Using calculators to support teaching and learning

Children are quite likely to see and use calculators or keypads of some sort in their home environment. In the Foundation Stage children become familiar with calculators, and how they can be used, through play. They use calculators in role-play such as the garden centre, the shop or the post office, and play with them to explore what the keys do. As children find out how to display familiar numbers, they also, through conversation with adults, learn to key in larger numbers. For example, a child posing the question: 'Where is the ten key?' can stimulate discussion on how the number 10 is formed.

By the end of Year 1 children are expected to be able to read and write numbers to 20 and beyond. Keying in two-digit numbers and reading them accurately is an activity that supports these skills. The entry of single digits to form two-digit numbers can strengthen children's knowledge of place value. Exploring numbers that are ten more or less than a given number or understanding doubles can be introduced and supported with a calculator. The calculator is being used to support children's thinking and recognition of the effects when numbers are increased by ten or doubled.

In Year 2 children are expected to describe patterns in numbers and derive and recall the 2, 5 and 10 times-tables. Using the constant facility on a calculator to add 2s, 5s and 10s repeatedly to 0 is a way to derive the multiples and can help children identify the pattern of the numbers in the sequence. The calculator can also be used to sharpen and secure mental calculation. In the table below, the numbers are generated by adding or subtracting a single-digit number.

The aim is to move along the track from one cell to another, using a calculator. Children first key in 3, then key in the correct operation to show the next number on the display, in this case using the operations [+] 4, [-] 5, [+] 6, etc. The calculation has to be carried out mentally before the calculator is used. The calculator provides a tool to confirm the calculations and the children also learn how to use the addition and subtraction keys to enter number sentences.

A key objective in Year 3 involves place value and the partitioning of three-digit numbers. Using the calculator can give children the opportunity to practise and apply their knowledge, skills and understanding. For example, the children key in a three-digit number, say 346. They have to eliminate the digits one by one and can only subtract multiples of 100, 10 and 1 to do so, with the largest multiple first. Subtracting 300, 40 and then 6 works, but what if the keys with the digits 3, 4 and 6 are barred? What is the quickest way to reduce 346 to 0 using multiples of 100, 10 and 1? What if the number 4643 is to be reduced to 0 and both 4s must be eliminated first in one step?

These are some of the calculator activities that can support mathematics learning to Year 3. With this kind of experience children should enter Year 4 confident at keying in numbers and number sentences that involve any of the four operations. For further ideas on how a calculator might be used across the years, see part 5 of Teaching mental calculation strategies, a joint NNS and QCA publication that is available from QCA Publications, telephone 08700 606015.