Resource of the week: partitioning large numbers

Our resource of the Week looks at place value with larger numbers, something that many children find tricky.

By year 5 children are expected to be able to read and write some seriously large numbers. A really good understanding of place value is needed to read large numbers successfully. The key to looking at a number and working out how to say it lies in separating the number up into a series of hundreds, tens and units.

Let’s look at 123 456 789

Take the first set of three digits (on the right:789) as a set of hundreds tens and units: that is seven hundred and eighty nine.

Take the second set of three digits (456): that is four hundred and fifty six; but it is four hundred and fifty six thousand.

Take the third set of three digits (123): that is one hundred and twenty three; but it is one hundred and twenty three million.

Put them together to make one hundred and twenty three million our hundred and fifty six thousand and seven hundred and eighty nine.

An abacus is a really good way to look at how to read numbers and is a very powerful mathematical tool – anyone who has been to Hong Kong or China and seen how they calculate with an abacus will be amazed!

 

Partition up to 5-digit numbers (pg 2)

Year 6 maths worksheet: Number sequences (2)

This is the second page which looks at trickier number sequences. It includes a couple of questions which use negative numbers. Children are asked to predict the next two numbers in the sequence and then write in words what the rule for the sequence is. The page includes addition, subtraction, multiplication, square numbers and halving, so it is quite a mixed bag and as always it is interesting to see how children approach a task which is one of the early stages of algebra.

This page can be found in our Year 6 maths worksheets, under the heading of Using and Applying Maths.

Extend number sequences (2)

Year 2 Counting and Number

A great deal is expected of children by the end of Year 2 and we have some great maths worksheets to help them on their way.

It all begins with counting on in steps of one. When children are really confident with this and have mastered reading 2-digit numbers they move on to counting on and back in steps of 10. Other activities included, are completing missing numbers on a number square, estimating on a number line and recognising halves of shapes and numbers.

Go to our year 2 Counting and Number worksheets

Year 4 maths worksheet: Word problems involving time

It’s not easy finding maths worksheets on topics such as word problems involving time, but here is a follow up page to one published earlier this year, suitable for Year 4 on.

One type of problem involves counting in minutes, with questions such as:

Dan started to walk to school at 7.50. He took 50 minutes. What time did he arrive at school?

Children often find working these out quite tricky, although usually the best way to do them is to count on. In this case I would add on one hour and then take 10 minutes off.

The second type of question involves days and months of the year, such as:

Alfie went for a fortnight’s holiday on 23rd July. On what date did he return from holiday? In this case it would be worthwhile pointing out that he would return on the same day of the week as he left and that travel companies really mean 14 nights rather than 14 days. A tricky one!

It also means that the number of days in a month need to be known.

Solve problems with time (2)

Jim and the Beanstalk by Raymond Briggs

Jim and the BeanstalkJim and the Beanstalk (Puffin Picture Books)

This is a rewrite of the famous Jack tale by Raymond Briggs. Just like Jack, Jim wakes up to find a tall plant growing outside his house. He climbs up to the top where there is a huge house. A very old giant lives in the house – not the nasty sort of giant in the traditional tale, but an unhappy one who no longer eats three boys on toast for breakfast! Jim gets the giant some large glasses, giant false teeth and a very red wig!

The ending is lovely and there is some great mathematical language in this book, mainly to do with size and shape. Perfect for 3 to 5 years old.

Why not take your child through an imaginary climb up the beanstalk to meet the giant?

Year 4 maths worksheet on time

days-and-hours

By year 4 children are expected to know that:

1 week = 7 days
1 day = 24 hours
1 hour = 60 minutes
1 minute = 60 seconds

This maths worksheet uses this knowledge to answer  some straightforward questions. It also requires a calculator so more detailed information can be found, such as the number of minutes in a week. This, in turn, can lead on to some interesting investigative work, such as finding out how long a year is in minutes, and then how many minutes you have been alive (not forgetting leap years). It is quite an eye opener to realise how many precious minutes have been taken up in queues, traffic jams etc!!

This worksheet can be found in our Year 4 resources, under Measures

Days, hours, minutes and seconds

Year 6 maths worksheets: percentages

Percentages can case problems for children of all ages, not just in year 6, the age group that this page is targeted at. The percentage sign % is all around us when we go shopping, usually with money off, but it can often cause confusion with even with adults. Children should be able to relate percentages to fractions and know that:

one whole = 100%

one half = 50%

one quarter = 25%

one tenth = 10%

one hundredth = 1%.

With this knowledge they should be able to work out most problems that they come across, including those on the worksheet here.

How to do percentages

Year 3 Shape worksheets

In year 3 the range of shapes that children are expected to know increases vastly. To help with this we have some great maths worksheets on 2D and 3D shape. These include pages on prisms, recognising and naming 3D shapes such as cylinders, pyramids, cuboids and the properties of quadrilaterals.

A 9 pin geoboard is a great resource and we include plenty of ideas on how to use these to help with recognising shapes such as pentagons. There are also some mini investigations such as ‘how many different shapes can you make with 2 triangles?’

Visit our Year 3 shape section

Year 5 maths worksheet: written addition

Rarely, if ever, will you find a SATs addition question which has been laid out already in the traditional, or standard method. This Year 5 maths worksheet on written addition is the second in a series which shows children clearly how addition should be laid out and also gives them the opportunity to re-write questions from a horizontal lay out to a vertical layout. The hardest part of this is to ensure the numbers line up under each other, starting with the units on the far right. Squares can help with this in the early stages, but children should also get used to laying them out correctly without squared paper.

This pager can be found in our Year 5 Calculating section. Similar pages, with more detailed instructions, can also be found in our Four Rules section.

Written addition of several numbers (2)

Teddybears Go Shopping by S Gretz and A Sage

Teddybears Go Shopping (Picture Hippo)
Storybooks that are great for maths from mathsblog.co.uk

Making lists is an important part of the data handling strand of the Primary Framework for Maths and there is hardly a better example of list making than Teddybears Go Shopping by Susanna Gretz and  Alison Sage.
The shopping list is very much like a song and encourages children to repeat it –great for encouraging the memory! However, all does not go exactly to plan at the supermarket as William and the rest of the bears go shopping!
Children of all ages love this book – well worth reading!