Year 1 maths worksheet: numbers in order

order numbersI have just published a new worksheet on writing small numbers in order, for year 1 although suitable for younger children if ready. There is more than one possible answer on most of these which makes it a little trickier.
Many children learn to recite the numbers 1 to 10 without having any concept of what each number means so it is very important to show these numbers using practical ‘hands on’ equipment such as cubes, counters etc. and to understand one-to-one correspondence. To begin with some children will need to count up in ones from 1 to find each answer

There are also many activities which can help, such as tracing numbers in sand, tracing over numbers or using number cards to rearrange a small set of numbers in order.

Order numbers

new statutory requirements for maths

boy22We seem to be sliding back into a bygone age with Mr Gove’s latest maths education proposals. Firstly we have ‘new’ terms for subject areas. Shape has become Geometry, even for year 1 and Handling Data has become Statistics. Tables have to be learned up to 12 x 12, although I thought we had got rid of 12 pennies in a shilling some little time ago. Of course Roman numerals now play an important part, both in Number and Time and the term ‘Roman numeral’ is stated in the Statutory requirements approximately the same number of times as the term ‘decimal’. Generally targets have become harder.
The whole premise seems to be that by making the subject harder for young children it will raise standards.  Naturally, some more formal testing will also be brought in to make sure everyone knows who the failures are at the age of 5. All this to make sure that we can compete with children from our more successful European rivals, many of whom don’t start school until they are 7.
Oh well. Let’s all enjoy this lovely summer! I will be looking at these new requirements in more detail in the autumn, but as a document it is a very poor relation indeed to the original Primary Framework of 1999. Dull, lifeless and uninspiring and just three terms which come to mind.

Place value to millions

place value millionsMany children find reading large numbers very difficult, as indeed do many adults. This is a very simple page which looks at reading larger numbers up to millions. If nothing else it should help children realise that they need to start with hundreds tens and units and the the next three columns are then repeated but in thousands. A common error is to start trying to read a very large number from the largest digit when this can often just be a guess.

Working in blocks of three:

123 456 789

789 hundreds tens units

456 hundreds tens units of thousands

123 hundreds tens units of millions

so the number is 123 million 456 thousand and 789.

Easy!

Place value: millions

Revising times tables in Year 4

What have we got today? It’s the second in our multiplying by 3, 4, 6, 8 and 10 worksheets, suitable for year 4 children or those who are beginning to know their tables.

The best way to learn tables is to recite them out loud eg ‘4 times 3 is 12, then shorten it to,  ‘4 3s are 12’, with the ultimate aim of being able to say the product for any two single digits without having to work it out.

During the process of learning times tables plenty of practice is needed and how well they have been learned can be seen by how quickly the page is correctly answered.

Multiplication 3x 4x 6x 8x 10_(pg 2)

Year 3 money problems: packed lunch

packed lunchBy year 3 children will be well acquainted with the pound and pence signs and should know that there are 100 pence in a pound. They should also be familiar with the way that we show money in pounds e.g. £2.34 where the decimal point separates whole pounds from pence and that the digits in first column after the pound sign represent 10ps and the second digit represents single pence.

This worksheet looks at some simple addition of money using both pounds and pence and involves working out answers using more than one operation or process; this always makes it harder.

Buying a packed lunch

Year 2: Time. What can you do in one minute?

one_minute

Getting a clear concept of amount of time is important for young children. This page challenges children to complete a number of tasks in one minute, such as how tall a tower can be built using blocks/lego etc.

An important part of this is to make sure that they make an estimate/guess before starting which shows how realistic they are about time. One minute is a short time, but it is surprising how much can be achived in just 60 seconds!

This resource can be found in our Year 2 measurement section.

One minute

Days, months and years

days months yearsAs children progress through year 3 and into year 4 it is expected that they get to know and number of facts to do with measuring time, other than just reading the time on a clock face. These facts include knowing that:

1 year = 365 days or 52 weeks or 12 months

1 week = 7 days

1 day = 24 hours

1 hour = 60 minutes

1 minute = 60 seconds

hey should also be able to use a calendar and write the date correctly.

This will then progress onto knowing the number of days in each month. There are several ways of doing this. I prefer the ‘knuckle trick’ of putting both fists together , knuckles upright and then reciting the months going from left to right – tops of knuckles have 31 days, dips don’t.

The rhyme below can also be helpful:

30 days hath September

April, June and November,

All the rest have 31,

except in February alone

which has but 28 days clear

and 29 in each leap year.

Days months and years

 

Resource of the week: Maths Game of Strategy:

The importance of playing games with children to aid their mathematical thinking cannot be stressed too much. Playing games improves logical thinking and thinking ahead. This great little game, which I have called ‘Three Hexagon’ is a variation of ‘Three in a row’ games, played on a hexagonal board. All you need to do is print the board out, perhaps cover it with sticky back plastic to make it last longer and get two sets of 3 counters.

The rules are straightforward:

This is a game for two people.
Each player has three counters.
The aim of the game is to get the three counters in a straight line.
The player going first places a counter on one of the circles.
The second player then places one of his/her counters on a circle. This continues until all the counters have been placed.
If neither player has got 3 counters in a straight line then the first player slides a counter along a line to a circle that is not already covered.
The other player then slides a counter to an adjacent circle.  Counters can only move along one line into an empty space. They can not jump over counters.
If a player can not move a counter she/he misses a go.

The more you play this game the more you realise that there are techniques to help with winning. Good luck!

Three hexagon game

Ordering lengths of time in Year 2

It is in year 2 that children really get to grips with time. Targets include telling and writing the time to five minutes, including using terms such as quarter to and quarter past the hour. They are also expected to be able to compare and sequence lengths of times, which is where this worksheet comes in. It looks at ordering lengths of time and uses both time in minutes and the quarter and half hours. Children will need to know that half an hour is thirty minutes and a quarter of an hour is 15 minutes.

Order lengths of time

Thanks to urbrainy.com for giving persmission to use this page.

Single step word problems for year 6

know1Below are two pages of maths problems written in words. They are known as ‘single step operations’ as only one mathematical process is necessary to solve them. Children find word problems very difficult, but the one step type are much, much easier than the two step.

Children need to be able to read and understand problems written in prose that include elements of real life, either at home or at school. They need to be able to see what processes are necessary to solve it and then lay out their answer clearly, giving some explanation. If they have had plenty of practice at writing their own number stories in earlier years they will now find these much easier.

Single step operations (pg 1)

Single step operations (pg 2)