Years 5 and 6 Timed Subtraction Games

When working with large numbers it is not possible to answer lots of questions within one minute, but it is surprising just how many correct answers can be achieved with top-notch mental arithmetic skills. Four new games for Year 5 have just been published:• Subtract from 1,000• Subtract from 10,000•...

English Comprehensions: More Planets

We continue to add to our comprehensions on space with more fascinating facts about the remaining planets. New this week are:JupiterWith a radius of about 43,500 miles, Jupiter is 11 times wider than Earth. If Earth were the size of a grape, Jupiter would be about as big as a...

Reception: Matching Sets of Objects

Reception: Matching Sets of ObjectsBeing able to count objects is a crucial part of early maths work and future success with maths depends upon it. Interestingly, it involves more than may at first be apparent.Firstly, children need to realise that each object can only be counted once. To begin with...

Year 6 Order of Operations

By Year 6 children should be familiar with the idea of having rules to decide in what order mathematical operations are carried out.In its simplest form this can be described as BODMAS First do the operations that are in brackets.Then do any divisions.Thirdly do any multiplicationsLastly, do any additions and...

Year 2 Subtraction, Bar Modelling and Number Lines

An exciting development in teaching maths in the UK is bar modelling. Bar models are pictorial representations of number problems and act as a half-way house between using concrete representations (e.g. solid cubes) and working in the abstract. Bar models can be applied to subtraction and are an excellent way...

Year 6 Multiply and Divide Fractions

Multiplying fractions is in many ways the easiest of the operations when dealing with fractions. Put simply, there are three steps: multiply the top numbers (the numerators)multiply the bottom numbers (the denominators)simplify the fraction if necessaryWhilst this is quite easy, the reason why it works is more complex. Children are...