Jacari Workshop MT 2009: Supporting maths and science

1. Jacari Workshop MT 2009: Supporting maths and science

2. Outline • Why support maths and science? • Ways to approach maths and science. • Resources.

3. Why support maths and science in Jacari lessons? • English is not the only lesson taught in English schools! • Maths, science and other subjects require a good understanding and command of language. • Your pupils may not get the specific attention they need to help them understand other subjects during all the time they are at school.

4. Approaches to supporting other subjects • Explaining, revising and practising points covered in class work and homework. • Choosing a point from the relevant syllabus that your pupil should be able to address. • Extras: experiments, games, extended projects. (Great for raising interest and confidence in learning in general.)

5. Supporting schoolwork • How to find out: ask pupil, parent or teacher; or look at school books. • Supporting younger pupils: • Card games, dice games for arithemtic • Colour by numbers • Matching pairs • Treasure hunt • Board games

6. Supporting older pupils: • Homework support / classwork checking (you teach me; practice questions) • Quizzes: Who wants to be a millionaire? speed challenges • Posters, scrapbooks, presentation pages

7. Choosing your own teaching points • Use National Curriculum: http://curriculum.qcda.gov.uk • And National Strategies: http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk • Explanations, games, worksheets, investigations, poster, quiz, practice questions • Spend a lesson based on one point, then revise next lesson • Effective, pupil-inclusive planning: write down ideas in a table with checklist: play a game, investigation / discussion, spoken questions together, written questions alone, check answers, play game again, but with learning point included. • Language points: Use these in sentences, flashcards, matching, "spot the mistake" exercises. • Now for some examples of how to use a teaching point relevant to each of the four Key Stages.

8. Teaching point for KS1: Maths “Number patterns and sequences Pupils should... create and describe number patterns; explore and record patterns related to addition and subtraction, and then patterns of multiples of 2, 5 and 10, explaining the patterns and using them to make predictions; recognise sequences, including odd and even numbers to 30 then beyond; recognise the relationship between halving and doubling”

9. Ideas for including this in a lesson • What is a pattern? What is happening in these patterns: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8? 2, 4, 6, 8, 10? 10, 20, 30, 40, 50? Continue the pattern. • Even numbers have "partners"; odd numbers have one left over. Try this out with different groups of objects. • How can you divide various objects into exactly two parts? How can you divide groups of objects into exactly two parts? How can you divide numbers into exactly two parts? • What does "double" mean? How can you make one object become exactly itself, twice? How can you make groups of objects be exactly themselves, twice? How can you double numbers? Use actual objects / drawing / writing. • Language points: double, halve, half, twice, odd, even, pattern

10. Teaching point for KS2: Science “Vibration and sound Pupils should be taught... e: that sounds are made when objects [for example, strings on musical instruments] vibrate but that vibrations are not always directly visible f: how to change the pitch and loudness of sounds produced by some vibrating objects [for example, a drum skin, a plucked string] g: that vibrations from sound sources require a medium [for example, metal, wood, glass, air] through which to travel to the ear.”

11. Ideas for including this in a lesson • What makes sounds? How many different sounds can you make from different objects with five minutes of preparation? How is that sound happening? (Discuss vibrations, of objects, voice box, etc.) • How can you make sounds louder? Softer? Higher? Lower? (Make “bigger” vibrations.) • Make a box guitar with tissue box, rubber bands, pencils. How can you change the sounds? • Decorate guitar at end of lesson. • Language points: vibration, sound, pitch, volume

12. Teaching point for KS3: Maths “Understand percentage as the number of parts per 100; recognise the equivalence of fractions, decimals and percentages; calculate percentages and use them to solve problems”

13. Ideas for including this in a lesson • Prior knowledge: Equivalence within fractions: • 3 = 12 • 5 20 • Because if you multiply the top and bottom by the same number, the fraction is equivalent. (Practise this if necessary.) • What does it mean to say that 80% of Year 7 pupils like chocolate ice-cream? 80 per cent means 80 out of 100. If you asked 100 Year 7 pupils if they liked chocolate ice-cream, how many said yes? • What if you asked 10 pupils? • Equivalence of fractions, decimals and percentages: 8/10 = 0.8 = 80% Shade in boxes, draw number lines, complete tables. • Take a magazine article with percentages and discuss same issues.

14. Set up your own investigation: each ask ten friends a certain number of questions, then compare results in fractions, decimals and percentages; show on graphs. • Next time, you ask ten friends and pupil asks five. Now how do you compare percentage? • 3 = ? • 5 100 • If you multiply the top and bottom by the same number, the fraction will be equivalent. So 5 x ? = 100... 100 divided by 5 is 20. So multiply the top by 20 as well. • 3 (x20) = 60 • 5 (x20) = 100 • 60 out of 100, so 60%. • Ask your pupil to explain this kind of teaching point back to you. • Practise with worksheets and revision guides (in library), quick quizzes, speed challenges. • More resources on this topic at http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/maths/contents08fracdecperratprop.htm • Language points: fraction, decimal, percentage, numerator, denominator

15. Teaching point for KS4 (GCSE) Science • Year 10 “Behaviour”: “describe some simple behaviours displayed by organisms in response to their external environment; identify and explain innate and learned behaviour”

16. Ideas for including this in a lesson • Discuss the difference between innate (=natural) and learned behaviour • List examples of innate behaviour: movement of a sunflower to sunlight, dilating of the pupil in response to light, chicks following the first thing they see • Examples of learned behaviour: answering a door bell when it rings, child saying 'I want' when the TV ad comes on, gender choice of toys and clothes; animal and bird warning noises to young when predator approaches • What is the result of this behaviour? • Work through a revision page (CGP) together using discussion, demonstration, anecdotal evidence, repetition, explanation of particular words • Practise questions together and apart, then check answers • Read a current article together (BBC News: "Babies cry in mother's tongue - German researchers say babies begin to pick up the nuances of their parents' accents while still in the womb." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8346058.stm) • Language points: innate, learned, acquired, behaviour, genetics

17. Extras! • For maths: • Investigation charts • Count your day/month/year/life (e.g. time spent brushing teeth, sleeping, eating) • Numbers games and puzzles: Sudoku, other newspaper puzzles • The Twits game!

18. For science: • Experiments! • Growing crystals • Why do some things float and some sink? • Dissecting and labelling • Paper planes • It’s great if you can link these activities to particular teaching points, but if not, just have fun!

19. Resources • National Curriculum: http://curriculum.qcda.gov.uk • National Strategies: http://nationalstrategies.standards.dcsf.gov.uk (Secondary level is particularly detailed) • Internet worksheets and games: BBC Bitesize, Kids Know It Network (kidsnumbers.com), teachingideas.co.uk • Library: worksheets, revision guides, exam papers, games, non-fiction books

20. Thanks and have fun!