TickTockMaths

Tag: starters

  • Thinkers!

    Download the PowerPoint here

    I apologise for the over branding šŸ™‚

    Final resource of this half term.

    I’ve packaged together some of the starters that I’ve been putting on Twitter challenging misconceptions I’ve seen in lessons. Stuff that I see a lot but doesn’t necessarily have a place in a SoW.

    Stuff like the difference between a half and two

    Or when we need to write trailing and leading zeroes.

    I haven’t included the answers deliberately. These are meant for discussion. For instance, 12 here could be a currency.

    I did the same with 1s.

    I would do these with any class that have had algebra introduced. Even doing it with my 11 Higher class caught some misconceptions.

    I would maybe only do this with lower years, though. I am trying to get at the idea that the digits stay in the same arrangement. I have found that I have two groups this year who find multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1000 really difficult. On a recent assessment more than a few tried to do 2401/100 using the bus stop method.

    I’ve reinforced it and reinforced it, but there are about 2 or 3 that still lack the skill and I’m running out of ways to address it. Any ideas to @ticktockmaths on twitter.

    There’s also some that struggle with halving and doubling quickly. Again, really struggling to embed this.

    This one tries to get at the unitary thing. It was interesting hearing student responses, especially as the answer depends so much on what x is. There’s a version with 3 if you want something more concrete.

    The last one is identifying if the answer is a quarter (like half or two. I was kinda losing steam by this point.)

    Also this page isn’t editable because of some stupid saving between computers bug šŸ™

    Right, that’s it for this half term.

    I’ve managed to fill quite a lot of gaps.

    Behind the scenes I’ve also got a lot of PowerPoints half started, ready to be finished up and polished up for uploading here. The goal of covering most things seems achievable, if still long way away.

    No resource next week. It’s half term and I want a rest.

    Richard

  • Rent To Own

    I made a quick PowerPoint comparing rent to own companies like Bright House with buying goods outright.

    Get it here

    I think there’s a problem solving task in here. Collecting the items needed for an everyday house and comparing the cost of buying them outright, buying them with a credit card and buying them with Bright House.

    Financial literacy is important for students, and it’s a shame it wasn’t foregrounded more in the new GCSE.

    I would like to see a syllabus that included as an objective the ability to compare credit card and loan deals, and the ability to compare, both in cost and in time, the outcomes from paying off the minimum each month versus other sums.

    Maybe that’s a summer project.

  • KenKen Puzzles

    Since finding this on TES, I’ve become midly obsessed with KenKen puzzles. They are like SudokuĀ (which I already think is fantastic at developing the kind of mathsĀ skills I want to see)Ā but much more mathematcally involved.

    There’sĀ a load of these puzzles on the linked PowerPoints, or you can just Google ‘KenKen’.

  • Logic Puzzles

    baronRecently I’ve been using a lot of Logic Puzzles from the Printable Puzzles website. They’re a really fantastic way to get students thinking, and to get them to use logic. They also help reading two way tables.

    You can get the last four days worth of puzzles for free (which is perfect for teachers) and they’re well worth checking out.

  • Only Connect

    only-connect

    I’ve been a fan of Only Connect for a while, especially it’s connecting wall.

    In the connecting wall round you get 16 clues and have to arrange them into four groups of four. You can play the BBC version here.

    I’ve wanted to create a maths version for a while, but I’ve never been quite clever enough to do this.

    Luckily someone has created a version were users can submit their own walls. It’s at puzzgrid.com. However I didn’t want to clog up the main website, and I wanted all of my grids in one easy to find place, so I emailed the creator of the siteĀ Theo to ask for help. This is what he said:

    My suggestion is that you submit grids under a name such as #Richard or #MrTock , or whatever. Ā Starting with hash is the key. Ā These won’t be displayed in the main list.
    If you want to display these to your students you can send links to them, or you could send them toĀ http://www.puzzgrid.com/search.php?creator=MrTock
    This works fantastically! My creations will be here. Try and make your own, and share them in the comments below.

  • TickTock Starters

    So I made some starters. You can find them here. The file name says ’25 starters’ but there’s actually more than fifty of them. I got carried away.

    There are some of the normal numeracy starters in this pack, but I’ve also tried to add unique and interesting ideas that can be used over and over agin. In this post I’ll talk you through some of the better ones.

    (A quick note: the numbers are simply ordered by which I added to the slide show first. There’s no special numbering system)

    14. If this is the answer, what is the question?

    What is the question?

    This is the best starter I’ve ever come up with. It’s simply a random number generator that gives you a number between 1 and 50. The range of questions that students come up with, and the creativity of those questions, will astound you. I really love doing this, as it allows students to be creative (there are infinite answers! How often do we have that in maths?) and challenge themselves. It’s also accessible to all.

    29. Bananas

    Bananas

    I found that a lot of my students like playing a game called Bananas. You get given a letter then have to fill as many categories as you can with words starting with that letter. I created a digital maths version, complete with random letter generator that means you can play the game in maths lessons. It hits literacy boxes and students absolutely love it as it’s gamey and allows them to be creative. You wouldn’t believe how much you can get out of this one slide, and as it’s got random generation aspects you can use it more than once. Give it a go.

    21. How many sweets in the jar

    Sweets in a jar

    This may seem a silly one, but it’s engaging (one thing I’ve tried to keep with the green coloured starters is the idea that all students, regardless of ability, can have a go) and estimation is one of the key tools students will need in their lives. There’s a link to a great video about the ‘wisdom of the crowd’, too.

    Download the full PowerPoint for all fifty. I think some of them will be of great use on your first day back.

  • Chris Moyles' Quiz Night

    A while ago, Chris Moyles had a TV show called ‘Quiz Night’. Part of the program was a maths quiz, done by various pop acts (including, shudder, One Direction).

    A lot of these are available on YouTube, so I collected them all together to make a convenient playlist.

    Here it is

    I’ve used these a lot. They’re fun and engaging.