March 2009
Thursday 05 March 2009See Numicon patterns (almost!) in the new Ofsted Booklet, which
advises “generally, teachers do not use practical resources and games
often enough to develop pupils’ understanding of mathematical ideas...”
On page 9 of the new Ofsted ‘Mathematics: Understanding the score –
Improving practice in mathematics teaching at primary level’ there is
the suggestion of improving practice ‘by providing practical equipment
such as interlocking cubes so that they could represent odd and even
numbers visually. Pupils could then illustrate their explanations and
justify rules.’ The suggestion includes the following diagram:
We agree that this could be helpful, as could the Numicon shapes, which
are based on the ‘pairwise ten frame’ (as opposed to the ‘pairwise
twelve frame’ shown here).
There follows an example of ‘Prime
practice’ using a 10x10 square on an Interactive whiteboard to
seamlessly link decimals, fractions and percentages. But the Booklet
then states: ‘One negative effect of interactive whiteboards is a
reduction in pupils’ use of practical equipment: generally, teachers do
not use practical resources and games often enough to develop pupils’
understanding of mathematical ideas and help them to make connections
between different topics.’
We have found that the Numicon 10x10
baseboards along with the Shapes form an excellent practical tool for
pupils to explore the links between decimals, fractions and percentages
for themselves, perhaps along with the teacher’s use of the interactive
whiteboard.
