A comprehensive guide for parents and teachers to PRACTICAL activities, conversations, chants and games to help young children (ages 5-9) master the early concepts in fractions and decimals. Children often have difficulty understanding fractions and decimals. The approach I have developed, using counters and metre sticks, is great for making it all make sense! I've divided the guide up by age and stage with an A4 page on each concept which you can print for reference in the classroom and also send home for parents to refer to. There are also links to my tablet materials in Wise Owl Maths which can be used for extra consolidation. These are offline currently, but I hope to have them back up and running before too long. The guide is in two parts. This is Part 1. Part 2 is still being written! Part 1 covers Step 1: - Halves - Halving and Doubling - Splitting into Equal Groups Step 2 (includes 4 pupil sheets): - Count, Speak, Write & Draw Halves - Quarters and Quartering - Count, Speak, Write and Draw Quarters - Count, Speak and Write other Fractions - Counting Caterpillar and Tap Say Turn Step 3: - Halves of Metres and Mixed Numbers - Numerator and Denominator - Quarters of Metres and Improper Fractions - Quadruple and Quarter Numbers; Factors Step 4; - Single Place Decimals - Tenths and Halves - Decimals & Equivalences - Tenths and Fifths - Fractions of 12 and 20 - Unit Fractions using Tables - Fifths and Tenths using Tables - Something out of Something as a Fraction - Halves and Quarters with Remainders Let me know if you find this guide useful and it will motivate me to press on with writing Part 2! Enjoy! Rob

An engaging whole-class dialogue for pupils aged 6-7, exploring what happens when you start counting in 10s and keep going! The (apparently simple!) objective is to work out how many fingers there are in the class altogether but it provides fabulous opportunities for discussion about different ways of counting, and what happens if you try to count in tens beyond 100. Just gather the children round in a circle and then pose the question: How many fingers do we have here? Then they are off! Someone will no doubt say 'ten' not realising that the question refers to the whole group. But when you point out that you have 10 and Sarah has 10 and Jamie has 10... then it gets exciting! Using teacher-led dialogue, you can lead them to counting in 10s, explore what happens when you get to 100, and explore patterns using a table. If they are really going strong you can investigate toes as well! Great fun!

This is my most-used resource. We have it going across our school of 1000 pupils from Primary 2 to Primary 7 because it really works! It doesn't just get the children to PRACTISE their tables, it actually helps them LEARN them! Our parents love it too. Simple, but VERY effective. It's a practical activity which the children do independently, each working at their own level. All they need is a printed caterpillar sheet and a set of 11 counters, which we get them to keep in a plastic wallet. When they master a table they first assess themselves, then get a friend to assess them and finally ask the teacher to test them. There is an individual record card where they can keep track of their progress. We use this game together with Tap, Say, Turn (which I have also put on TES resources). The Caterpillar teaches the pupils to count the stations. Tap Say Turn helps them to memorise the facts. I've included detailed notes for teachers and a short explanation for parents. Do read them carefully. You have to teach the children to follow the rules EXACTLY or the game will not be properly effective. When we introduce it to a new class, we get everyone doing it together to begin with so we can make sure they have all learned it correctly. Once everyone has got it, we get them doing it at home too!

We use this game across our whole school of 1000 pupils from Primary 2 to Primary 7 because it really works. It is a simple card game, with a very particular set of rules, which help the children build their learning step by step. We are even adapting it for French and Spanish vocabulary! We use it along with the Counting Caterpillar (also on TES). The Caterpillar helps children to master the stations of each table so when they come to the memorising stage, half the learning is already secure. Each child has a record card where they can keep track of their learning - first self assessment, then peer, then teacher! I encourage my colleagues to teach both games to the whole class to start with so they can be sure all the children have fully understood the rules of the game, which need to follow EXACTLY if it is to work properly! Once the pupils are clear on the rules, they can be let loose on different tables according to their own level and work on them both in school at home. Full differentiation! We find that little and often is the key. It is also a great quiet lesson starter if you want to get all the children settled before you start the teaching part. PS If you use these, please let me know. I always welcome feedback. :-)

A wide-ranging PRACTICAL investigation for Upper Primary pupils. Full notes for teachers, plus a variety of copymasters for pupils which can be used selectively depending on how the investigation develops: Learning Intentions: - to make intelligent estimates and improve on them through trial and improvement - to understand the inverse relationship of multiplication and division - to interpret remainders in division - to round calculator answers to an appropriate degree of accuracy - to find fractions of a quantity. Great fun! Be prepared for lots of enthusiasm!