Looking at blog statistics, I see regular searches for the still really useful Tarsia software, which I first wrote about back in 2010; there are many resources available, Craig Barton has a section of his website devoted to Tarsia – note all the ideas here for using Tarsia in the classroom and TES Resources host an extensive collection of Tarsia Puzzles.
Remember you have a choice of resources you can produce from a table, illustrated here is an extract from a Domino activity on logs.
Another post popular this week is on GeoBoard activities, the post includes various online GeoBoards and some great c; classroom activities.
National Strategies – Exemplification Examples: Geometry and MeasuresMathisfun – Area of Polygon by Drawing
I have recently updated the Summer Maths 2023 post to include the following ideas and resources:
From ATM, see the Summer Solvers series, For Twitter users these are tagged #summersolvers. Each day in August, at 10 am, ATM are posting a problem from their archives for a range of age groups, we have problems to work on for KS2 to KS5 (UK ages 6 – 18).
For August 4th we have Number Spirals, from 30 Years On, a collection of classic mathematical ideas and activities. Note that you can look inside the book and the pdf includes 2 problems, Fractional Triangle and Number Spirals.
ATM – 30 years onDietmar Küchemann – Geometric Sparks, created on Autograph web
I read with interest, this post from The Learning Scientists, “Learning Math from Errors” on a paper by Deanne Adams and colleagues that demonstrates learning from errors.
What I think is neat about this paper is the researchers gave students erroneous math examples (specifically, decimals, which can be hard for middle schoolers) rather than waiting for them to make the errors themselves. The researchers also required the students to identify explanations for the errors (like elaboration through self-explanation) and correct the errors themselves. They compared this learning condition to what appears to be the standard in math: solving practice problems.
Megan Sumeracki – The Learning Scientists
The results whilst showing no differences between the two groups on the immediate post-test did show a better performance by the students in the erroneous examples condition than the students in the problem-solving condition on the one-week delayed post-test.
I have always found it valuable to use resources where students identify and discuss errors, and have checked and updated this collection of resources – Spot the Mistake.
Recently added to the page, published in 2023, Mathematics Curriculum Reforms Around the World, the 24th ICMI study is an Open Access publication which can be downloaded for free.
For puzzle fans perhaps try Henry Ernest Dudeney’s puzzle collection.
Looking at the free Kindle offerings, these include Mind Hurdles: Mystery Number – a set of ‘number mysteries’, one or more of which would make a good lesson starter and Henry Ernest Dudeney’s – Amusements in Mathematics a puzzle collection (with solutions). The first set of puzzles will offer a trip down memory lane for those who remember money – pre-decimal! There are several categories of puzzles available.
And do make sure you have Colin Foster’s KS3 books in your collection.
Colin Foster – Instant Maths Ideas
Remember that Colin Foster’s KS3 Instant Maths Ideas (3 books) are freely available online; these contain a wealth of ideas to try in the classroom. Colin Foster is a Reader in Mathematics Education at the Mathematics Education Centre at Loughborough University. Read Colin’s blog here.
On Webmaths, new for A Level Maths, “3 a day” for Year 12 Maths; these resources look excellent; solutions will follow. You can also find Year 13 3 a day.
Still with A Level, remember that AMSP’s Mathematics Topic Plans cover the whole of the AS/A level Mathematics specifications. These comprehensive documents include links to easy-to-use resources, including technology-based teaching files and student tasks, suggested questions and prompts to promote mathematical thinking and reasoning. and identification of common student errors
There are many excellent resources chosen in these topic plans, for example, we have Ab-surd! from Underground Mathematics.
From the Calculator Guide, another very helpful video for the new Casio fx-991CW Classwiz Calculator on Calculating & Solving Functions. See Casio ClassWiz 2023 for further information on the new Casio calculators.
