Conceptual Numeracy
At Lochgelly West we are working hard to support all learners to develop a conceptual understanding of Numeracy.
But what does this mean, and what does that look like in the classroom?
What is Conceptual Numeracy?
Conceptual understanding needs to come before procedural knowledge. We need to spend valuable time working with learners to ensure that they fully understand new concepts or ideas before moving on. It is all about developing a solid foundation for future numeracy learning. Solid foundations are important and time has to be spent building and extending on prior knowledge to allow progress to the next level.
The iceberg metaphor represents the experiences and learning which is needs to take place before learners are ‘ready’ to tackle formal written calculations.
There are many misunderstandings or ‘myths’ that have arisen surrounding conceptual understanding. It centres on the need to know more than isolated facts and methods. It is important for learners to be able to make connections in their learning, so they are able to use what they know to help them work out what they don’t know!
Procedural Versus Conceptual Understanding
Concrete – Pictorial – Abstract
Concrete is the ‘doing’ stage. During this stage, learners use physical objects (such as cubes and straws) to model their thinking.
The next stage is Pictorial, the ‘seeing’ stage. The learner relies on visual representations (pictures and images) to show their thinking and workings.
After this, the learner moves on to working with the Abstract. This is more ‘symbolic’, using abstract symbols and digits to help model and solve calculations.
Resources to Support Learning in Numeracy
Mental Maths Booklet
We have produced a booklet to support the development of mental calculation strategies and quick mental recall in numeracy. Every child will receive a copy along with a pack of playing cards to play and practise at home, learning through games whilst having fun!
We will be sharing these with you soon!
Websites
- Sumdog (pupils have individual logins) https://pages.sumdog.com/
- Mental Maths Games https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Search.aspx?Subject=16
- Number Formation https://www.doorwayonline.org.uk/activities/letterformation/
- Times Table Rockstars https://ttrockstars.com/
- Fun Brain Maths Zone https://funbrain.com
- Maths Bot https://mathsbot.com
- Maths games, problem solving, puzzles etc https://mathplayground.com/
- Daily Challenge transum.org/Software/
- Daily Rigour https://www.cdmasterworks.co.uk/the-daily-rigour/
- Nrich Maths –https://nrich.maths.org/
The following websites provide a virtual replacement for concrete materials that learners may be using within the classroom.
- https://toytheater.com/category/teacher-tools/virtual-manipulatives/
- https://www.didax.com/math/virtual-manipulatives.html
- https://apps.mathlearningcenter.org/number-frames/
Support videos for families
