Maths Problem Solving Year 6

Title page

Math Problem Solving

Year 6

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

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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 6 is the last book in a series of six resource books written 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 photocopiable resources which can be photocopied onto acetate to be viewed by the whole class or 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 area 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, you could introduce euros into the questions.

This Year 6 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 6 children is:

Choose and use appropriate number operations to solve problems, and find appropriate ways for calculating, for example mental, mental with jottings, written methods, calculator.

In this chapter the emphasis is on choosing and then using the correct operation to solve a given problem. In Year 6 the children are developing their adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing skills so they need to understand that different problems will need different methods to solve them. They should be encouraged to make and justify decisions by choosing the appropriate operations to solve word problems, deciding whether calculations can be done mentally or by using a pencil and paper or by explaining and recording how the problem was solved. The children should be provided with an opportunity to tackle mixed problems so that they learn to think openly and make a decision depending on the vocabulary used in the question itself. If children are not taught these decisive skills then it is common for them to assume that, to find the answer to a question with two numbers, you just add or multiply the numbers. The questions set out in this chapter are mixed and the children could be required to use any of the four operations. The questions the children will answer are designed to enable them to practise solving problems in a variety of relevant contexts.

When the children are answering the questions encourage them to use mental strategies to make notes and use more formal written methods and give them an opportunity to use a calculator.

This aspect of problem solving is closely correlated to objectives 72–73, ‘Checking results of calculations’. After choosing and using the correct operation the children should be encouraged, where appropriate, to use a method to check their results, which could be: using the inverse operation; adding in the reverse order; using an equivalent calculation; approximating or using knowledge of sums, differences and