Year 2 maths worksheets: Calculating

In Year 2 children will be calculating using the addition, subtraction, multiplication and division symbols. Their understanding of addition will develop as they begin to add a 1-digit number to a 2-digit number as well as beginning to answer written addition questions. (This is not the same as using written methods.) Developing efficient mental methods of addition and subtraction are still the most important aspects here, as written methods, apart from jottings, should not yet be used.

There is a good selection of addition and subtraction worksheets on the site in our Year 2 calculating section as well as a growing number of multiplication and division pages. Multiplication is seen as repeated addition and the 2x, 5x and 10x tables will be learned during the year.

As well as in the Calculating section further worksheets can be found in Knowing Number Facts and our Four Rules section.

Go to Year 2 calculating worksheets

Year 5 maths worksheet: addition

One of the things which children find quite hard to do is to set out a question in the best format. In the Key Stage 2 tests addition problems are rarely, if ever, set out in the standard form that children learn.

This page tries to help with the addition of two 3-digit numbers. The first 10 questions are set out in the standard way, but the next ten are written across the page. When faced with questions like this it is important to re-write the sum to have the best chance of success. Of course, it is important to keep the numbers in line (units under units, tens under tens etc) and squares have been provided to help with this.

A very useful page for those who are still uncertain about how to approach these questions.

Written addition of several numbers (2)

Year 3 maths worksheet: more division practice

Here is a follow up page to that published earlier, giving more practice with simple division. If children have a good knowledge of the 2x, 4x, 5x and 10x tables they should find these quite straightforward. The only potentially tricky ones are where the missing number is in the middle of the number sentence

eg 24 divided by ? = 6

This requires a good understanding of what the number sentence means, but all that is required to answer is a knowledge of ‘what multiplied by 6 makes 24’.

This worksheet can be found in our Year 3 Knowing Number Facts section.

Division practice (2)

Year 2 maths worksheet: multiplication

One of the targets for year 2 children is to represent repeated addition as multiplication. certainly, one of the best ways of explaining multiplication is to think of it as repeated addition. So, a multiplication such as 4 x 3 is the same as adding 4 three times (4 + 4 + 4) or 3 lots of 4. Of course, 3 lots of 4 is the same as 4 lots of 3 which implies that multiplication can be done in any order, unlike division or subtraction.

Children need to be quite confident in counting up in twos, fives and tens before going onto multiplication of these numbers.
This set of worksheets looks more closely at multiplication as repeated addition, but it would be a really good idea to set out some practical examples of repeated addition, using counters, sweets, lego etc, grouping them into twos or fives and counting each set.

Thanks to urbrainy.com for this page; it’s a great place to visit for early years maths and there is plenty for you to try free.

Multiplication_as_repeated_addition

Year 5 maths worksheet: written addition

By the end of year 5 children should be confident with written methods of addition. This worksheet is a stage in this process. Some of the questions are set out how they should be. The later questions need to be set out in the same way. It is important to make sure that units are lined up with units, tens with tens etc and squared paper can be a help with this.

Remind children that when adding three digits that they can be added in any order: look for pairs that make 10 or other combinations that they recognise instantly.

This page can be found in the year 5 Calculations section. Similar resources can also be found in the Four Rules section.

Addition of several numbers (1)

Katharine Birbalsingh: making children responsible

Katharine Birbalsingh has certainly caused a stir in Education circles with her views on what is the best way to help children succeed. She states that the education system is broken, because it keeps poor children poor by making excuses for them.

She believes that certain values are important, including being responsible for yourself and not allowing children to excuse away bad behaviour. Children should be held to account for what they do, so that they can be responsible for themselves.

She sees failure as an important part of the learning process and argues that because we don’t want children to fail we keep making excuses for them. She also believes that exclusions are not helpful as it gives children yet another excuse for failure.

Children should feel responsible for their own results, not the teachers. Until we get children to feel this responsibility then schools will continue to fail. This is a very different viewpoint than that held in many schools, and a very challenging one. Where does this responsibility come from? Certainly the home for most children and it is very difficult for schools to change attitudes without the backing of the home.

Year 4 maths worksheets on fractions

Fractions form an important part of the maths for Year 4 children (aged 8/9) and often it turns out to be one of the hardest to get to grips with.

One important aspect of this is to identify equivalent fractions (in other words, that a half is the same as two quarters or four tenths is the same as two fifths etc.) This is usually introduced by using diagrams, but many children fail to see beyond the colouring of a diagram to the more abstract idea of equivalence.

Children will also work with mixed numbers, placing them on number lines and to identify pairs of fractions which total 1.

Another important skill is to recognise the equivalence between the decimals and fractions for simple fractions such as: 0.5 =a half, 0.25 = a quarter, 0.1 = a tenth and 0.01 = a hundredth.

I have published a number of worksheets to help with this and coverage is increasing steadily. Already there are pages on equivalent fractions, tenths, ordering fractions and much more. These can be found in the year 4 Counting and Number section of the site.

Go to our year 4 maths worksheets on fractions

Multiplying a decimal by a single digit

Some quick mental arithmetic work here, ideal for homework. Multiplying 0.6 by 7 is not really any harder than multiplying 6 by 7, as long as you have a good understanding of place value.

Watch out for a common error with these, an example of which is:

0.8 x 7 = 0.56

In this case, whilst the times table is known what to do about the decimal point remains a mystery. if you come across this error it would be a very good idea to go back to basics and look at multiplying and dividing by 10 across the decimal point.

This is a good page for year 6 revision but could be used by younger children who have a sound understanding of decimals. It can be found in our year 6 Knowing number facts section.

More_multiplying_decimals (1)

Text books are obsolete?

It seems that teachers believe that maths text books are becoming obsolete in the classroom, being replaced by on-line resources. Well, they have a point, where in a text book can you get over 400 maths sheets  which are freely available at mathsblog.co.uk?
7 out of 10 teachers believe that investing in IT equipment is more important that spending money on text books. They also believe that children who do not have internet access at home could be ‘seriously disadvantaged’.
These findings come from a joint report from the Times Educational Supplement and the e-Learning Foundation. Interestingly, it has been published at just the time that Michael Grove is cutting back support for IT in schools.
The report suggests that children without internet access can struggle to do their homework and fall behind, but I think that this is rather too simplistic. There are many parents out there who do not wish their children to use the internet, yet provide superb support for their children. I think back to my days teaching where children from some religious groups were not allowed to watch television, but they were some of the best informed and brightest children in the class.
Read more at the Telegraph

Year 3 maths worksheet: reading scales

Reading scales is an important aspect of year 3 measurement work and I am beginning to produce material for this. Children will be used to reading scales where the divisions go up in ones, but they find it much harder when either they go up in larger numbers or when not all the divisions are numbered. This worksheet does both of these. The ruler shown is a scale drawing and each division is 10 cm, but only the 100 cm division lines are named.

Once it has been established that each mark represents 10 cm., it is relatively straightforward to work out the lengths shown. As children usually only use centimetre rulers this might be the first time they come across a ruler where not all the divisions are numbered.

Reading scales 1