My mathematics session with primary school kids

The lesson begins with the primary school children preparing their page with the date and the learning objective neatly underline with the ruler. Every maths lesson begins with the children copying for calculations of the interactive device. I call this exercise for the brain. The children are given six minutes to complete all four calculations which revisit the skills that they’ve previously been taught. I like to balance out my time in the maths lesson between individual work and group work. This allows primary school children to think independently but they know I’m worth support. The sound of silence means the primary school children are engrossed in the task and there’s an appropriate level of challenge.

Watching primary school children’s expansion of knowledge is truly the most rewarding feeling in the world. By walking around the classroom I can quickly gauge who needs my support and this is where I offer my one-to-one help. Not all of the children need my help. But when it comes to primary school kids, I would like to check in with all of them at least once during the lesson. Once their calculations are complete I encourage the primary school children to share their answers with the rest of the class.

I have established the positive environment where all children feel able to share their answers with others by avoiding using the word now instead I say you are on the right lines or have another go so the children don’t feel embarrassed. I have taught my class to be more sympathetic so when a child sharing their answer and they make a mistake instead of shouting “No you’re wrong”, my class will say “hmmm”, which gives the child who’s sharing their answer another opportunity to reconsider. I’ve adopted the growth mindset approach through what I’ve seen on placements.