Monthly Archives: September 2019

Maths by Month – September (updated 2019)

It’s a new school year! And with it comes the first in this year’s series of posts designed to support teachers on a month-by-month basis, giving teachers greater insights into the concepts at hand, when they are most relevant. While each monthly overview will specifically zone in on the Operation Maths topics for that particular month, the information and suggestions will be relevant to ALL primary teachers, whether they are Operation Maths users or not.

Operation Maths for Junior Infants to Sixth Class:

• Junior Infants: Early Mathematical Activities
• Senior Infants: Revision of Early Mathematical Activities, Counting, Analysis of Number (Numeration, Combining, Partitioning)
• First Class: Operations, Counting and Numeration, Comparing and Ordering
• Second Class: Operations, Counting and Numeration, Comparing and Ordering
• Third Class: Place Value, Lines and Angles and Representing and Interpreting Data
• Fourth Class: Place Value, Lines and Angles and Representing and Interpreting Data
• Fifth Class: Place Value, Lines and Angles and 2-D Shapes
• Sixth Class: Place Value, Lines and Angles and 2-D Shapes

Operation Maths users can also access a class-specific list of relevant links and online resources via the Weblinks document, accessible on www.edcolearning.ie. 

1. 1. Log into your edcolearning account
   2. Click on the At School Book for your class level.
   3. Click on the Edco Resources icon (on book cover image on left-hand side)
   4. Select Weblinks from list of categories and then click to download the document.

Also accessible on  www.edcolearning.ie.  are the custom-made digital resources to support these topics. These will all be viewable when you click on the Edco Resources icon as directed above.

Other suggestions for September:

• Check out the “Maths and me” attitudes questionnaire, situated after the last assessment in the Operation Maths Pupil Assessment booklet for 3rd to 6th classes. Suggest to the children that they fill this using a particular colour on one of the first days of the school year to be then revisited later in the year. At this point, the children can again record their attitudes in a different colour and reflect upon any changes they made, if any.
• Maths about me: another great activity for the start of a new school year. The children write facts about themselves that are appropriate to their ability eg height, age, shoe size, telephone number, distance from school (use google maps), time that they get up or go to bed etc. This can be recorded on the inside front cover of the discovery book, filled in on a pre-made template from the internet, used to make a large class display or even become a more complex problem solving activity in the more senior classes.
• The Math in Learning Names: Another one for kick-starting the year; make learning names easier (for both you as the teacher, and for the other students) with these quick and fast sorting ideas, which incorporate maths and language features, such as vowels, syllables etc.

• Inspire your class for the year ahead: Most people have this belief that there is such a thing as a maths brain, a belief which Jo Boaler, among others, strongly challenges. Since 2015, in conjunction with her youcubed team at Stanford University, they have put together resources, videos etc for a Week of Inspirational Maths. They now have lessons and activities aimed at infants to 6th, as well as second level. Click on the link for an overview of the activities in Week of Inspirational Math, and scroll down to the bottom of the page to access all the resources; Kindergarten roughly aligns with Infants, Grade 1 and 2 with 1st & 2nd classes, and Grades 3-5 roughly align with 3rd-6th classes.

• • New year, new initiative! Number Talks is an excellent maths methodology that is gaining traction globally, and more recently, nationally thanks to the promotion of the PDST. Better still, the rationale behind it aligns itself very closely with the underlying principle of Operation Maths, that is teaching children to understand maths, not just do maths. To find out more about number talks and to access a whole suite of ready-made resources for all class levels just click on the link above.
• Maths Week (12-20 Oct 2019) will all too quickly be upon us! Start to consider now, how your school might get involved in this national celebration of maths, and don’t forget to register your school.