5 Maths Gems #180

Welcome to my 180^th gems post. This is where I share some of the latest news, ideas and resources for maths teachers.

1. Area
I love @catrionateaches's suggestion that students write a 'plan without numbers' when attempting to answer compound area questions. They do the reasoning before they plough into the calculations. See Catriona's tweet for more examples.

I very much enjoyed @MrDraperMaths's recent post 'Area's Just Times' which is well worth a read. It features a number of excellent tasks.

I also like this clever little task from @giftedHKO, from her brilliant set of resources on sector area.

2. Factor Fish

@MrChapmanMaths shared a nice resource which encourages students to think systematically when finding all the factors of a number: Factor Fish. I've added it to my resource library. I've seen variations of this idea elsewhere (bugs, rainbows) but I've not seen fish before!

3. Crossword

Emily at SAMI has shared a brilliant A Level Maths Cryptic Crossword. Maths teachers will enjoy having a go at this!

4. Dr Austin
Dr Austin has been busy producing a constant flow of new resources. I use a lot of her tasks in my lessons so I am very grateful for this website. Recent additions include resources for equation solving, probability, two way tables, sequences and standard form.

5. MathsPad
It was great to see a new MathsPad update in July. They have shared a Thermometers Tool which can be used to introduce and explore negative numbers. They have also completed their collection of Year 10  booklets, and added new GCSE Revision worksheets on Probability and Indices and Surds. We are big fans of MathsPad at my school!

Update
I haven't written a gems post since April! I've never left it this long between posts before. It wasn't intentional... I always have a lot going on in the summer term with a number of family birthdays and social stuff, but on top of that school has been insanely busy lately. 

In June I hosted the launch of Matt Parker's new book Love Triangle. It was a great evening - thank you so much to everyone involved. All the entertainment was excellent and again I thought Foxdog were the funniest thing ever. Matt's book has very quickly become a bestseller. I highly recommend it to maths teachers - it would make an excellent summer read.

Last week I spoke at the London South West Maths Hub Conference about Challenge without Acceleration. I was nervous to present to an audience of predominantly primary teachers - I adjusted my talk to make sure it covered topics that we teach in both Key Stage 2 and 3, and in doing so realised just how many topics we have in common. It was a lovely conference and everyone was very friendly.

I'm looking forward to going to Belfast for the first time in August to present on both challenge and methods. I also look forward to the next Complete Mathematics conference which is on 12th October at Astrea Academy in Sheffield. I was disappointed to miss the June conference (I was at a concert!) so I'll make sure I attend the October one.

The book Teaching A Level Maths from Rob Southern and Susan Whitehouse has recently been published, so if you teach A level then get your order in now. I have very much enjoyed teaching three Year 12 classes this year, and am looking forward to having even more A level on my timetable next year. I will make sure I get a copy!

I have had many teachers contact me to say thanks for the idea I had to stock up on the old Casio calculator model by asking Year 11s to hand them in after their GCSEs. It sounds like it was a huge success in lots of schools! Ironically I had so many plates spinning at the time I didn't end up doing it myself, but I'm very pleased that other schools benefitted.

Chocolate for calculator swap worked a treat. Thanks for the idea @mathsjem 🍫 pic.twitter.com/IiUJDmPWtd

— Drew Sherratt (@DrewSherratt23) June 14, 2024

Thanks to @mathsjem for this great idea! Definitely one we'll use each year! pic.twitter.com/saaN4AXyf7

— Wyedean Maths 🎲📐📊 (@WyedeanMaths) June 19, 2024

On Friday night I went to a fantastic end of year Maths Department celebration at Flight Club. The members of my team are all legends and I'm looking forward to working with them again next year. One week to go until the summer holidays!

I will leave you with these lovely questions from @1stclassmaths. Check out his sets of questions by topic for more like this. 

5 Maths Gems #161

Welcome to my 161^st gems post. This is where I share some of the latest news, ideas and resources for maths teachers.

1. Mathematicians Display

@nathanday314 has updated his excellent Famous Mathematicians From Around the World Display. This features 82 mathematicians from 53 countries. 

The original inspiration came from a display by @DrStoneMaths and @MrYoungMaths which I featured in Gems 132. 

For more classroom and corridor displays for maths departments, see my displays page. 

Do make sure you follow Nathan on Twitter if you don't already. He has been sharing loads of great resources over summer including tasks on simultaneous equations, bounds and indices. For example I love the task below, which is an adaptation of @karenshancock's indices task.

