessons.
The main is 18 Higher Maths GCSE standard exemplar questions on solving simultaneous linear and quadratic equations. I've done the work for you by researching questions from past papers. I've then written solutions and ranked them according to difficulty. I've provided a flow chart for the students to attempt. I've indicated which questions they should all do and which questions are available for additional practice and familiarity if time allows. This illustrates "Maths Mastery" as only the questions needed are presented and it is clear what the progression is or what the "milestones" are in this topic. I think that it's a comprehensive list of the types of question needed at GCSE.
The other mastery (Plenary?) questions are of all the concepts involved. I would present as either questions on the board or as questions on individual cards for them to discuss.
The starter would probably be the linear equations domino cards. They would remind students of how to check that solutions fit and what different methods there are for solving.
The starter I wanted to create but never got around to is presenting a series of curves and lines on cards and getting the students to match up and look for the simultaneous solutions.
The top tips are an idea given by an experienced HOD who told me to make sure that the students know exactly what is needed for the examination.
The Glossary took some time to research and write. I kept adding to it throughout my preparation so I think it's pretty comprehensive.
I used a MEP CIMT resource as a basis of my preparation. Many thanks for them - the URL is given.
I never got around to making the matching PowerPoint presentation but I have given the URL of an example from TES resources which I would use as a basis for planning mine.
The graph drawings on the SMART Notebook I think could provide quite a lot of inspiration for some good starters or even further study - hence I've provided the SMART so that you can edit them.
The main assessment would be the GCSE Sample question. I recognise that I didn't create the question however I have provided the written exemplar solution for you.
I prepared this ready for a GCSE Y10 Interview lesson which I withdrew from a couple of days before the interview. Hence the bulk of the work has been done but it's not complete and needs a little bit more input. The lesson plan suits my style of teaching but it isn't finished. Any questions about this then please make contact.
This was used for a Y7 interview lesson, but could easily be adapted for any age probably between Y5 to Y10 depending on ability.
It is rich in discussion, engagement and activity so ticks a lot of boxes.
The lesson plan includes a full commentary on what is going on so you will be able to show what you were trying to achieve. It also lists a number of ideas to use next lesson to show that you have thought about "where next".
It is full of many activities - more than you could possibly achieve in a lesson - so it is pretty comprehensive.
I last used it two years ago and have since learnt a lot more about Maths Mastery, lesson planning, engagement and challenge, etc and as yet haven't updated this resource to accommodate these improvements. So it is up to you to pick and choose the bits you want to use. However, the basic change I would make if I used this now would be to reduce it down to one starter, one main and one plenary and then focus more on achieving a more specific learning objective and then assessing progress on this. So I wouldn't actually change the bits I would use now - just cut out many of the other bits. In other words by buying this you are getting a superb bundle of resources.
Use the lesson PowerPoint to prompt you for the order for the lesson. Most of the activities mentioned in the lesson plan and PowerPoint are included - (I couldn't locate them all). The runaround activity mentioned but not completely there is simply place the names of the 10 quadrilaterals around the room. The students are then given lots of property cards and have to go around the room putting the cards with the right quadrilaterals. This does work very well.
All of this does represent a huge amount of work. Some of the resources ideas are adapted from the Web but all have been improved to make more effective in my style of lesson. There is also a link to a very good song on YouTube which the children love.
This got me the job I went for two years ago. I'm sure it could do the same for you too! :)
The brief was "Teach 'Best Value for Money' at GCSE Foundation level to a Year 10 class of 25 students with 2 EAL students.
The main part of the lesson is the students completing 14 questions on Best Value. The questions have been very carefully selected to increase in difficulty. Everything else works around that. Some of the questions came from the Web, some from examination practice paper software and some I made up.
The Misleading Prices starter presents supermarket price labels with unusual offers on which prompts an interest at the start and provides some good starting discussion.
The Baked Beans plenary was made more visual by me having the actual tins in those sizes for the student to look at and pass around.
You need to read the lesson plan first and you'll see how it all fits together. It was used for a one hour lesson where I tried to exemplify everything I could about my style of teaching and my knowledge of how to show progress in a lesson.
The lesson plan had been scrutinized by a Maths HOD, a SENCO and a Headteacher who had given input for me to improve it before hand. It was designed to have minimal teacher talk and lots of the students working.
The lesson plan details all the prior knowledge needed and then everything I could think of to use in the next few lessons so it is a complete module of work for Best Value.
In hindsight after the event:
I should have had more picture questions prepared for the EAL students.
There should had been more teaching of the different methods at the start
This resource represents a huge investment of my time as I had a week to prepare and improve on it. You are getting an outstanding lesson resource which although you will need to adapt to your own lesson style I think you will have to do little to modify the resources as all the ideas are there. It is pretty comprehensive.
Currently we are all about achieving mastery in Maths at our school. An INSET course gave me some descriptors for the different levels. A moment of enlightenment :) gave me the idea of using Po the Kung Fu Panda as the ideal character as he is on his way to achieving Mastery like Grand Master Oogway.
The Grade descriptors PPT give a poster to display for learners to understand where they are going. (The SMART notebook is just the creation file for the image in case you wish to change it slightly).
I've used the SkiRoute differentiation for some time. The idea is that you grade questions or tasks in difficulty and then you either tell your learners which level to choose or allow them to choose themselves. They obviously aspire to be able to do the black route hardest questions and it gives them a sense of achievement when they can.
Another idea I've been using is asking them to write their own questions which can be then used to give to the rest of the class. This seems to work quite well as an end of lesson plenary as it can give a really good indication of what level they are confident at. It also gives you a great opportunity to write a positive comment and then an action task challenge for the learner to respond to at the start of the next lesson. See attached sticker example.
