Example of mathematics planning and resourcing 14

What we want children to learn (Development matters)

Objectives in bold refer to Early Learning Goals.

Mathematics objectives

• Use everyday language related to time; order and sequence familiar events and measure short periods of time

Using and applying mathematics

• Use developing mathematical ideas and methods to solve practical problems

Related Early Learning Goals

• Have a developing respect for their own cultures and beliefs and those of other people (PSED)
• Find out about past and present events in their own lives, and in those of their families and other people they know (KUW)

Possible contexts

• Try sequencing pictures or photographs taken from real-life activities.
• Develop calendar activities, such as noting the days when certain events take place, keeping a weather chart, noting birthdays and significant events.
• Use stories such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Bad Tempered Ladybird, Goodnight Owl and Can't You Sleep Little Bear?
• Use timers to build awareness of the duration of time. For example: can you get tidied up before the sand runs through the timer?
• Engage parents in discussing key events and times of the day with children.
• Use the language of clocks in rhymes and stories, for example 'Hickory Dickory Dock'.
• Note key times during the day, for example lunchtime, home-time and bedtime.
• Make time lines to show a variety of events and activities throughout a day, a week or a weekend.
• Use the outdoor environment to observe changing seasons, growing plants and seeds.

Example of adult-led activity

Context: Sequencing pictures

Ask the children to bring in photographs of when they were babies and a present-day photograph. Put the photographs on display and play games like 'Guess who'. Include adults from the school.

Talk about when they were babies and ask them about growing up and what changes have happened, for example that they've got bigger, could crawl and can now walk, skip, etc.

Draw a time line and position a baby photograph at one end and a present-day photograph at the other (you could use an interactive whiteboard so that the photographs can be moved around and repositioned). With the children's help, draw lines in-between and write the years. Measure the lines in-between and say you are making them the same length, as a year is the same length as another year.

Ask the children for ideas about what they could do when they were aged 1, 2, etc. Make a list of words in the appropriate year in the time line.

Ask the children to make their own time line to represent their growing up, using their photographs and drawings of one thing they were able to do at each year.

Extend by sequencing other stages of growth, for example plants and animals. Provide muddled-up pictures for arranging in order.

Adult role

• Plan for practical activities that are underpinned by children's developing communication skills.
• Exploit real-life problems. For example: setting the timer for cookery activities or noticing when it is time for lunch or for key people to arrive.
• Model mathematical vocabulary during the daily routines and throughout adult-led activities. For example: setting the timer for tidying up and talking through the amount of time left, sequencing activities from photographs.
• Model using the language of time including the names of the days of the week, 'day', 'week', 'birthday', 'holiday', 'morning', 'afternoon', 'evening', 'night', 'bedtime', 'dinnertime', 'playtime', 'today', 'yesterday', 'tomorrow', 'before', 'after', 'next', 'last', 'now', 'soon', 'early', 'late', 'quick', 'quicker', 'quickest', 'quickly', 'slow', 'slower', 'slowest', 'slowly', 'old', 'older', 'oldest', 'new', 'newer', 'newest', 'takes longer', 'takes less time', 'hour', 'o'clock', 'clock', 'watch', 'hands'.
• 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, for example closing and opening times in role-play shops.
• Encourage children to explore problems. For example: how long will it take to get Bee-Bot from here to the other side of the path?
• 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

• Provide opportunities for ordering and sequencing using photographs, pictures and children's drawings. For example: cooking, following a recipe card, instructions for washing hands or getting changed for PE, or how they planted bulbs or made a model.
• Put a clock at children's height in role-play areas.
• Use sand timers to help children measure time when they are waiting turns.
• Talk regularly about events the children experience today, yesterday and tomorrow.
• Use timers in games. For example: how many times do you think you can skip in one minute?
• Refer to the time throughout everyday experiences and point out to the children how you know, for example, that in 5 minutes it will be time for lunch break: I'll know when it's 5 minutes by looking at the clock and seeing where the hands are pointing/numbers are.

Adult role

• Plan for practical activities that are underpinned by children's developing communication skills.
• Exploit real-life problems. For example: setting the timer for cookery activities or noticing when it is time for lunch or for key people to arrive.
• Model mathematical vocabulary during the daily routines and throughout adult-led activities. For example: setting the timer for tidying up and talking through the amount of time left, sequencing activities from photographs.
• Model using the language of time including the names of the days of the week, 'day', 'week', 'birthday', 'holiday', 'morning', 'afternoon', 'evening', 'night', 'bedtime', 'dinnertime', 'playtime', 'today', 'yesterday', 'tomorrow', 'before', 'after', 'next', 'last', 'now', 'soon', 'early', 'late', 'quick', 'quicker', 'quickest', 'quickly', 'slow', 'slower', 'slowest', 'slowly', 'old', 'older', 'oldest', 'new', 'newer', 'newest', 'takes longer', 'takes less time', 'hour', 'o'clock', 'clock', 'watch', 'hands'.
• 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, for example closing and opening times in role-play shops.
• Encourage children to explore problems. For example: how long will it take to get Bee-Bot from here to the other side of the path?
• Provide help for those children who use a means of communication other than spoken English in developing and understanding specific mathematical language.

Look, listen and note

• Observe how children identify a mathematical problem involving shape, space or measures and search for a way to solve it. For example: when Dougal searched for a cube among the modelling materials he said, 'We want to make a dice, so it has to have six sides for all the spots.'
• Observe how children use language related to time in everyday classroom situations and related tasks.
• Observe children working on involving sequencing of pictures or photographs of events and real-life activities.
• Observe how children respond to time-related questions using stories and rhymes.

Assessment opportunities

• During everyday activities, observe how children spontaneously use the language of time.
• Are children able to follow instructions relating to timed events?
• Through the use of programmable toys children can demonstrate their understanding of position, direction and movement. For example: Danny is using the pixie and notices that it is going forward under the table.
• Can children respond to questions such as: 'What happens next in the story?' 'Does it take longer to walk to the shops or to the park?' 'Which day comes after Friday?'
• Can children make timelines sequencing familiar events and activities?