Overview of learning 13

Example of mathematics planning and resourcing 13

What we want children to learn (Development matters)

Objectives in bold refer to Early Learning Goals.

Mathematics objectives

Use language such as 'greater', 'smaller', 'heavier' or 'lighter' to compare quantities

Using and applying mathematics

Sort objects, making choices and justifying decisions

Related Early Learning Goals

Handle tools, objects, construction and malleable materials safely and with increasing control (PD)
Build and construct with a wide range of objects, selecting appropriate resources, and adapting their work where necessary (KUW)
Select and use activities and resources independently (PSED)

Possible contexts

Provide a context for discussion of sizes and weights in sand and water play.
Engage in cooking activities with simple easily readable scales for weighing and measuring and a variety of containers.
Use balance scales with collections of objects.
Provide malleable materials and collections of objects such as measuring spoons and jugs.
Provide a variety of resources such as ribbons and lengths of paper.
Engage in role-play activities with weighing equipment, for example a DIY shop.

Example of adult-led activity

Context: Reading The Gigantic Turnip by Aleksei Tolstoy and Niamh Sharkey

Show the children a bag of vegetables, including a turnip. Ask them to guess what vegetable is coming out of the bag. Give them clues: it's round and large. It's smaller than the carrot, etc. Take out the vegetables one by one, naming them as you do so.

Read The Gigantic Turnip. Talk about how heavy and huge the turnip was and how many people and animals were needed to pull it from the ground. One outcome could be making vegetable soup using root vegetables.

Support the children in making up their own recipe for vegetable soup using the vegetables brought in but deciding on what they would like to add and how many. Talk about the vegetables as the children handle them and encourage them to describe and compare them using the language of quantity. Put clipboards near the children and ask them to record their recipe as they make their soup so they don't forget what they added and it can be made again.

Adult role

During everyday activities, encourage children to describe using appropriate language. For example: who has the longest banana?
Model mathematical vocabulary during activities, for example cookery and role-play activities and use the appropriate vocabulary for:
- length, including: 'measure', 'size', 'compare', 'too many', 'too few', 'nearly', 'just over', 'just under', 'length', 'width', 'height', 'depth', 'long', 'short', 'tall', 'longer', 'shorter', 'taller', 'higher', 'longest', 'shortest', 'tallest', 'highest'
- mass, including 'weigh', 'weighs', 'balances', 'heavy/light', 'heavier/lighter', 'heaviest/lightest', 'balance', 'scales', 'weight'
- capacity, including 'full', 'half full', 'empty', 'holds', 'container'.
Encourage children to explore problems, to make patterns and to count and match together.
Provide help for those children who use a means of communication other than spoken English in developing and understanding specific mathematical language.

Opportunities for children to explore and apply

Add weighing and balance scales to sand inside and outside, along with containers of different sizes. Pose problems such as: can you make a container as heavy as this one? I wonder if we can make one heavier.
Provide collections of all kinds for children to sort, match and use to fill containers.
Provide 'cooking' activities in the role-play area, for example making playdough. Use scales, measuring spoons, etc.
Have a role-play post office with scales for measuring weights. Help the children to make charts that relate the weight to postage costs and stamps.
Make junk and construction models, comparing sizes and weights of objects used.
Use collections of different materials in the making area. Help children choose what they need using the language of quantities. For example: do you need a bigger one? This is smaller; try this.
Play a game of lining up objects according to their estimated size or weight.

Adult role

Give children sufficient time, space and encouragement to use new words and mathematical ideas, concepts and language during child-initiated activities in their own play.
Encourage children to explore problems involving size, weight and measure through appropriate questioning. For example: how full will this bottle be? How far can you spread that ribbon?
Encourage children to make up games outdoors that focus on using length, weight and height, for example throwing the ball or drawing chalk lines.
Model mathematical vocabulary during activities, for example cookery and role-play activities and use the appropriate vocabulary for:
- length, including: 'measure', 'size', 'compare', 'too many', 'too few', 'nearly', 'just over', 'just under', 'length', 'width', 'height', 'depth', 'long', 'short', 'tall', 'longer', 'shorter', 'taller', 'higher', 'longest', 'shortest', 'tallest', 'highest'
- mass, including 'weigh', 'weighs', 'balances', 'heavy/light', 'heavier/lighter', 'heaviest/lightest', 'balance', 'scales', 'weight'
- capacity, including 'full', 'half full', 'empty', 'holds', 'container'.

Look, listen and note

Observe the way children can order two items by length or height. For example: when Jade took the longest zip from the collection, she placed it against the others' clothes, saying, 'Too long for your dress. Too long for your coat.'
Observe how children understand and sometimes use the appropriate language to compare quantities. For example: the language children use during a focused activity comparing the mass of different materials or the capacity of two containers.
Notice how children make comparisons when making items out of malleable materials, for example playdough 'snakes'.

Assessment opportunities

Observe how children understand and sometimes use the appropriate language to compare quantities. For example: the language children use during a focused activity comparing the mass of different materials or the capacity of two containers.
Notice how children make comparisons when making items out of malleable materials, for example playdough 'snakes'.
Note the way children find, pick out or make objects that are taller, shorter, wider, thinner, heavier or lighter than a given one. For example: a ribbon in the 'ribbon shop'; a shell that is lighter than this one; a container that holds more than this.