Using and Applying Mathematics at Key Stage 2 : A Guide to Teaching Problem Solving and Thinking Skills

All pupils, able children included, need to be taught strategies to enable their thinking skills to progress.

They also need help with developing different approaches to problem solving.

A sustained piece of work that requires perseverance, logical strategies, refinement of method and extension of the original task is not the same as a straightforward quick-fix type problem.

Both types of problem soloving need to be taught. This text presents a series of activities that can be used with whole classes to provide a curriculum for the teaching of problem solving and the development of thinking skills.

Each tried and tested investigation is clearly explained with ideas on how to introduce the task to a class, full solutions and resource sheets.

Activities include: prisoners - a fun way of generating square numbers; handshakes - exploring arithmetic progressions; t-shape - an activity to lead pupils from numerical calculations to algebraic generalisations; frogs - encouraging systematic working and listing; and opposite corners - an advanced piece of work for independent learners.