Developing Mental Calculation Strategies

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Developing Mental Calculation Strategies

• A workshop for all at Endon Hall Primary School
• Learning Together And Having Fun
• June 2006

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Mathematics?

• What images and emotions are racing through your
  mind?

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How was it for you?

• What was Maths like for you when you were at
  school?
• Were you good at it?
• How do you use Maths now in your daily life?

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Why are we here?

• I can

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We can
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Programme of Workshops

• Developing Mental Strategies June 2006
• Developing Written Calculations addition and
  subtraction Autumn 2006
• Developing Written Calculations multiplication
  and division Spring 2007

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Why Mental Calculation Strategies?

• Mental calculation skills are vital.
• They give children an understanding of numbers
  and number operations and a sense of autonomy in
  many practical situations.

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Why?

• The National Numeracy Strategy emphasises the
  teaching of mental calculation throughout the
  Primary phase.
• - To recognise when calculations can
  be done in their heads.
• - To choose effective and efficient
  strategies to work out the answers.

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Why?

• Many children have recurring difficulties with
  written methods of calculation, such as
  forgetting or misapplying a standard method,
  working inefficiently because they do not know
  number bonds or multiplication facts, or using a
  written method when a mental method would be more
  appropriate.

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Where do mental strategies come from?

• Skills what can you do?
• Ideas what do you realise?
• Facts what can you remember?

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What do we do in school?

• To help children to develop and learn new
  strategies-
• Modelling numbers using equipment
• Modelling number operations using number lines
  or grids
• Explaining how to use a model

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In school

• Build confidence through structured number games
  and activities
• Sorting and classifying problems
• Provide lots of short exercises to consolidate

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Questions
Can you see a pair of numbers that make 10?

How did you work it out?
Can you explain your method to a friend?
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Questions
How would you read these decimal numbers if they
were money?

Which number did you start with?
Can you spot the pattern? 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8,
13, 21 What will the 10th number be?
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Vocabulary

• Fundamental
• Foundation blocks on which everything else
  stands secure.

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Strategies for memorising

• Kinaesthetic
• Visual
• Aural

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Strategies for memorising

• Written
• Pattern

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Progression

• See appendix

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Strategies for addition and subtraction

• Counting forwards and backwards
• Reordering
• Partitioning using multiples of 10 and 100

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Strategies for and -

• Partitioning bridging through multiples of 10
• Partitioning Compensating

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Strategies for and -

• Partitioning using near doubles
• Partitioning bridging through numbers other
  than 10

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Multiplication and division skills and strategies

• Knowing multiplication and division facts to 10
• Multiplying and dividing by multiples of 10

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Multiplication and division skills and strategies

• Multiplying and dividing by single-digit numbers
  and multiplying by two-digit numbers
• Doubling and halving

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Multiplication and division skills and strategies

• Fractions, decimals and percentages

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How to help at home

• Short bursts of time!
• Looking for numbers in the environment
• Car number plates
• Prices / shopping / giving change

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Help at home

• Stories, rhymes, counting songs
• Sharing laying the table, cutting up cake or
  pizza, sweets
• Gradients

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Help at home

• Time how long until your favourite T.V.
  programme? How long does it last? How often is it
  on?
• Telephone numbers
• House numbers

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Help at home

• Quantities on packages if these ingredients
  will make enough for 4 people, how much will we
  need for 8 people?
• Patterns number, in nature, buildings, stacks
  of food in supermarkets, wallpaper, tiles

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Help at home

• Games
• Challenge time
• Dice
• Dominoes

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How do you feel now?