Teach Primary Issue 19.6

cards, thinking deeply about the problem and working collaboratively to discern the information that they need to reach a solution. This is also fascinating to observe, as I allow the children to employ any strategies that they feel irrelevant information) they can immediately discard it. The result is that their pile of cut cards should then only contain relevant, helpful clues and facts. 2 | BEGIN REASONING This when the real detective work begins. I typically always group the children in pairs or trios for this activity, as it provides opportunity for excellent reasoning dialogues between peers, whilst avoiding any ‘passenger’ members, who sit back and let the others do the work. This is also the point at which a purposeful hush tends to fall over the classroom, as the children start sorting through their • If children arrive at a solution quicker than you expected, challenge them to rework their solution based on you changing some of the variables on the clue cards. Depending on their ability, this might be a subtle change or a significant one. • You could challenge the children to make their own card sets, which their peers could then work to solve. • Choose two different forms of presentation of the answer (both of which are correct) and evaluate as a class which might be more efficient, clear, and mathematical. EXTENDING THE LESSON will help them: some draw diagrams; there are jottings; data tables appear; and calculations, scales and timelines often pop up! These are all really valuable problem-solving skills, which the children are purposefully applying with independence. 3 | PRESENT YOUR SOLUTION The final stage is for the children to choose a way of clearly presenting their solution. In the case of this lesson, I wanted them to produce a bar graph of the most common insects found in our school grounds. This dictated the final presentation of the solution for our lesson, but in many cases, there is no preferred format. The only expectation is that pupils have to make sure they are clearly and coherently communicating their evidenced solution to the original problem. Once everyone is ‘done’, we tend to hold a gallery session for the children to visit each other and compare solutions – often followed by a few tweaks or revisions for some, before we then reveal the correct answer. Across the year, the hushed chorus of ‘yes!’ with this reveal has grown to a virtual stadium roar, as pupils have become more proficient problem-solvers. Music to my ears! Marc Bowen is a deputy head and primary teacher in South Wales. “From the moment they spot the cards, pupils are eager to dive into the problem” • What punctuation might you look for to help you spot the question? • Why have you chosen to discard this clue? Prove to me that it is irrelevant. • What maths skills do you think you are going to need to solve this problem? • Prove to me that your final solution is correct. USEFUL QUESTIONS Download your FREE insect graph activity cards and solution sheet at tinyurl.com/ tp-ReasonCards www.teachwire.net | 103