Monday 4 February 2019

Mental Maths Lollipop Sticks

This year I am working in Special Education, helping some children with Maths.
I find the lollipop strategy useful to revise and consolidate topics that have been covered already.

How it works:

Each time we complete a topic, I write it on a lollipop stick and add it to the jar.
Each day at the start of our Maths session, the children pick one of the lollipop sticks.
I ask them 10 questions based on the topic.
The children try to figure them out mentally, but they sometimes use a mini whiteboard.  I also use visuals, if it supports the child. e.g. using dienes blocks for place value

Not only does it constantly revise what they have learned, which is beneficial for all children, it also shows me if we need to go back over a topic.  It is also a great way to revise the Maths language, as you can see in the sample questions below.

It could also be used a classroom just as easy.....give each child one question based on the topic or use mini whiteboards and they can all do the same 10 questions.

Here are some of the topics we have included to date.


(Time, Division, 2D Shapes, Lucky Dip*, Place Value, Fractions, Decimals & Percentages, Lines & Angles, Times Tables)

Lucky Dip*: I ask a random choice of questions from all the topics we have covered!

Here are a sample list of questions I ask the children in some of the topics.

Multiplication

What is 3 x 4?
What is the product of 5 and 6?
Can you think of the factors of 24?
7 times 7 is.....
Count in 5's up to 60
List the first 5 multiples of 6.

Fractions, Decimals and Percentages


What is half of 30?
What is 1/4 as a decimal?
Give an equivalent fraction for 1/5.
What is 50% of 10?
Write 4 2/4 as an improper fraction.


Target Number


Check out sample questions for that here.



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