This is an absolutely quality resource which I'm really chuffed with. It totally ticks loads of boxes for what is expected in our lessons - group work, discussion, mastery, self choice, differentiated, etc.
It uses elements of Connect, Arrange, Classify, Reduce and Act it Out of the Magenta Principles.
Here are 21 statements about Pythagoras which are either TRUE, FALSE or SOMETIMES TRUE .
They are appropriate for any students who have learnt how to do long side, then short side questions and mixed combination two-step questions.
The activity is designed to be a MATHS MASTERY activity where they consolidate their learning and prove that they understand and can explain their understanding.
The statements are graded in difficulty using "SkiRouteCodes" from Green, Blue, Red and Black. Students can choose which grade question to answer themselves or you could suggest their choices. The grades are slightly subjective (I wrote 21 out questions and then tried to sort them into the four grades). I have written a set of suggested solutions. Do let me know if I have made any errors with these.
You will note that I set work out to print onto label stickers. This saves the students time and helps keep the exercise books tidier. There is a header label, then the questions on labels and a set of solutions. I've also included the SkiRoute choices labels. There is also another copy of the Questions not on stickers to make it easier for you to adapt them.
I have also added in a copy of the questions ready for printing onto card and cutting up. You would then give the whole set out to a small group who would use the TRUEFALSEHEADER to catagorise all the cards.
One of the Magenta Principles is to reduce so there is an activity to reduce the pythag definition to as few words as possible.
Another one of the Magenta Principles is to "Act it Out" so you will find a task sticker for that along with a Storyboard template.
To show "Maths Mastery" students need to be able to explain what they do. The last three resources are a series of questions on sticky labels. Students can choose (self-differentiate) which questions to answer. The LO label is also there to go above the sticker. A set of the questions just as a worksheet is also included. No answers are included as it's difficult to write solutions for these. I would normally set these as the last activity of the lesson and then I would mark them after the lesson. Next lesson they could then start with responding to what improvement feedback I gave them.
The True False cards also have a PowerPoint presentation which is good to display and discuss each one in turn with the group.
Bumper pack of 11 resources for teaching Circles, Circle terms, the definition of a circle and then investigating to find PI and then understanding PI:
Can you define what a circle is activity sticker
Sheet of pictures of circles - PowerPoint slide and sticker of instructions to accompany
Investigation to find PI from Circumference and diameter, Excel spreadsheet to work out who's most accurate, follow up task sheet on discussing accuracy
Set of question cards to discuss understanding of PI, C and d
A wordsearch of circle terms, HW version of word search with additional task
A series of activities to consolidate (Master!) understanding of how to work out the circumference of a circle given the radius or diameter. It is designed to be used after we've investigated how PI comes from C / d and we've introduced the idea of C = PI x d.
There are three sets of cards which are ready to be printed out on different coloured card. Each card activity has a matching work sheet done as a sticker so that there is a record of the activity in the pupils exercise book.
Each activity card set is designed to be given to be a mixed ability table of four pupils. They discuss and (hopefully!) develop their understanding!
Card set 1 is given out as 20 cards where the pupils "Diamond Nine" (or any other valuing/ranking/ordering layout) the cards discussing which are the most useful facts for finding the circumference. There are few wrong answers as most of the points are right for most questions. The sticker backs this up into the books.
Card Set 2 is given out as 16 cards where the pupils again rank which are the most important to remember when doing their working. Again they all are correct so it's a discussion and learning activity. The sticker is then just a check list to go in their books. I will always ask them to use a highlighter pen to indicate the key phrases etc.
Card Set 3 is given out as a set of 9 cards. (Print out one card as an answer sheet for you) and the pupils simply have to put the cards in order. The sticker then requires them to back it up in to their books.
This activity uses some of the ideas which our school has been made aware of in recent courses - a) Magenta Principles by Mike Hughes and b) Achieving Mastery in Mathematics.
Simple PowerPoint (with 50 slides) asking whether numbers are divisible by three or not. Each time annimation then says "Yes" or "No".
Use it after teaching it as a plenary or as a discussion as a starter.
Pupils can write their answers (and then show the correction) on individual pupil whiteboards - either on own, in pairs or in tables of four.
Pupils can use red, green, yellow (for don't know) cards to show their answer. For extra fun you can have them point "Usain Bolt Style" to the left or right of the room for their answer. For complete chaos you can have them run to the left of the right of the classroom for yes or no.
The important thing is to get pupils to explain their answers to help everyone's understanding.
You can quite easily and quickly add many more questions by simply duplicating a yes or no slide and adding in your changes.
I would usually back this exercise up with a worksheet or textbook exercise which they can do independently afterwards.
You can extend this by getting the pupils to make up their own slides (on their whiteboards) to test other pupils.
Worksheet with about 40 questions on whether numbers are divisible by three or not
Answer sheet included
Instead of them writign on the worksheet you could get them to write questions in their books.
I've included a copy of the top of the WS on a template for 2 x 4 labels - Pupils stick one of these in instead of copying out the top of the workheet. They then attempt as many questions as they can from the worksheet in the time you give them. Advantage of this is that you don't end up with half finshed exercise sheets glued in their books.
Print this out onto A4 cards. Give two cards to each table (choose size of number according to ability). Ask them to come up with reasons how we know that they are all divisible by three.
Hopefully they will get that it is the sum of digits which are multiples of three.
Show the PowerPoint to recap.
Back up with other exercises to reinforce this. Then evaluate/consolidate their knowledge by showing them new numbers and asking whether they are divisible by three or not.