Category: Maths Resources

Year 2: estimating on a number line 0-10

By year 2 children will be beginning to understand the vocabulary of estimating, which includes other terms such as roughly, guess how many, about the same as, nearly, close to etc.

This worksheet looks  at estimating a whole number on a number line from 0 to 10. Probably the best technique to use is to try and estimate the middle of the line, which will be 5 and then work either from 0 to 5 or 5 to 10. This is not as easy as it might appear, but after a few goes it does become much less tricky.

One use for this type of activity will come later when children need to interpret graphs where the numbers on the axes go up in fours, fives or tens and intermediate numbers need to be found.

Estimating on a number line (2)

Resource of the Week: year 4 multiplication and addition

This week we are highlighting an important part of year 4 maths which looks at the order of operations.

The rule is that multiplication should be worked out before the addition and in most of these questions that is fairly straightforward. However the questions towards the end are quite tricky.

Let’s look at 70 + ?? x 4 = 150

The best way to go about this is to go in reverse order; subtract 70 from 150 which leaves 80.

Then work out what number multiplied by 4 makes 80, which is 20.

Therefore the missing number is 20.

It is best to check this by going back to the original question; multiply 20 by 4 = 80 and then add 80 and 70 = 150, making the statement true.

Many children will find these very difficult to work out as they require several steps.

Multiplication with addition_(3)

Year 6: solve problems involving money

By year 6 children should be able to read and understand problems written in prose that include some elements of real life involving money.

They should be able to read the problem, understand the situation described, be able to see what processes are needed to solve it and then lay out working and answers clearly.

Children do find word problems far harder than just being given a ‘sum’ to do and it is important to discuss with them the best way to lay out any working.

One or two of these questions could be done mentally, but most need more than one process to reach the answer. All involve money and are an excellent way of working with two places after the decimal point.

Solve word problems involving money

Key Stage 2 SAT questions on time

Time questions are very popular with the SAT test writers and this page shows some typical examples, using tables and charts.

Children often get confused by questions which say that an event was earlier or later when looking at a calendar. If it was earlier then the number of days have to be subracted. On a calendar moving up one position will subtract 7 days – useful when counting back.

Many more time questions can be found in the year 6 category, under Key Stage 2 Maths SAT Practice.
KS2 SAT maths worksheet: Time (p 4)

Year 1 maths worksheet: solve simple word problems

One of the targets for Year 1 children is to solve simple word problems. Of course this can be very tricky for children who have yet to develop sufficient reading skills to work out what questions are being asked! Because of this many children will need help with either reading the questions of having the questions read to them.

This page also gives visual clues and again, practical apparatus such as real sweets or socks can be a great help before moving on to just having the written question.

Addition and subtraction are the two operations used here.

Solve simple word problems

Dividing by 3 table

In recent years there has been a call for children to not only learn the times tables but also the equivalent division tables. Of course this is the inverse of the 3x table and for children who know this there should not be much of a problem learning this. There are advantages to be had as it can lead to quicker mental arithmetic when carrying out written long and short division. So, here have have a quick look at learning facts connected to dividing by three and an exercise putting this knowledge into practice.

Divide by 3 table

Year 5 addition of three 2-digit numbers

Here is a practice page of adding three 2-digit numbers mentally. This is a really good test of how well children can use their skills and knowledge as there are several different approaches/techniques that can be used.

These skills  include:

1. Because addition can be done in any order it is often easier to start with the largest number.

2. Knowing pairs of teen numbers (e.g. knowing 17 + 17 is 34) will help with a question such as 17 + 15 + 17.

3. Looking for pairs that make a multiple of 10: (e.g. 17 + 13 = 30)

4. Adding the tens before the units and then counting on.

This page can be found in our Year 5 category but there are also a great collection in our Four Rules category.

Add 3 2-digit numbers practice

Understanding multiplication in year 1

At one time multiplication was not really introduced until year 2, but recent curriculum planning has included understanding multiplication into year 1, so here is a couple of pages to try to help with this.

At first multiplication can be seen as repeated addition so that:

2 added together 3 times is 2 + 2 + 2, or 3 lots of 2, or 3 times 2, or 3 x 2 (or 2 x 3).

The multiplication sign needs to be introduced, including using the words ‘times’, ‘multiply’ and ‘lots of’.

The second of the pages is quite a bit harder as there are no illustrations and various parts of the number sentences are missing. it would be a good idea to ‘talk through’ each number sentence, saying them out loud.

Understand the multiplication sign

Patterns and problems in Year 4

There are many different ways of presenting number problems to children, other than just the traditional ‘sums’ style approach. This page shows three very different approaches to questions that many children will find quite hard.

The first is in the style of a function machine, i.e. a number is put into the machine, various operations are carried out and a number will come out at the end. For this function machine the operations are: x 4 and + 6. The hardest part of this is the last question where the output is given and the input has to be worked out and the machine can be reversed by subtracting 6 and dividing by 4 to get the answer, although many children will use trial and error/improvement methods.

The number sentences in the second question are quite straightforward apart from the fact that both tens and units digits are missing. it is easiest to take one part at a time e.g. find the missing unit and then the missing ten. Watch out for the subtraction!

By year 5 children should be used to magic squares and not find this too tricky, especially with the clue to help.

This page can be found in our year 4, Using and Applying Maths category.

Patterns and problems

Short multiplication by 2, 5 and 10.

When children are learning the standard methods of multiplication they need plenty of practice. With multiplication there are two distinct methods, the long and the short! Most schools tend to teach the long method first as it is clearer to show exactly what is happening, but it is also important for children to learn the short method, as we are looking to achieve fast accurate calculating.

This page keeps it simple by just multiplying by 2, 5 and 10; three tables that children should know ‘off by heart’.The questions have been laid out in the correct way so all that has to be done is:

a. Firstly to multiply by the units, remembering to carry any tens across to the tens column. These are usually placed under the answer.

b. Secondly multiply the tens remembering to carry any hundreds across to the hundreds column

c. Finally multiply the hundreds and write in the answer, including any thousands.

Short multiplication by 2, 5 and 10