Tag Archives: Numeracy and Mathematics

Fun with Probability

June 16, 2024 Mrs Smith Leave a comment

We had an introduction to basic work on probability for something a little bit different this week, as we head towards the end of term. Work in this area also takes in work on Fractions and Information Handling which we are looking at in class just now so the game ‘Blocko’ fitted in well!

Each pair were given a board with sections marked 2 -12 and 12 cubes. They were asked to arrange the cubes in any way they liked.

Some placed one on each number with one extra placed randomly.

They were then told the rules of the game and were given the chance to rearrange their cubes once they had been given the full instructions! When two dice were rolled, the total of the two numbers would be shouted out and if they had a cube on that number, they could remove it. The winners would be the first to remove ALL cubes and shout, “BLOCKO!”

Some were happy with their choices and chose to leave them as they were. Others began to think about our introduction to probability and began to realise that some totals are more likely to be rolled than others, given the number of combinations that can make them.

Random placement but changed as the photo below shows.

This pair thought there would be more likelihood that the totals 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 would be thrown.

We had a couple of competitive games with everyone keen to be the first to remove all their cubes!

For our second run through, we recorded the results we got and displayed them in a Frequency Chart. We discussed what this tells us about the probability of rolling certain totals and we talked about what surprised us. We did not expect 3 to be rolled so often given that there is only one way to make it!

Blocko Frequency Chart

It was a fun Maths time! 🎲

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Week 2

August 25, 2023 Mrs Smith Leave a comment

This week our new Investigators have been announced. They have been given their welcome packs and will be preparing to meet the children they will be working alongside on their first online call shortly. We wish them luck in this exciting opportunity.

We’ve started our class novel, “The Explorer,” which ties in with our Rainforest and Biodiversity topic.

We have learned about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and have used some of the most relevant Articles to help us form our Responsible Behaviours Agreement for our class. We plan to create a rainforest theme which we’ll share with you in time!

Any pupil wishing to represent their class in the Pupil Council had the opportunity to think about what would make them a suitable member and we’ll take a vote on this next week.

For writing this week, poems created in Week 1 were rewritten for display in class and there was a big effort with handwriting. Well done!

Maths this week was based around problem solving activities with pupils choosing from a wide range of tasks that involved them using strategies such as trial and error, act it out and look for a pattern. Lots of paired and cooperative group work was also needed to succeed!

Measurement in action

May 12, 2023 Mrs Smith Leave a comment

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Part of our learning in Maths this term is focusing on Measurement. It’s a great topic to incorporate in every day tasks, outside of Maths time too.

During our RME work, we used our skills to measure Ayanda’s turban material that he wore at a recent wedding. We were shocked to find out that it measured around 4m 80cm!

The Daily Mile has also created an opportunity to think about distances in metres, kilometres and miles. We are counting up laps and adding these measurements together to get a class distance. To date we have walked, jogged and sprinted our way to 31, 4730m or 314.7 km or 196.7 miles.

This week, we measured out a rectangular shape that measured 50m in perimeter. We timed how long it took us to walk that distance twice and will use this information to help us work out how long it would take us to walk 1km.

Maths – Exploring 2D Shapes

March 12, 2022 Mrs Smith Leave a comment

In P4/5/6 this week, we have signed up to the Shetland Sumdog Competition so we made a start at climbing up the leader board on Friday. We are hoping to build on our success in the National Competition last time so it would be wonderful if the pupils could log in at home too and play along. It runs until Thursday 17th. Good luck!

These past few weeks, the class have been learning about 2D Shapes. We have found out about polygons, regular and irregular 2D Shapes, parallel and perpendicular lines, how to find the number of diagonals a many sided shape has and naming quadrilaterals.

All of this helped lead up to this week’s Maths lesson where pairs of children were given either a description of a 2D shape or a specific shape for them to describe using the correct Mathematical terms. They had to use different materials to make them as accurately as they could. I was really impressed with the team work shown and their ability to keep working when shapes did not quite come together and when clues had to be puzzled out. (Sorry for out of focus photos!)

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The pupils were given a choice of materials to make their shapes.

Kirsty and Andrew worked so well together that they whizzed through their clues!

Eilidh and Innes used a lot of tape to secure their shapes.

Always great to see a busy class, just getting on with a task!

Straws were used to make some shapes and we found we could make the more basic shapes easily, by bending and fitting the ends inside.

Kate happy at her work, writing her description.

An organised and clever way to display shapes made.

Outdoor Maths

February 27, 2020 Mrs Smith Leave a comment

We have started to explore a new area of Maths this week. We braved the February weather to take our learning outside into the playground. The markings on our play areas were perfect for helping us explore parallel and perpendicular lines. We looked for right angles too. It’s amazing how many you find when you actively go looking!

P4/5/6 (2024-2025)