Problem solving

Audience:	Heads and deputies, Coordinators
Date of issue:	Jun. 2004
Reference number:	DfES0247-2004G

What is it?

The materials in this pack need to be read in conjunction with Excellence and Enjoyment: Learning and teaching in the primary years. Introductory guide - continuing professional development (DfES0243-2004G).

Contents
Guidance notes: DfES0248-2004G
Finding all possibilites activity sheets: DfES0545-2004G
Video: DfES0249-2004VG

This guidance is the first in a series of materials designed to help all staff involved in the teaching of mathematics to:

identify problems of a particular type and the strategies that children can use to solve them;
construct teaching sequences for teaching problem solving;
incorporate problem solving within the mathematics curriculum;
develop children’s reasoning and explanation skills;
engage in whole-staff discussion on the above.

Proposed model for use of these materials in schools
These materials are designed to support the staff development programme in a primary school. They include guidance for an initial staff meeting and a follow-up meeting (supported by video sequences), together with pairs of lessons for each age group to Year 6 (including the Foundation Stage) for you to use with your own classes. The lessons follow a common structure; they include features such as reviews to discuss strategies and introduce questions to extend the challenge of the problem. In the followup meeting you and your staff will meet together to discuss how the lessons went, the children’s responses, achievements and progression.

You could also discuss the guidance on producing similar problems, and examples of how the strategies used in the lessons could be applied to solving problems in other areas of the curriculum.

Downloads

Problem solving: CPD guidance notes (PDF 244Kb)

Problem solving: Finding all possibilites - activity sheets (PDF 1.3Mb)