How to teach maths creatively in primary school?
Sign up to receive our latest news and blogs!
Discovering
maths forms a vital part of early education and one of the challenges for those
teaching the subject is around how to keep youngsters engaged.
Most maths
teachers will turn to creative methods, all designed to foster a love for the
subject and to promote free-thinking at a young age.
Here, we
explore some of the creative ways to bring primary maths teaching alive…
It’s all in the language
Firstly,
the language used in lessons can make a huge difference to how a child views
mathematical problems.
Young
children should be encouraged to view problem solving as a creative process, as
this way there could be any number of ways to find an answer, and the approach could differ every time.
Not only
does this go some way to eliminating the fear of failure, but it can open their
eyes to the vast number of different possibilities that may exist when faced
with challenges and obstacles.
Maths teachers will often use phrases such as ‘did you try?’ or ‘could you do?’ to
broaden thinking, while an alternative is to ask children what they would do
should one part of a problem change.
By using a
cross-curricular approach which encompasses other subjects too, it’s also
possible to weave maths into other elements of a child’s learning, helping to
enhance their understanding further.
What about story time?
From
picture books to complex tales outlining different problems, using stories is
another way to teach maths creatively.
This
method is often highly engaging and can be used to introduce a range of topics
and ideas, from algebra and fractions to the basics like multiplication and
division.
Maths Through Stories has a range of lesson plans and
inspirational ideas for maths teachers to discover, all with storytelling at
their heart.
Turn to games
Whether
it’s introducing some healthy competition into the classroom in a bid to
encourage pupils to excel, or just adding a dose of fun, games can help to make
the teaching more memorable.
This is
especially the case if youngsters are able to associate certain maths problems
with a type of game, as their knowledge retention can be improved.
From board
games to digital apps, using them in class is a great way to embed mathematical
processes into a child’s thinking, while they have the added benefit of
boosting social interaction too.
Make a song and dance of teaching!
Just as
stories can maths memorable, so can teaching it through the use of music, songs
and even dance.
Not only
does this take advantage of high energy levels among primary school pupils, but
it can also help them to remember key snippets of information.
Using song
to teach times tables is perhaps one of the more obvious examples of this
technique, but it could be used to accompany the maths teaching of any number
of other parts of the curriculum.
Related jobs
£80 - £110 per day
Kings Langley, Hertfordshire
£20500 - £23800 per annum
Sheffield, South Yorkshire
£76 - £100 per day
Rotherham, South Yorkshire
£76 - £85 per day
Stockport, Greater Manchester
£34514 - £51179 per annum
Brent, London
Competitive
Wirral, Merseyside
£28000 - £40500 per annum
Doncaster, South Yorkshire
Competitive
Liverpool, Merseyside
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