Speaking of @karenshancock's resources, I also love this sequences fill in the gaps task. I've added it to my resource library.

2. Vectors Task

It's always great to see new content on my favourite website MathsPad. They have now completed their curriculum booklets for all of Year 7, 8 and 9. These booklets are full of brilliant tasks - I use them all the time.

I also love their new free Vectors & Quadrilaterals Worksheets. The idea is to work out which type of quadrilateral will be formed if you follow a sequence of vectors. This provides practice working with vectors whilst prompting thinking about whether pairs of vectors are equal in length, parallel or perpendicular, and encouraging mental visualisation. There are two levels of difficulty.

I've added this to my resource library.

3. Certificate in Further Maths Resources

In my last post I mentioned that I've set up a new page linking to Certificate in Further Maths resources. This can be accessed from the main menu at the top of my blog. Since then, I've added three additional resources to this page:

• Content list for pupils from @mathshysteria. This handy student-friendly checklist may also be helpful for teachers' planning as it shows which topics are covered at GCSE and which are specific to Certificate in Further Maths.
• Certificate in Further Maths questions from A Level papers from @tm_maths. This will be a helpful source of challenging questions.
• Videos and exam questions by topic on an excellent new website from @1stclassmaths.

4. GCSE Revision 

In the Autumn term @MrsEVCartwright gives her Year 11 students a revision sheet per week on a topic covered so far in the course. Each sheet contains a recap of the main ideas and techniques, followed by some questions to complete for homework that week. You can download this resource from TES.

Back in Gems 155 I shared another GCSE revision resource - PowerPoint files containing GCSE maths questions by topic for OCR, Edexcel and AQA. I subsequently awarded it a Gem Award for 'Most Useful Resource' because I use it all the time in my GCSE lesson planning. @gcse_math has now shared this resource on its own website - gcsemathsquestions.co.uk. If you missed this earlier in the year, do check it out.

5. Place Value

Thank you to @Scott_Math83 for sharing some new resources. I like these place value tasks using fractions and decimals.

 

And this rounding problem is great.

Resource Libraries

If you're new to teaching then you might not know about my resource libraries which contain listings of resources for Key Stages 3 to 5, organised by topic. I use these libraries every day when planning lessons as they provide a quick way to browse quality free resources. 

I try to keep my Key Stage 3 and 4 libraries updated on an ongoing basis, and when I start teaching A level again next year I'll do some work on my A level libraries too. Links sometimes get broken when people move or delete their resources - if you find a broken link then do let me know! 

I also add new resources fairly regularly. For example I've recently added more links to resources from Dr Austin Maths including tasks for indices, standard form, factorising quadratics, inequalities and graphs.

The quickest way to access my resource libraries when you're planning lessons is using the menu across the top of my blog.

Update

I've mainly been doing DIY over summer and am now a bit fed up with painting. My house is in disarray (I currently don't have a bedroom!) so I'm looking forward to returning to school on Thursday. I had a really lovely break though, which included a very sunny family holiday in a cottage in Cornwall, and a great night out with maths teachers at Jamie Frost's house (thanks @nkl_17 for the photo!).

I'm looking forward to meeting my new classes next Monday. I'll be teaching Year 7, 8, 10 and 11, plus I have a Certificate in Further Maths class who will have lessons after school. My school first opened four years ago, so Summer 2023 will be our first ever GCSE results. It's a big year for us! This year we'll also be setting up our new A level courses ready for next September. In a couple of months we'll be advertising for a Key Stage 5 Coordinator to join our maths department - watch this space if you're interested in applying!

Good luck to everyone starting in new schools this week, particularly ECTs, and good luck to those of you embarking on teacher training. September is such an exciting month.

5 Maths Gems #153

Welcome to my 153^rd gems post. This is where I share some of the latest news, ideas and resources for maths teachers.

1. Digitisers

Jonny Griffiths has shared a new collection of resources called Digitisers. These puzzles are aimed at late GCSE/early A level students. Topics include sequences, circle theorems, quadratics, differentiation, logs, trigonometry, simultaneous equations and surds.

2. GCSE Statistics
I’ve never taught GCSE Statistics but I know that teachers of this course often lament the lack of resources. So they’ll be pleased to hear that Ben Hamilton has started sharing a resourced scheme of work for Edexcel GCSE Statistics. I know that many teachers will be really grateful to Ben for sharing this.

