Overview of learning 9

Example of mathematics planning and resourcing 9

What we want children to learn (Development matters)

Objectives in bold refer to Early Learning Goals.

Mathematics objectives

Begin to relate addition to combining two groups of objects and subtraction to 'taking away'
In practical activities and discussion begin to use the vocabulary involved in adding and subtracting

Using and applying mathematics

Describe solutions to practical problems, drawing on experience, talking about their own ideas, methods and choices

Related Early Learning Goals

Handle tools, objects, construction and malleable materials safely and with increasing control (PD)
Express and communicates ideas, thoughts and feelings by using a widening range of materials, suitable tools, imaginative and role-play, movement, designing and making, and a variety of songs and musical instruments (CD)

Possible contexts

Establish role-play that has a focus on groups of objects, for example in a shop context with collections of fruit or groceries.
Use everyday opportunities such as snack time to pose problems.
Use self-registration opportunities to ask the children a variety of questions. For example: how many are there altogether? How many more than yesterday?
Provide collections of objects for children to sort, match and count.
Share, recite and encourage joining in with number rhymes and stories using games and books.
Provide tapes and CD-ROMs of number rhymes and songs for children to listen to.
Encourage children to make up number stories and represent them pictorially.

Example of adult-led activity

Context: Minibeasts

Look at a caterpillar and other minibeasts with children. Carefully examine them with magnifying glasses or a digital microscope. Look at their features, numbers of antennae, legs, etc. Draw or paint the minibeasts indoors and outdoors using clipboards where necessary.

Introduce the idea of designing bugs made out of playdough. The children could draw their own design or use a computer paint program to make the design. Comment on numbers of sets in their bugs: how many legs are you going to add? It could have lots of eyes couldn't it? Will it have the same number on each side? Will it be able to balance?

Make the bugs based on their designs. Provide a number of colours of playdough. Introduce adding and subtracting, and model the language. For example: shall I help you make the antennae? How many do you have? How many more will you need? Whoops that's too many; how many do we need to take away? Keep number lines on the table to help with adding and subtracting.

Adult role

Provide practical real-life activities underpinned by developing communication skills.
Model mathematical vocabulary during the daily routines and throughout adult-led activities.
Encourage children to explore objects and groups and provide resources to encourage mark making and representation, for example adding up tally marks of scores in a game.
Help those children who use a means of communication other than spoken English to develop and understand specific mathematical language.
Exploit opportunities for sorting, matching and then counting groups and totals, for example counting fruit at snack time, registering children, organising games.
Share books and exploit the number potential for using vocabulary of addition and subtraction.
Encourage children to choose numbers for problems and to make up their own story problems for other children to solve.
Model the use of vocabulary such as 'add', 'addition', 'altogether', 'and', 'total', 'take away', 'subtract', 'one more', 'one less', 'how many are left/gone', 'make', 'sum', 'is the same as', 'difference between', 'how many more than', 'count', 'group', 'count out', 'share out', 'left over'.

Opportunities for children to explore and apply

Work alongside the children at 'small world' and construction play. Add and subtract pieces while using the language of addition and subtraction. For example: it might fit if we take some away. How many do you think we'll need to take away? Shall we put the people on the bus? Can we add any more? If 3 people get off here; how many passengers will be left? Have we got space for any more?
Use systems for self-registration and ask the children: how many are here today? If x still come in how many will be here? Now 3 people have gone out; how many are left?
Model mathematics games. For example: have 10 beans and a pot and work with a friend. One person decides how many to take away and the other guesses how many are left. Then they check together and swap over.
Model using addition and subtraction with cooking, or role-play with money, sand and water. For example: we need 3 of these and 2 of those; how many have we got altogether? Have we got too many? How many will you need to take away?

Adult role

Provide practical real-life activities underpinned by developing communication skills.
Model mathematical vocabulary during the daily routines and throughout adult-led activities.
Encourage children to explore objects and groups and provide resources to encourage mark making and representation, for example adding up tally marks of scores in a game.
Help those children who use a means of communication other than spoken English to develop and understand specific mathematical language.
Exploit opportunities for sorting, matching and then counting groups and totals, for example counting fruit at snack time, registering children, organising games.
Share books and exploit the number potential for using vocabulary of addition and subtraction.
Model the use of vocabulary such as 'add', 'addition', 'altogether', 'and', 'total', 'take away', 'subtract', 'one more', 'one less', 'how many are left/gone', 'make', 'sum', 'is the same as', 'difference between', 'how many more than', 'count', 'group', 'count out', 'share out', 'left over'.

Look, listen and note

How do children find the sum of two numbers? For example: Adeola picked up as many conkers as she could, working out how many she had altogether: 'Five and four - nine! That's my best go.'
Observe the variety in responses when children work out a calculation from a story. For example: Merrie said, 'If two more come there will be seven, because five and two make seven.'

Assessment opportunities

Assess children's understanding when they are using everyday objects, for example counting pennies in the role-play area and seeing how many there are altogether and how many are left when some are spent.
In outdoor activities with small apparatus, observe how children are able to combine groups and find the total by counting on.
Can children solve practical problems such as: we ate 2 of our 8 jellies, so how many are left? There are 4 cars in the car park and 3 more arrive. How many are there now?