September, 2009 | Maths Blog

Resource of the Week: short multiplication worksheets

‘Short’ multiplication, as it is known, means to use pencil and paper methods to multiply a 2-digit (or more) number by a one digit number in a vertical way.

In English schools children have plenty of experience building up to this method, in the hope that they understand what is going on. Unfortunately they are sometimes taught so many methods that they get totally confused.

These pages show simply, step by step how to carry out the method on paper, but a good knowledge of ‘times tables’ is needed.

Go to our resources on short multiplication.

Maths Worksheet: Use the Subtraction Sign (Year 1)

This worksheet can be used as a check to see how well your child has learned their subtraction facts. There are several ways that this page could be tackled, depending on the confidence and knowledge of the child. Some children may want to use the number line to count back, others might prefer to use their fingers. What we are really hoping for, however, is that some of these facts have been committed to memory: the calculation does not have to be worked out by counting back, rather the fact is already known. Those children who know their number facts will complete this page much more quickly than those who don’t.

Use the subtraction sign (pg2)

Written subtraction with zeros

One of the hardest ideas to get across to children is when they are carrying out a subtraction which requires adjusting across two columns. This only happens when there is a zero involved.

For example:

703

286 –

3 – 6 does not give a positive answer so an adjustment to the top number needs to be made. A ten can not be borrowed as there are none.

The procedure then is to borrow from the hundreds, move to the tens and then move again to the units. Often children will borrow from the hundreds, ignore the zero in the tens and move straight to the units. They cross out the 7 and make it 6 and make the 3 into 13.

This does not work as it has been 100 borrowed, not 10. Extra steps need to be taken by making the tens column 10 and then taking one ten, making this 9, and adjusting to the units.

Some children will see a quicker way ie of making the 70 one less (69) and adjusting to the units.

More explanation is available on the worksheet.

Standard subtraction with zeros in the tens (pg 1)

Top maths sites: Numicon Maths resources

Numicon uses a very different approach from most maths programmes in that they use shapes to represent numbers. In this way children, through physically handling a shape, gain a mental image of a number and then cease to rely on the ‘concrete’ shape. The shapes are colourful, pleasing to handle and very robust – ideal for the Reception classroom. They also have a Home Kit to help with numbers from one to ten which includes a number book and CD of songs.

Originally designed for children in Early Years it is now used extensively by many teachers in Key Stage 2 as it can be used for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division as well as other arithmetic operations.

To get the best use of the resources there are a number of videos available on the site which are well worth looking at, as this approach breaks the restrictive trends of the Numeracy Strategy; always a good thing!

They also have a number of free resources for primary children (aged 5 – 11) to put on the wall at home at:

http://www.numicon.com/display_resources.html

If you are looking for a different approach to maths or have a child who is really struggling with understanding number then I would certainly recommend this site.

Numicon

Coming soon: easy and hard subtraction and more pictograms

Next week we have a worksheet for those just beginning to subtract mentally as well as a page on the standard written method of subtraction for older children.

The Year 1 maths worksheet can be used as a check to see how well your child has learned their subtraction facts. There are several ways that this page could be tackled, depending on the confidence and knowledge of the child as it uses the subtraction sign with small numbers. Some children may want to use the number line to count back, others might prefer to use their fingers.

However, before this we will be posting a worksheet on subtraction where there are zeros to take from! One of the hardest ideas to get across to children is when they are carrying out a subtraction which requires adjusting across two columns. This only happens when there is a zero involved.

We also have another in our series of data handling worksheets for year 4, again interpreting pictograms. Each bird on the pictogram represents 5 birds. This page is a starter to show children how to complete and interpret a pictogram so that they can go on to create their own.

Data handling for Year 4: tally charts (2)

Here is another in our series of maths worksheets on data handling, most suited to year 4 children. The ability to count up in fives is important for using tally charts effectively and whilst the majority of the page is to do with interpreting results from a chart, probably it is more important that children have a go at making their own tally charts and drawing some conclusions from them.

Favourite pets/foods/colours/games etc are all good subjects for a survey; it is also a good idea to make a hypothesis at the beginning eg ‘I think blue is boys’ favourite colour’…

Tally chart: favourite name for hamster

Resource of the Week: Year 6 maths booster pages.

Resource of the Week: Year 6 booster pages.

It’s the start of a new term for most children, and in year 6 many will already be practising various SAT test papers. We have a good range of pages to help with this.

An old favourite with the SATs question writers is reflective symmetry. During the test children are given tracing paper or a small mirror. If using the mirror they need to line it up along the dotted line and draw the reflection. If the shape is drawn on squared paper it can be easier to draw it by hand taking each square in turn.

Being able to read information from a calendar may seem pretty straightforward to us, but many children do not come across these in their everyday life and hence have problems working out how to extract the information.

The questions here are aimed at boosting a level 3 towards a level 4. For those children aiming at a Level 5 care must be taken to read the tables and charts accurately as they are a good way to pick up easy marks.

Why not take a look at our booster pages now?

Maths Worksheet: Count on Whole Hundreds

This worksheet is very similar to the year 4 ‘count on in tens’, but this time it is counting on in whole hundreds. When working these out the tens and units can be ignored as they do not change – just add up the hundreds and write them down with the tens and units.

Most of these questions cross the thousands boundary and provide good practice at reading larger numbers.

Count on whole hundreds (pg 1)

Year 3 Maths worksheet: Money problems 3

The third of our money problems worksheets is a little harder than the first two. It involves adding pounds and pence. When working mentally it is usual to add the pounds first and then the pence, which, of course, is the opposite of the way we do a question on paper.

Some of these questions involve more than one stage and it might well be a good idea to jot down intermediate answers. For example, when working out the cost of 3 items jot down the answer to the cost of the first two before adding the third. This also makes it easier when checking that answers are correct.

Money: Shopping for burgers (pg 1)

Coming soon: mental addition of money, data handling and counting on in whole hundreds

There’s a variety of maths worksheets coming next week, including mental addition with money, counting on and data handling.

The addition of money worksheet involves adding pounds and pence mentally. When working mentally it is usual to add the pounds first and then the pence, which, of course, is the opposite of the way we do a question on paper.

The counting on worksheet is very similar to the year 4 ‘count on in tens’, but this time it is counting on in whole hundreds, again suitable for Year 4. Most of these questions cross the thousands boundary and provide good practice at reading larger numbers.

We will also be having another worksheet which uses tally charts, both interpreting them and providing ideas for children to use their own tally charts.