Fully resourced SOW for @PearsonEdexcel GCSE Statistics under development:

Unit 1: https://t.co/VxIEp96seC

Unit 2: https://t.co/Avfn7CKhRy

Unit 3: https://t.co/P4sXcc4R75

More to follow: Preview of resources below 👇 pic.twitter.com/0Rw9ax9syW

— Ben Hamilton (@MrBenHamilton) July 7, 2020

3. Sequences Wordle
Wordle has been a big craze since Christmas and social media is filled with posts where people share their results. I have seen a number of excellent maths versions (like this one and this one). My favourite is this times table sequences version from MathsPad. It’s free to use and you must have a go to see how good it is. I played it with my ten year old and she really enjoyed it.

4. GCSE Booklets

Thanks to Richard Morley for sharing a very helpful collection of GCSE Revision booklets.

📢New resource alert!🎉

Been a bit quiet on the site recently, but I've collated all notes jotters so that they can be printed as a booklet, grouped by Foundation, Crossover and Higher, then by topic, download them at https://t.co/UD5GPGsLCM @mathsjem @missradders @Just_Maths pic.twitter.com/HL3VUjOf4U

— Richard Morley (@MrMorleyMaths) January 17, 2022

5. Tasks

Loads of great tasks have been shared on Twitter lately, including...

This task from @giftedHKO (I used this with Year 8 last week!). Students have to work out which shapes have the same perimeter.

Here's an interesting task from @SegarRogers which can be downloaded from @ChrisMcGrane84's wonderful website. It's fascinating to look at the range of questions here and how they can be classified.

@draustinmaths continues to share great resources, including this scaffolded task on rationalising the denominator.

In Gems 151 I featured @nathanday314's new website Interwoven Maths. Since then, Nathan has added more tasks to the site including tasks which interweave rounding with fraction and decimal arithmetic. 

 

Updates
There's lots going on!

I made free tickets available for #mathsted22 and all 120 of them went in two days. I'm really looking forward to this event! I had a few demands that I stream the Oftsed talk but I don't have permission from Ofsted to stream it. If people want to run a similar event in their own area, they can request an Oftsted speaker here. 

Yesterday I ran a 2.5 hour workshop on curriculum and depth at the MA/ATM London branch. Thank you to everyone who came, and thank you to the IoE for hosting and Japleen Kaur for organising. The ATM and MA have branches all over the country which provide free/cheap CPD for maths teachers, so do check out your local branch.

I also did a talk at #mathsconfmini about maths department improvement. It focused on the recent feedback that schools have received from Oftsed (and 'mocksted') inspections under the new framework. The recording is available to conference attendees here. 

I'm looking forward to presenting at the MA conference in April. I'll be speaking online on the first day. Tickets are available here.

Here are a few more things you may have missed:

• My video 'What secondary teachers should know about the Key Stage 2 maths curriculum' went down well - lots of departments have watched it together in their department meetings. 
• Mathematical Education on Merseyside has been running take-home maths competitions in February half term since the late 1970s. They attract about 2,000 entries annually, with Challenge aimed at Years 7 and 8, and Senior Challenge aimed at Years 9 and 10. Their 2022 competition is live now - visit their website to enter your students.
  
• Dan Draper - one of my favourite bloggers - wrote about circle theorems. 
• The Liverpool Maths School is running on-demand CPD for maths teachers, with a focus on enriching GCSE lessons with Key Stage 5 content. Information is here.
• On Twitter I shared some examples of exercises from my old post 'Equations Exercises' where I got a team of volunteers to type up parts of an algebra textbook from the 1950s. This set is a good example of interweaving two skills: expanding double brackets and solving linear equations:

I'll leave you with this problem from The Art of Problem Solving which was shared by @rinaldi6109. Find the value of k.

5 Maths Gems #138

Welcome to my 138^th gems post. This is where I share some of the latest news, ideas and resources for maths teachers. I've got a bit behind on my blogging lately because school has been overwhelmingly busy, so here I'm trying to catch up by featuring ten gems instead of my usual five. 

1. Prime Factors Tool

Jonathan Hall (@StudyMaths) has published another new tool on the brilliant mathsbot.com. This lovely prime factors tool uses virtual prime factor tiles to help students make sense of prime factorisation, highest common factor and lowest common multiple. Click on the cells to toggle through blanks, products, and prime factors.

