All pupils - able children included - need to be taught strategies to enable their thinking skills to progress. They also need help with developing different approaches to problem solving. A sustained piece of work that requires perseverance, logical strategies, and refinement of method and extension of the original task is not the same as a straightforward quick-fix type problem. Both types of problem solving need to be taught. This book presents a series of activities that can be used with whole classes to provide a curriculum for the teaching of problem solving and the development of thinking skills. Each tried and tested investigation is clearly explained with ideas on how to introduce the task to a class, full solutions and resource sheets. Activities include prisoners: a fun way of generating square numbers; handshakes: exploring arithmetic progressions; T-shape: an activity to lead pupils from numerical calculations to algebraic generalizations; frogs: encouraging systematic working and listing; and opposite corners: an advanced piece of work for independent learners.

All pupils - able children included - need to be taught strategies to enable their thinking skills to progress. They also need help with developing different approaches to problem solving. A sustained piece of work that requires perseverance, logical strategies, and refinement of method and extension of the original task is not the same as a straightforward quick-fix type problem. Both types of problem solving need to be taught. This book presents a series of activities that can be used with whole classes to provide a curriculum for the teaching of problem solving and the development of thinking skills. Each tried and tested investigation is clearly explained with ideas on how to introduce the task to a class, full solutions and resource sheets. Activities include making 10p: a task to encourage systematic listing; tables and chairs: working systematically and spotting patterns; polygons and polyhedra: investigating diagonals, triangles, faces, edges and vertices; hidden faces: investigating different shapes and sizes of dice; and pond borders: investigating area and perimeter.

Since 1989 initial teacher training courses in England and Wales have included teacher preparation for taking a lead in a school subject area in their first appointment. There is no longer a place for a teacher newly qualified or not in primary schools whose sole responsibility is for his or her own class. A teacher must have specific specialist knowledge and expertise in particular subjects which must be shared with all staff.; This text contains the latest curriculum and assessment changes. It aims to help students and newly qualified teachers to understand the complexities of being a co-ordinator of a National Curriculum subject in Key Stage 2 and reports on best practice.

This core text for primary trainee teachers is a clear introduction to the different kinds of assessment and their purposes. Throughout the book, tasks encourage the reader to practise assessment skills and to reflect on planning, listening, questioning, observing, diagnosing and target-setting. This second edition is referenced throughout to the 2007 QTS Standards and has been fully updated to reflect the Primary National Strategy and key initiatives such as Every Child Matters. There is increased emphasis on peer assessment and target-setting linked to personalised learning. In addition, new material on Early Years observation and foundation/core subjects has been added.

One of the fundamental problems in education is that of applying skills and knowledge which learners have gained in one context to problems they encounter in another. This is particularly so in mathematics, where the problems encountered by learners in applying mathematical knowledge are well documented. Using and applying mathematics has been a central component of the National Curriculum in mathematics. However, the National Numeracy Strategy has adopted a new approach, in which 'using and applying' is integrated throughout the mathematics curriculum. This book aims to help teachers develop their understanding and practice in this crucial area. It is based on the findings of a major research study, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, in which a group of primary teachers worked closely with the research team to develop their thinking and practice. The book provides a clear conceptual analysis of the problem of application, together with extensive examples of ways in which teachers can address it in their classrooms at Key Stages 1 and 2. A novel feature of the book is that it includes first-hand accounts of practice in Japanese classrooms, and outlines what teachers in the UK and elsewhere may learn from Japanese methods.

Looks at the theory and practice of providing inspiring, challenging and engaging cross curricular mathematics lesson. >

How to be Brilliant at Shape and Space contains 40 photocopiable worksheets designed to improve pupils' understanding of shape, their understanding of position and movement and their understanding of measure. They will learn about: angles; nets; Euler's formula; the Platonic solids; squares, triangles and quadrilaterals; parallel lines; lines of symmetry, and reflective and rotational symmetry.