Welcome to Woodland's Math Page!
Here you'll find out about how we approach our math lessons, how we engage and develop understanding through a CPA (Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract) approach and what Fluent in five is.
There are also links to different websites to use at home, including Time Tables Rock Stars.
There is also a link (Helpful Hints For Teaching Math) to a separate page on our website, which contains our school's calculation policy. These are accompanied by videos, recorded by our teachers, to show you how we teach the different four operations throughout the different year groups.
S.T.A.R. Math
Math at the Woodlands follows S.T.A.R. math.
See: This part of the lesson is where the learning objective is introduced and taught using a strategy or method. As the teacher models the learning, the children are encouraged to participate through discussion, questioning, provide their own answers and are questioned to show and help develop their understanding.
Try: Here, children emulate what the teacher has modeled, to ensure they have understood what has been taught.
Apply: The learning objective is put into different contexts.
Reasoning: When reasoning children make use of all their other mathematical skills and so reasoning could be thought of as the 'glue' which helps mathematics makes sense. It helps to demonstrate their understanding of math and the concepts taught as well as develop a deepen this understanding. Reasoning included problem solving, where children interpret real world questions to solve, drawing upon the wider math curriculum.
Our approach to S.T.A.R. math is very flexible. We won't necessary follow every step in S.T.A.R. on a daily basis. It all depends on how the class responses to the learning. Children may experience a day only on try, if they need to gain a secure understanding of the lesson objective, which my involve developing a written method. It may be that particular children or group should move on to apply sooner or the lesson itself can begin at this point. Reasoning, however, is spread throughout the lesson, from the questioning in whole class learning to the questions provided in independent activities to help deepen understanding.
White Rose Math
White Rose Math is a scheme we have recently begun to incorporate into our existing math curriculum. It spends longer on an area of math to develop a deeper understanding of an objective through their 'small steps'.
It intends to ensure connections are made by children across the math curriculum. It aims to build a more confident and able child, when it comes to tackling the math they experience in school.
Click on the link below to take you to the parents page on the White Rose Math website.
Our school calculation policy follows the CPA approach
C.P.A. Approach
The Concrete Pictorial Abstract (CPA) approach is a system of learning that uses physical and visual aids to build a child’s understanding of abstract topics.
- Children are introduced to a new mathematical concept through the use of concrete resources (e.g. fruit, Dienes blocks etc).
- When they are comfortable solving problems with physical aids, they are given problems with pictures – usually pictorial representations of the concrete objects they were using.
- Then they are asked to solve problems where they only have the abstract i.e. numbers or other symbols. Building these steps across a lesson can help pupils better understand the relationship between numbers and the real world, and therefore helps secure their understanding of the mathematical concept they are learning.
This is an approach that occurs across both key stages and how it is applied to its best effect is a decision left to the class teacher.
Helpful hints for teaching math
The link below will take you to a alternative page on our school site, which contains our school calculation policy and videos on how to approach the different four operations.
Time Tables Rock stars
Times tables is an essential skill in many areas of the math curriculum. By the end of year 4, every child should be able to recall their time table facts up to and including 12 x 12.
To help improve the recall of facts, the school began to use Times Tables Rock Stars earlier this year.
The games and competition that are held are methods used to help motivate and retain learning.
Fluent in 5
At the Woodlands, we feel it is essential for the children to have a solid grasp on the basic skills of math. These include from knowing their bonds to 10 and 20 to the rapid recall of their multiplication facts to knowing equivalents between fractions, decimals and percentages.
Fluent in 5 is a 5 minute warm up at the start of math, but is also an activity for when children come to class first thing in the morning. The intention is to ensure basic skills are secure in long term memory and can be called upon quickly when needed.
Below is a year 6 example, which asks the children to recall their math knowledge and skills from previous year groups.
Year 6 example of Fluent in 5
Math Web Links
The links below will take you to websites we use in school as alternative ways to help certain areas of math.
All of these can be used at home and would help enormously with your child's maths, especially in areas such as the mental recall of number facts and recalling their multiplication facts.
Click on an image to take you to that specific website.