Y3 maths worksheet: time

about-what-imeThis maths worksheet on reading time to the nearest quarter of an hour highlights several issues which create problems for children.

Firstly, on the clock face the hours are clearly numbered but the minutes are not and children need to be able to count on in fives before they can read minutes successfully.

Secondly, when telling someone the time we often approximate, either to the nearest quarter of an hour or the nearest five minutes, even when we can see clearly what the time is to the nearest minute.

Thirdly, when saying the time out or writing it we use several different conventions, as shown on the answer sheet.

Lastly, many children seldom come across this type of clock face, especially if they use digital watches, mobile phones etc., therefore take much longer to work it out – don’t be surprised to find ten year olds unable to read an analogue clock correctly.

About what time

Maths worksheet: subtract from 20 mentally

subtract-from-20There are a number of different ways in which subtraction problems can be phrased including terms such as ‘Take from’ and ‘How many more’. This maths worksheet looks at some of them, whilst concentrating on subtracting from 20 using mental methods.

The usual method of mentally subtracting is to ‘add on’. For example 20 – 7.

Add 3 to 7 to make 10 and then add a further 10 to make 20. Answer 3 + 10 which is 13.

Or, the ten could be added first to make 17 and then count on to 20.

Either way is equally good.

Subtract from 20 (pg 1)

Addition worksheet: Complete sums

find-two-answers-pg-1We usually think of an addition number sentence with the two numbers to add already given and just the answer to work out. This page looks at it from a different angle; giving the answer and asking for two numbers which will complete the sum correctly. This is a good exercise to show children that there are often several ways to complete a problem.

Complete the addition sums (pg 1)

LEGO Universe: great for technology and maths education

legobrickLego Universe
We all recognise the little blocks and most of us will have used them at some time. They have always had great potential for Technology and Maths teaching but now LEGO is moving into new areas, both great online gaming  and serious technological innovation.

Lego is currently developing its first ever massively multiplayer online game called LEGO Universe, aimed at players from the age of 8 upwards.

universe.lego.com, at the moment is just a pre-launch site. Soon you will be able to customise your own tiny in-game characters and guide them through virtual worlds. You want more bricks to build? Then you will have to complete challenges, defeat enemies and unlock secrets.

If you are looking for the sort of cross curricula educational experience recommended by the Cambridge Primary Review last week, then this is just the right kind of thing.
Find out much more at

LEGO

Y4 free maths worksheet: place value

place-value1Knowing what each digit in a number represents can be a real challenge for children. Many do not understand that the digit 4 in 3400 has a different value to the digit 4 in 340. That is why understanding place value is so important once children begin to use larger numbers.

Here is a worksheet which should demonstrate whether place value has been understood. It asks what number needs to go into each box to make the number sentence correct. It shows that, for example:

2345 is made up of 2000 + 300 + 40 + 5

Place value (pg 1)

World Maths Day 2009

worldmathsdayTension is rising as the clock runs down towards this year’s World Maths Day. With just four days to go it’s not too late to sign up for the 4th March.

Remember last year’s World Maths Day? Yes, over 370 000,000 (370 million) correct answers to maths questions across the globe.

This year looks like beating that and creating a new record.

At the moment there are over 1 million registrations including 28 500 schools from over 200 countries with the UK leading the way and they are getting plenty of practice in ready for the big day.
It’s not too late to sign up and have fun with maths!

http://www.worldmathsday.com/

Y4 maths worksheet: fractions tenths

fractions-tenthsI have not added much in the way of work on fractions so far, but it is an area of maths that causes a lot of confusion. This page looks at tenths including some key concepts:

a. that ten tenths is the same as one whole one

b. that a half is the same as five tenths

c. recognising 1/10 as one tenth and that it means one whole one divided into 10 equal parts.

Fractions-tenths

Spaced learning: a new way to develop long term memory

boy31School lessons have traditionally been in blocks of around 40 minutes to an hour, but this is not necessarily the best way to learn, especially to develop long term memory. When doing work at home you could adopt a different approach; one such method is called ‘Spaced Learning’.
Monkseaton School has been pioneering this method with great success. The core of the method is to have three highly stimulating sessions separated by two ten minute gaps. So a typical Spaced Learning session would look like this:

1.    Stimulating key fact/explanation by the teacher + presentation (powerpoint etc)
2.    10 minute break to do some physical activity
3.    Repeat of the first high powered session
4.    10 minute break for more physical activity
5.    Repeat first session again.
The 10 minute breaks are crucial and during this time the students must not stimulate the brain pathways being formed: hence the physical activity where they would be thinking about something else.

The theory behind spaced learning comes from neuroscience, in particular a US scientist called Douglas Fields and his research into what stimulated  long-term memories in the brains of rats. The key seems to be that brain cells need to be stimulated and then not stimulated in a particular pattern. The length of the stimulation was not important but the length of the gap between stimulations was. 10 minutes appears to be the optimum time.

Obviously this would not always be an appropriate way of learning, but it certainly has advantages when there is a need to pack a lot of information in a short period of time, such as revision time. It seems to work at Monkseaton High: could it work in your home?

Find out more

Maths vocabulary puzzle: ordering and place value

Year_1_wordsearch_10104Here is a little word search to help children recognise and use the vocabulary expected of them in Year 1 to do with ordering and place value.

The words are:

more, less, plus, double, altogether, subtract, take, minus, half, difference and equals.

This is quite a difficult set of terms for children of this age (5/6 years old).

All the words on the wordsearch are either straight across or straight down – no diagonals.

Maths wordsearch: ordering and place value for Year 1