NRICH task requiring students to use their patterning and multiplicative skills. Differentiation: The problem could be simplified to just two elves, so that students become confident with a particular system before there are too many possibilities.
NRICH Task in which students apply knowledge of number operations and gain confidence in using a trial and improvement approach. Possible extension:
Students could make up their own version of this problem for a friend to solve.
Differentiate this task by using different coloured counters to represent boys and girls. This might help some children access this problem and allow them to refine their answer before they write it down.
This Complete Mathematics task asks students to explore patterns and number sequences moving from additive to multiplicative thinking. Differentiate this task by decreasing the number of rows (terms).
Students in Years 3-6 begin to explore patterns which progress through steps or sequences. When exploring patterns encourage students to:
Build their patterns with everyday materials available. If this is not possible, encourage them to draw models
Build or draw each sequence or term separately
Predict what they think will happen and why
Talk about their pattern and what they notice
Determine how each step differs from the previous one
Arrange numeric components in a table to predict, analyse and prove thinking
Look for and identify generalisations or algebraic relationships.
Adapted from: Van de Walle. J and Lovin.L, Teaching Student Centred Mathematics, 2006.
Considerations and Strategies for EAL Learners
Be open to alternative mathematical strategies, being aware that EAL/D students in the Beginning and Emerging phases of English language learning will not have the oral language skills to explain their working. Bilingual assistants and parents can be useful resources.
EAL/D students with good mathematics skills in their first language may prefer to work with number in their first language. Allow students to build their mathematical understandings in their first language with parents, while simultaneously working with them to build understanding of the language of mathematics in English.
EAL/D students in the Beginning and Emerging phases of English language learning may have the mathematics concepts but not the language knowledge to solve word problems, and EAL/D students in the Developing and Consolidating phases of English language learning may find the sentence structures of word problems challenging. Provide visual scaffolds into word problems. Unpack the sentence structures required for writing mathematical word problems For example, word problems often place the first direction to the reader at the end of the sentence.