What do we do?
We love maths! Sometimes it is easy and sometimes challenging. We use a variety of methods to teach maths concepts: games, textbooks, ICT and challenges and then we apply our skills which makes maths relevant and fun. The children like learning outdoors and also the weekly ‘Big Maths Beat That!’ challenge which keeps them on their toes when recalling mental maths facts. The children are gaining a knowledge of different ways of working with numbers and are making choices as to which ways suit them and which methods are relevant to different situations.
Examples
We used 3 different techniques for estimating the height of a tree, then we felled it and actually measured it. We were able to evaluate which method worked best for us. We also measured the girth of the tree and calculated the age of it using rounding and division. Once it was felled we checked our answer by counting the growth rings. We learnt about fractions by making our own fraction sticks. It was a challenge because you had to cut the sticks to the right lengths. We have conducted a survey to see what sort of activities our community would like to have at school. We graphed the results to also determine which day was the most popular choice.
Why do we do it? What is the impact?
Applying maths skills is an important life skill. We try to use maths in real situations so the children can gain knowledge and skills to function confidently in society. Areas such as measure, time and money are key to an independent life.
What would we like to do next?
Continue to develop new contexts in which to apply our knowledge and skills, both indoors and outdoors eg. Enterprise project, bird surveys.
Investigate the further use of ICT to enhance our teaching and learning.