One aim of the national curriculum states that pupils should be able to reason mathematically. As teachers, we may nod our heads in agreement as we attend training regarding making our pupils reason (rather than just follow rules or complete repetitive exercises) when teaching maths, but it takes time to create those resources, and time is in short supply! These games involve reasoning because pupils have to decide where to place the digit they have rolled to increase their chances of winning. Each slide contains notes and it is best if these are read before working with the slides. It also worth stepping through the slides before using them since there are lots of opportunities for pupils to contribute their thoughts and answers before showing these on the slides.

When marking maths assessments, it can be very frustrating when pupils get the answer wrong when we know that they understand how to carry out a particular calculation, but a careless error has been overlooked since they have become blasé and are not asking themselves, ‘Is this answer reasonable?’ For this reason, it is useful to spend time looking at questions and answers and giving the pupils the task of explaining why particular answers cannot be correct, without carrying out the actual calculation.

Get into the festive spirit while providing your students with the opportunity to apply reasoning to maths tasks in the days leading up to Christmas. They can be used at the start of each day, or when there is a convenient slot. Alternatively, they can be incorporated into the daily maths lesson. Paired work is encouraged since the discussions that result when working together help to clarify students’ thoughts and ideas. Each slide contains notes that give advice on how to use the activities, what to look out for, and answers where applicable. This presentation includes twenty-four activities that include games and problems such as figuring out the best deal when shopping for presents, comparing the heights of huge Christmas trees in cities around the world, making geometric tree decorations and helping Santa to figure out the mixed-up numbering in some roads so that he can deliver presents. This set of activities is suitable for 7 to 9 year olds.

Get into the festive spirit while providing your students with the opportunity to apply reasoning to maths tasks in the days leading up to Christmas. They can be used at the start of each day, or when there is a convenient slot. Alternatively, they can be incorporated into the daily maths lesson. Paired work is encouraged since the discussions that result when working together help to clarify students’ thoughts and ideas. Each slide contains notes that give advice on how to use the activities, what to look out for, answers and printables where applicable. This presentation includes twenty-four activities that include games and problems such as comparing pupil feet lengths to reindeer lengths, sharing out buttons when building snowmen, making geometric tree decorations and how to collect and show data on favourite reindeer names. This set of activities is suitable for 5 to 7 year olds.

Get into the festive spirit while providing your students with the opportunity to apply reasoning to maths tasks in the days leading up to Christmas. They can be used at the start of each day, or when there is a convenient slot. Alternatively, they can be incorporated into the daily maths lesson. Paired work is encouraged since the discussions that result when working together help to clarify students’ thoughts and ideas. Each slide contains notes that give advice on how to use the activities, what to look out for, and answers where applicable. This presentation includes twenty-four activities that include games and problems such as comparing pupil heights to reindeer lengths, the speed that Santa travels, party planning and which table to sit at in order to get the most chocolate. This set of activities is suitable for 9 to 11 year olds.

The SATs arithmetic paper presents 36 questions to be completed in 30 minutes. Pupils therefore need to work efficiently and confidently. This PowerPoint focuses on working efficiently. 45 interactive slides each containing 4 cards that are flipped to reveal a calculation. Printables and answers are included to minimise preparation time. Each slide has accompanying notes to assist busy teachers with suggested methods for each calculation.  Using standard algorithms isn’t always the most efficient way to calculate an answer. The mark scheme does not require a particular method for any question but for those involving long multiplication and long/short division, an error in the answer can be awarded one mark if there is only one error and pupils have used the formal algorithm. Allowing pupils to discuss their methods reminds pupils about the most efficient ways to calculate different questions. Although pupils don’t always need to use formal algorithms that doesn’t mean that they need to calculate everything in their heads; informal jottings and the use of a number line can be very helpful for pupils. When working with larger numbers, it can be more efficient to use the standard algorithms. However, whichever method pupils use, it is worth getting them used to using an estimate to check their answer against.