Having been over a load of exam papers recently I decided to put together some statements regarding number (odd, even, primes), use of the identity sign, graphs, ratio; there are seven slides in total (plus answers) with increasingly difficult statements to cater for a whole class. The idea is to generate discussion and mathematical thinking, probably at the start of a lesson but use it when you like (if at all).

This does what it says on the tin, nothing fancy. Reveal the joke, which is so bad it’s good…

This is purely aimed at Further Maths Level 2 where functions have three distinct parts. The joke is not my best to be honest, but I had to get one that was the right length!

This worksheet deals with symmetry of quadratics, where a quadratic function intersects with the y-axis and turning points/vertices of quadratics. It is aimed at Further Maths Level 2 students but could be used at the top level of GCSE as well.

This is aimed at AQA Further Maths Level 2 students but could be used in early A level lessons as something a bit different. Answer the questions, reveal the joke.

This is designed to be non-calculator and was written with the AQA Further Maths Level 2 Certificate in mind, but could also be used for GCSE. It involves simplifying, expanding brackets and rationalising the denominator. The punchline is revealed upon answering all the questions.

I had to design something for some visiting Year 6 students so came up with this for a lesson. It is basically how to convert from binary to decimal numbers and vice versa. There is a presentation, a matching activity and a codebreaker to do. Animations sorted (I hope).

Answer the questions, link to the letters in the table and then laugh at the “hilarious” joke… you probably know how these work now. This one is on the product rule for counting (doing what it says on the tin).

I needed something to go through substitution in a practical sense with students who lack confidence with algebra generally. I cam up with this which is not perfect but gets the baby bathed as it were. It aims to build up in difficulty using taxi fares and then bespoke furniture making and should allow students to gain confidence with substitution.

I got shown this by a colleague so thought I would PowerPoint it; there are essentially a few versions of the same thing: Minimally labelled etc - for a strong set of mathematicians All angles marked The side or angle you need to find next is highlighted I will use this to introduce the addition formulae. There may well be other/better versions out there so I am sorry if I have wasted your time.

The “Card Sort” sheet is actually the answers, but I have produced a worksheet version if you aren’t keen on the faff of cutting and sticking. I’ve included the sketches in case you want to change anything.

Five pairs of graphs; students need to calculate where intersections with each other and axes are. I have produced a PowerPoint so the graphs can be displayed, but if you want a worksheet there is one of those too. The worksheet asks for turning points on the final set of graphs.

State which points (lettered) are invariant in each transformation and reorder the letters to find the punchline to a cheesy joke.

Four shapes on a coordinate grid each. Describe the transformation given the description of where the points have moved and which points are invariant.

Ten questions of increasing difficulty (you can choose which you tackle) where four potential answers are given; one answer is correct (your class can find this) and three answers are incorrect and your class needs to work out how they got it incorrect. Ideal for mathematical discussions. This involves simplifying, rationalising and expanding brackets.

Ten questions of increasing difficulty where four potential answers are given, but only one is correct. These are designed to encourage mathematical discussion in your classroom, where the incorrect answers are the focus of the discussion. These go from describing single transformations through to mapping coordinates to trigonometric functions but it is designed for GCSE or Further Maths Level 2 Certificate.

Ten questions of increasing difficulty; four answers given but only one is correct. Can your classes decide who is correct and where those who aren’t correct have got their answers from? This is designed to create discussion over vector problems (and have worked in my classroom). Arrow changed in Q1!

Ten questions of increasing difficulty on sets and Venn diagrams; four possible answers are given for each of which three have common misconceptions that can be discussed in class. These are designed to encourage discussion.

Six questiopns where students are given the answer but have to show the workings. There are two “challenge” questions but this is designed to force students to explain what they are doing mathematically.

Ten questions of increasing difficulty (you can choose which you do); four hypothetical students have had a go and one has got the answer correct with the other three making common errors. Not only should your class work out who got it correct but as an extension/part of the activity they could work out the misconception for the wrong answers. This involves lines, polygons, quadrilaterals, circle theorems and bearings.