Maths Problem Solving Year 4

Title page

Maths Problem Solving

Year 4

Catherine Yemm

Copyright page

Originally published by Brilliant Publications

Unit 10, Sparrow Hall Farm, Edlesborough,

Dunstable, Bedfordshire LU6 2ES

E-mail: [email protected]

website: www.brilliantpublications.co.uk

General enquiries:

Tel: 01525 222292

The name Brilliant Publications and its logo are registered trade marks.

Written by Catherine Yemm

Cover and illustrations by Frank Endersby

© Catherine Yemm 2005

First published in 2005. Reprinted in 2010.

2012 digital version by Andrews UK Limited

www.andrewsuk.com

The right of Catherine Yemm to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988.

Introduction

Maths Problem Solving Year 4 is the fourth book in a series of six resource books for teachers to use during the Numeracy lesson. It specifically covers the objectives from the Numeracy framework that are collated under the heading ‘Solving problems’. Each book is specific for a particular year group and contains clear printable/photocopiable resources which can be printed/photocopied onto acetate to be viewed by the whole class or printed/photocopied onto paper to be used by individuals.

Problem solving plays a very important part in the Numeracy curriculum and one of the reasons Numeracy is such an important subject is because the skills the children learn enable them to solve problems in other aspects of their lives. It is not enough to be able to count, recognize numbers and calculate; children need to be able to use problem solving skills alongside mathematical knowledge to help them succeed in a variety of ‘real life’ situations. Many of the problem solving skills and strategies that are needed do not come naturally so they have to be taught.

Problem solving is not an area which should be taught exclusively on its own but one which should be taught alongside other mathematical areas such as numbers and shape, space and measures. Children will benefit from being given opportunities to solve problems in other areas of the curriculum and away from the classroom as well as in their Numeracy lessons.

When teaching children how to solve problems, the Numeracy strategy refers to a number of points that need to be considered:

The length of the problems should be varied depending on the age group. Children will benefit from being given short, medium-length and more extended problems.

The problems on one page or in one lesson should be mixed so that the children do not just assume they are all ‘multiplication’ problems, for example and simply multiply the numbers they see to find each answer.

The problems need to be varied in their complexity: there should be some one-step and some two-step problems, and the vocabulary used in each problem should differ.

Depending on the age of the children the problems can be given orally or in writing. When given written problems to solve, some children may need help to read the words, although this does not necessarily mean that they will need help to find the answer to the question.

The context of the problem should be meaningful and relevant to the children. It should attempt to motivate them into finding the answer and be significant to the time. For example, euros should be used as well as pounds.

This resource is organized into three chapters: ‘Making decisions’, ‘Reasoning about numbers or shapes’ and ‘Problems involving real life, money or measures’. Each chapter contains six lessons, one to be used each half term.

Making decisions

The objective outlined under the ‘Making decisions’ heading of the National Numeracy Strategy for Year 4 children is to: Choose and use appropriate number operations and appropriate ways of calculating (mental, mental with jottings, pencil and paper) to solve problems.

In this chapter the emphasis is on choosing and then using