2. Certificate in Further Maths Resources

Teachers delivering the AQA Level 2 Certificate in Further Maths should check out Amanda Austin's (@draustinmaths) website which contains practice resources for this qualification. I like the format of her practice strips which are very helpful for sticking into books.

Do check out the rest of Amanda's website, which features a collection of KS3 and KS4 IGCSE and GCSE Maths resources ordered by topic. 

3. Tasks

Since Chris McGranes's (@ChrisMcGrane84) book on mathematical tasks was published and he started running courses in task design, there has been a flurry of excellent tasks shared on Twitter and Chris's blog. Here I share a couple of examples - check out his blog for more like this.

Fraction Stories (thanks to @limeswright for tweeting about this one - I think I will use it next week to assess prior understanding in my first fractions lesson with Year 7):

Simultaneous Equations (I'll be teaching this soon to a class who will really benefit from the  scaffolding in this activity):

4. GCSE Statistics
Thank you to Helen Scott (@HelenScott88) for sharing her GCSE Statistics Retrieval Roulette. Aimed mostly at Higher Tier candidates, the chapter references in this resource relate to the Pearson GCSE Statistics textbook. For guidance on how to use Retrieval Roulette, read Adam Boxer's blog post.

5. Volume

Thank you to @SegarRogers for sharing this cuboid volume task. He designed it for a class in which some students have trouble seeing individual cubes, requiring a gradual removal of the isometric grid, and other students are ready to try working backwards.

6. Recall

All the way back in Gems 87 (April 2018) I shared an example of a regular recall starter from @JaggersMaths (formerly @MissBanksMaths). Mrs Jagger has now updated her R^Infinity resource, which teachers can use to quickly create personalised four-question starters. Visit her website to download the resource and to find out how it works.

7. Sequences and Fractions Task

Richard Perring (@LearningMaths) recently shared two interesting tasks. The first is a sequences task in which students generate their own sequences.

The second task is based on a similar idea, but relates to fractions. I really like these tasks.

8. Number Sense Maths
Clare Christie (@Ms_Mathsteacher) got in touch about the website numbersensemaths.com. There are tonnes of free resources to get schools going on structured number fact teaching, and a full scheme of work for those who want to commit to it. 

This website will be of particular interest to primary schools, and I think that SEND departments in secondaries will find useful strategies and resources here too.

9. Place Value
@taylorda01 had a nice idea for a place value task. Present students with the following numbers and ask them how many times bigger the value of the red digit is than the value of the blue digit. Then ask how much bigger the value of the red digit is than the value of the blue digit.

10. Pictograms
Thanks to @giftedHKO for a new pictograms resource. I have linked to this in my data resource library.

Update

Last weekend I enjoyed spending the morning in Scotland (virtually!) for the Northern Alliance N5 Maths Conference. The workshops were excellent. I presented on teaching quadratics. I will present a similar workshop at La Salle's '#MathsConfMini' which is on a Friday evening in January.

Another event I'm presenting at in January is White Rose Maths Secondary Maths Brunch.

In case you missed them, I published two new blog posts in the last couple of weeks. They were:

• Lines and Angles on Square Grids (a post written by Anne Watson about a collection of Don Steward tasks)
• Zooming In (a post about a great teaching tool I recently used for the first time in a Year 7 lesson).

Another thing I was involved in last week was a discussion about Don Steward's tasks on Tom Manners' ResourceFULL channel. This is worth a watch if you want to see some outstanding examples of rich tasks.

Other things to check out if you haven't already:

• Marvellous Maths 2, which is a CPD course for maths teachers from me and Craig Barton. It's been great to hear of teachers using ideas from this course in their teaching this week.
• Ed Southall's new book, Geometry Juniors. This is aimed at 8 to 12 year olds. It looks great!
• The review of my book A Compendium of Mathematical Methods published in the MA's journal Mathematics in Schools. I loved this review and was very pleased to read an account written from the perspective of the book's main target audience (maths teachers!).
• I've had a few questions about intervention resources for Year 11s recently. Do check out my GCSE Revision Resources page if you're looking for this kind of thing.

I'll leave you with this wonderful pentagon tessellation tool from Mathigon.

Regular pentagons don't tessellate – but there are 15 other types of pentagons that do. We’ve collected all of them at https://t.co/PDYbPhRhMa. Can you fit them together? pic.twitter.com/a7I5Z32des

— Mathigon (@MathigonOrg) November 6, 2020